Michael Schwartz Bariatric Surgeon M.D.

4/3/01
I haven't met with the surgeon yet. Went to the informational meeting and was quite impressed with the representation of the clinic.

10/3/01
Have an appointment to meet the surgeon on 12/20. Not having met him yet, I cannot speak to my impression. However, if the way his office is run is any clue, I'm sure he'll be great! His office staff is supportive, understanding, and right on top of things!

2/2/02
I met with my surgeon on 1/4/02 for the first time. He was very reassuring. He took his time to answer my questions, and he was very down to earth. I have faith in him and am looking forward to my surgery.

2/18/02
I am post op now, and considering there weren't any complications, I would say Dr. Schwartz is wonderful. He came by to visit each day in the hospital. He's very matter of fact and to the point which is fine with me.

7/8/02
For all of my follow up visits I've been seeing my surgeons PA. She is great and very helpful. They are very open that if I ever feel I need to talk to or see my surgeon instead that that's fine. I love this Dr.'s office.

I met Dr. Schwartz for the first time last week.
My first impressions of him were that he was a busy,
busy person. He did a short exam and then sat with me
while I asked my many questions. He was patient and
didn't make me feel that he was in a hurry. We also
have both adopted children and were able to "bond"
as we spoke about our experiences with adoption as well.
He was lighthearted and yet, quick to remind me
that this was/is a serious surgery. The one thing that I
can away with was that he would do everything is his
power to make this sucessful for me.
His aftercare doesn't seem too structured. He
has a certain timeline for patients to follow regarding
office visits. He also was firm about seeing
his patients for their life time.
His office staff has been wonderful! Judy Schwartz, RN;
is his wife. She did the orientation session that I
attended and then handled all of my insurance
paperwork for me. She also spent time on the
phone with my discussing my sugery options, and
addressing questions that I had. I also have
appreciated Christa. She handles the scheduling for the
office and has always returned my calls promptly.

I have not met the Surgeon yet. I attended a very informative session held by the partners head nurse, Judy. What a wonderful representative! I was planning on doing self-pay, but armed with new information, I am going to fight my insurance company! Good luck to everyone on their individual journey to a healthy future!<br><br>Update: Had my surgical consult on 12/13/01. Dr Schwartz was nice. His opening statement was "we are not doing this surgery to make you beautiful, you are already beautiful!"...I could not help thinking..."I bet you tell all the girls that!"...it was a bit cheesy, but I choose to think he was sincere. I really am not chasing beauty, but better health! Dr. Schwartz has allot of experience doing these surgeries...so I am trusting him to get a good nights sleep and do a great job on mine!<br><BR>
Update: Post Op. Dr. Schwartz was terrific! He inspires trust with his attitude and demeanor. I was so calm as I waited for surgery. He was fantastic the day after surgery when he came to visit. I am very happy with him and the whole experience!<br>Update 3/6/02 I saw the Surgeon's PA Kelly. I was impressed with her knowledge. She was great. I like the office staff and the support from them.

My first impression of Dr. Schwartz was that he new what he was doing and confindate about it. The only change was for the better. The staff was wonderful and very helpful. I really cann't say that there was anything that I didn't like about him. That he is very knowledgeable and willing to share it with you. Aftercare is very important. For what I know I feel the aftercare program is structured. He told you everything about the risks. I would rate him at the top. I belive Dr. Schwartz's surgical competence and bedside manner were great.

I was referred to him by a co-worker and was very comfortable with him from the start. His wife is also his assistant and made the first meeting a great experience for me.I still have the same impression of him, he honestly cares about the people he operates on and felt he was more of a friend guiding me down the road to a healthier life. He is concerned and caring, he described to me what it would be like afterwards and I wasn't as scared. My mother and both sisters went through the surgery over 10 years ago so I had alot of information from them, but Dr Schwartz really put me at ease. When I went in for my 1 year check up I told him that I was expecting a baby and he smiled and said "there's no extra charge" meaning that my weight loss had been the only contributing factor to me being able to finally conceive (my husband and I had tried for 7 years) He was very excited to hear about the baby and told me to make sure I bring her in for the next year follow up. My surgery was different from the ones my family had, I had the laperoscopy bypass, and they had the open, Dr Schwartz answered all my questions and made me and my family feel very comfortable about it. His ability as a surgoen and his bedside manner were both great. I would give him the highest score possible. I just love what he has done for my life and most of all the gift of being able to finally have children.The only negative aspect is his location, he is in the downtown area that I hate going into

VERY IMPRESSED WITH HIM AND ALL HIS STAFF.
HE HAS BEEN A BARIATRIC SURGEON SINCE THE LATE 1960'S AND STAYS AT THE FOREFRONT OF NEW PROCEDURES.
IF YOU HAVE HIM DO THE SURGERY HE IS GOING TO WANT TO KEEP SEEING YOU FOR A VERY LONG TIME. HE TRACKS HIS PATIENTS EXTREMELY WELL.MAINLY BECAUSE HE WANTS TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE DOING OK. THERE IS NO STRUCTURED PROGRAM PER SE THOUGH THERE IS AN AFTERCARE GROUP INFORMAL THAT MEETS IN HIS OFFICE BUILDING TWICE PER MONTH. NO MATTER WHAT SURGEON DID YOUR SURGERY ALL ARE WELCOME

SO FAR I WOULD RATE HIM AS EXCELLENT... I AM HAVING MY SURGERY MARCH FIRST. I WILL GET MORE OF AN IMPRESSION THEN.

I started this process approximately 1 year ago. I finally decided on a surgeon based on this web site. So far, the process has been so-so. Dr. Schwartz's office was very prompt with getting me approved for the surgery. However, getting an appointment or having someome return your phone call from Dr. Schwartz's office is near impossible. I was supposed to have my final consultation on July 12th(which I scheduled in April) and I now have just received a phone call that the appointment will not be until August 16th. I still have yet to get a surgery date which makes it impossible to schedule time off from work and so on. Maybe things will get better! :)8/3--I finally have a surgery date!!! October 23rd...and my consult with the doctor is in less than two weeks...It's finally starting to feel real. 8/17--I met with Dr. Schwartz yesterday...after waiting for almost an hour and a half...I found that he was really nice but I felt the nurses/receptionists were not very professional at all. 10/23--got to hospital today for surgery and it was cancelled. I have been rescheduled to 11/7!!
11/1--I received a message today that my surgery has been cancelled again. No reason was given yet. No new surgery date given yet either.

The process with Dr. Schwartz was very efficient and he impressed on my husband and me that he would do everything possible to make this the most successful experience that he could. As a diabetic, there was worry about doing a LAP and working around the possible size of my liver, but the LAP went through, thanks to God and Dr. Schwartz.

The office staff have been very helpful so much so that they were able to bump up my surgery date to accomodate a change in my insurance which would have increased what I would pay for the surgery out of pocket by several thousand dollars. I am grateful to them for that. Judy Schwartz, R.N. works closely with her husband and usually facilities the information sessions preopt for interested patients. She has helped me a lot getting through the process and getting through the insurance processes (only at the end of this process did I realize the policy we were covered by was a pilot project for Federal employees and would expire on 12/31/01).

The only problem I had was because the surgery was bumped up, it was scheduled at a time that Dr. Schwartz was heading out of town for a conference, so I have not seen him since the surgery. I did see a PA in his office who helped a lot immediately after surgery when I experienced severe chest and shoulder pains.

Aftercare--meetings with dieticians, followup at 3 wks and then every three months after that. There is also a support group that meets regularly in the building where his office is.

Risks of surgery--Dr. Schwartz went over all the risks of the surgery during his consultation with my husband and myself. I also did some research before hand and knew what questions I needed answers to (although I find I always have more).

I would rate Dr. Schwartz as excellent in his work with me.

Which is better--I would have to say surgical competence at this time as I didn't see him much bedside! But he sent his wife and she was great!

Dr. Schwartz and his staff are the absolute best! He takes all necessary precautions and informs patients of the risks and benefits of surgery. I was in the best hands!

I am scheduled for surgery on 2/5/02 but have not met my surgeon yet. My appointment has been rescheduled four times. The latest appointment date I have is this coming Thurs. I am somewhat nervous, not knowing what to expect at that appointment.

The office staff seems a nice friendly group but a little disorganized to me. My paperwork was lost the first time and I had to redo it.

I would like my doctor to have both those qualities, surgical competence and good bedside maner.