Michael Schweitzer Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

My first impression of Dr. Schweitzer was that he seemed a bit young, but yet he was very knowledgeable and made me feel comfortable.

It has been difficult reaching him, as he is changing his office from Georgetown University Hospital to Sinai Hospital in Baltimore. I do not know why he is changing hospitals. I believe he has only been at Georgetown since November 2000. He moved there from Richmond. Dr. Schweitzer has been communicating with me via email.

He appeared to be very young which was scary to me. He seemed quite preoccupied, but the doctors who perform this surgery are extremely busy. He was very good attentive when he made his rounds while I was in the hospital after the surgery. He was very interested in how my weight loss was progressing and in the healing of my incisions. The nurses in that particular office are very nice. I liked him very much after a couple of visits with him. He is a very good doctor. I have kept in contact with him even though he has moved to another hospital. He insisted that I keep up with my annual visits so they could keep track of my health and also to provide information to them about how the surgery worked for me. He went over what the risks were in my first visit to him. Excellent surgeon. His surgical competence is much better than his bedside manner.

My first impression of Dr. Schweitzer is that he seemed much younger than his picture on his website. He seems quite capable. I have been very impressed that he takes the time to answer each question without blowing you off. I'm not too impressed with Georgetown University Hospital, but he is moving to Sinai Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, which is a much nicer drive. I have sent him two emails since my office visit and he has responded quickly. His "book" on before and aftercare of bariatric surgery was the big deciding factor for me. It was very detailed and exact in what I would be doing on a daily basis after surgery. So far, I don't have anything negative to say, and don't expect to have.

I had my first consult today!! Dr schweitzer was so nice and he answered all my questions, half before I even asked them. He went over all the types of surgery and which ones he does and why! He is going to be moving closer to me In Baltimore at Sinai hospital so more likely then not I will have to wait until he moves in July to have my surgery. Although 4 months is a long wait, I want the best surgeon for me, which I am convinced is Dr Schweitzer. He is kinda young looking but is very experienced! He even pretty much talked my mom into having surgery! I just can't believe that sometime soon I will have a new body and life!!!
UPDATE-03/21/01-I called to see if my letter was sent to my insurance and it had been faxed today! So I will just wait and see what happens next. Maybe an April date is possible!!!!
UPDATE-03/22/01-I am approved!!! My surgery date is April 25,2001!! Thank you Dr S and Cintricia for putting up with me!!!

I thought he's kinda young looking.
I asked a few of his co-workers about him and
they all said good things.
For the most part his staff has been fairly average.
I wish he had told me about this web site sooner.
He's very confident in his work and trys to make
himself available to his post op patients.
I'm still going through the aftercare part, so
I can't rate that at this time. I was given a
booklet to follow, but I still could use some
more help. I'm seeking my own nutritionist at
this time and it was given to me through his office
and she (Linda Aills) referred me to this web
site. We went over the risks fairly quickly,
mostly because I'd already researched it and the
whole Carnie Wilson story just cinched it for
me. She and I had all the same symptons and
everything. Even the same zodiac sign.
So far I'll go with surgical competence.

Dr. Schweitzer is an outstanding surgeon. He performs LAP RNY and trains others around the country in this procedure.

At this point in his career (Dec.,2000) and being fairly new to Georgetown University Medical Center, he has very little arranged in the way of pre and post op information, nutrition, or follow-up care. For a patient who is highly self-motivated, well-researched, and willing to find alternative resources, he's terrific. Other patients could well "fall through the cracks" without proper couseling, nutrition, and support services.

Approval for surgery took a while because the Dr.'s office didn't send the proper information to the insurance company (or so the insurance company claimed).

Dr. S's assistant, Sentresia, was always courteous, responsive, and familiar with my situation.

Surgery went off great and I was up and moving in no time. I saw no evidence of "cold fish" personality described in other reports, although he wouldn't be described as "warm fuzzy" on first meeting. This was not important to me. After surgery we found him to be caring and humorous.

Currently, I'd rate highly overall. I don't know what might happen with future problems or follow-up care, so I'll post more in the future.

Dr. Schweitzer is now at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, DC. Everything I have heard about him suggests that he is a more than competent surgeon.

Arrogant, but good. Just had first consult.
Aaron on Chicago Hope. His interest is in non invasive Surgery. Laparoscopic. I just had my surgery with him. He is an excellent cut man. I have gone home after only two days in the Hospital because I am feeling and doing very, very well. He is concerned and dedicated but not a people person. he does care very much though about the whole person and how they will respond to this surgery. He made sure that I wanted him as my surgeon and that I had no reservations about his skill or the procedure that I was undertaking. In fact he knew that I was "over educated about the surgery" and possible consequences or outcomes of the surgery to the extent that he wrote them in his notes about the case. He is moving to another city in December and has arranged for Dr. DeMaria to take over the case management when he leaves. This is fine with me since Demaria assisted with the Surgery and is afterall the Chief of Trauma Surgery at MCV and the pioneer of Laparoscopic Surgery in the field of Bariatric Medicine. Surgery was 10/8/99. Edited 10/11/99 - Three days after surgery! Lost 9 pounds so far. Ps It is hard to get all those proteins down in one day but today I got 69 grams of protein and 780 Kcals.