Raymond Drew Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

About 25 years ago my mom had gastric bypass surgery from one of the same surgeon's in Dr. Drew's group. That is why I picked Dr. Drew. He has a good reputation in MN. I also chose him, because he will do a lap. procedure, which is important to me. I have met with Dr. Drew once and we, amazingly, were able to talk for about an hour, privately. He is very busy, so I was impressed with this personal time he spent with me. I was able to ask him many questions, and he explained a lot of things to me. The main nurse in the office is really good, and I know she invests a lot of herself with all of their gastric by pass patients. Another great thing is that they had information seminars that I went to before I started going through the paperwork to get on "the list" as they call it to get a surgery date. They were very helpful services, and now, just about a year later, I am set to have the surgery. I didn't think I would get a date so fast, but it is approaching rapidly. So far, I have been impressed with Dr. Drew and his staff!

I met Dr Drew for the very first time today (2/14/03). My very first impression was that he was very kind. He has very kind eyes and beautiful hand. He seems to be very confident, which is reassuring since my life will be in his hands during the operation.

My appointment was scheduled for 9am. He had be delayed at the hospital. I did not get to see him until about 10am. It was worth the wait.

He started out going over all the risks of surgery and made sure I understood what he was saying. He spent a good amount of time with this. Once the risks were covered, we reviewed the operation itself and the aftercare schedule.

I will add more comments about his bedside manner after the surgery.

Gentle man with a great working knowledge and experience. Caring and yet honest; Dr. Drew was very effective in giving me surgical risks, successes. He did not mince words. Have my impressions changed?? NO! Dr. Drew's office staff are great listeners for the most part and fairly efficient in procedures. Least likable thing is that I had to travel 80+ miles to have the surgery and experienced one very weight-biased night nurse who should be working with maintenace and machines---nothing living. There is an aftercare procedure at 3,6, 9, and 12 months. Aftercare support groups are 80+ miles away and have been difficult for me to attend. Overall rating for Dr. Drew and his staff is 8. I believe that both bedside manner and surgical competence were very good albeit extremely busy.

I work at Abbott Northwestern Hospital so I had already met him long before I had decided to have the surgery. I like him as a doctor and he spent a lot of time with me during my preop appointment. the only thing I don't like is the fact that there is virtually no aftercare program. I am now 4 months postop and have had 2 postop appointments. I do have to say that when I did call the office concerned about some symptoms I had been having I was told by the secretary that one of the phone nurses went home ill and that she didn't know how long it would be before someone called me back; Dr Drew called me himself within 15 minutes which reassured me greatly

My first impression of Dr. Drew was that he was very mellow, laid back, nice and easy to talk to. His staff was very pleasent and professional.

My 1st impression Of Dr.Drew is he is very caring and truly honest with his patients. He made me feel very comfortable with my decision to have the surgery. His office staff are very busy but also friendly. To all future patients when you meet with Dr.Drew you will also see how caring and honest he is. The wait for me to see him was about 8 months , and was worth the wait. My info meeting was on the 13th of May and I met Dr.Drew on the 6th of DEC. When you meet with him his office staff will weigh you and you will have some blood work done, the you will meet the doc, he will explain the process of the surgery the goods and the bads of the surgery. He will answer all questions you ask, he will even talk about his training he has had which is years and years not enough time to go into that right now. So after you meet you can make your Appt for surgwery if you have all tests done and out of the way. Advice go see the dietician and get the gallblader ultrasound done before your Appt with the doc, this can make it much faster to get your date. He also will tell you about the after care and about keeping all appts after the surgery. I would rate Dr.Drew ######1 in the whole world, His bedside manner and his surgical competence is well above excellent. I had my surgery done on the 19th of DEC. and Iam feeling great, I also just had my 3 week check up on the 7th of Jan.03 and all is good I had to learn how to give myself the B12 injection which was a piece of cake didn't hurt at all. I am so happy with my decision to do this for me. Thank You Dr.Drew:)

When I was able to meet with Dr. Drew, he was very helpful on answering all my questions and calming my fears. He was honest about complications, but was very confident in the surgery. The office staff seemed really nice and helpful, especially Christa, she knew I was nervous, but she said " They do alot of these surgeries, you will be fine." she was very nice and helpful. I would recommend him to anyone that is looking into having the surgery. We will see though after I have my surgery FEB. 13TH 2003.

I think I am going to like Dr. Drew a lot. I got the call one day and had the appointment the next week. I had a conflicting event, but was not about to give up my appointment with Dr. Drew! My appointment with Dr. Drew was for 3:30, and I had to be at a function 95 miles away at 7. Unfortunately I was his last appointment for the day and I did not see him until more than an hour after my scheduled time slot. I did make it to my 7 pm function, so it was OK - but I sure would have appreciated a more "on schedule" appointment.

Dr. Drew was very thorough - went over all the risks, etc. He has a very busy office - but rushed as they are - they get everything done. As mentioned above, I think I am going to like him a lot.

This was my personal experience, I am easy to please and always look for the good in people.
Dr. Drew has a very kind, calming presence. I was a little nervous for our first meeting but when he came into the exam room there was just something about him that was instantly calming.
Dr. Drew is very professional and fully explained everything up front, went over everything that we had gotten in the informational meeting and reinforced how this will change my life.
Dr. Drew's office staff is what "customer service" is all about. Whenever I called with questions or concerns they checked into them fully and followed up with me in a very timely manner. They are the ones who did all the work with the insurance. I did however call the insurance co. to confirm so as to calm my concerns about the insurance covering the procedure and then when I had a date I called them back to advise the new date.
I rate Dr. Drew overall, excellent. His office is right at the hospital which was convient. Abbott Northwestern Hospital gives extroidinary care, they were my hospital of choice, so to have Dr. Drew there was great.

Dr. Drew could work on his bedside manner, but he appears to be extremely knowledgeable and competent. I trust him to do the surgery. The office staff is VERY overworked and can sometimes seem to be unsympathetic towards people waiting for a surgery date. I've finally gotten a surgery date after 6 months of waiting (AFTER being approved by my insurance company!) I'm told the wait is now 9-15 months. I can't believe they are still soliciting new patients when they can't handle the number they have now. Can't wait til this whole thing is over!