Scott Shikora Bariatric Surgeon MD, FACS

CONSULT MARCH 9, 2009

Dr. Shikora is wonderful. My first impression of him was he was very serious about his work. My impression has not changed.The staff and office is very busy but what doctors office is not busy. I think what future patients should know about Dr Shikora is that he is very committed to this program and expects you to be.His emphasis on the aftercare program is HUGE!! The key to success is aftercare,aftercare,aftercare!! go to monthly meetings will increase your chances of long term success. He went over all the risks and made sure you understood them. My overall rate is A+++. His bedside manners was fantastic,The staff at Tufts(was NEMC) was supportive and very compassionate. A+ to the staff. HIGHLY RECOMMEND BOTH DOCTOR AND HOSPITAL

He was very nice, straight forward, informative.

Dr. Shikora was wonderful. He took a lot of time in the initial consult to discuss all risks and benefits of the procedure. He confirmed that I understood everything and encouraged questions. rnrnOn the day of the surgery, he greeted me warmly and told me they were right on schedule (according to the nurses, he is always on schedule :).rnrnHe made sure to visit me several times after the procedure was complete. He assured me that everything went fine and, again took time to make sure he answered any questions that I had. rnrnThe staff was always very friendly and helpful, the surgeon has a wonderful bedside manner and I would highly recommend him to anyone considering a lap-band or RNY procedure.rn

Dr. Shikora is top-notch. He is professional, cutting edge, a very good surgeon, and leads a program that is well-deserving of their title \"Center for Excellence.\"

Dr. Shikora is the Head of Surgery at Tufts Obesity Consult Center. He is very professional and experienced. The program at Tufts in one of the best. They have an integrated pre and post operative program that participants must attend. This includes attending support groups, seeing a psychologist, exercise physiologist, physician, nutritionist, etc. They stress follow-up for long-term success. Dr. Shikora is personable, but not overly warm. For me, I wanted the best surgeon even if he didn't offer a lot of warm fuzzies. Everything went very well and I would recommend Dr. Shikora to anyone looking at bariatric surgery.

My first impression of Dr. Scott Shikora was that of personal excellence. He's what one would refer to as a doctor's doctor. He is professional, courteous, well-rounded in personality, very talented, and wasn't afraid to laugh (he showed he was sensitive to his patients). Most importantly, he made and continues to make himself available to his patients. Dr. Shikora listens! I HIGHLY RECOMMEND him. The Bariatric program he and his team have put in place at Tufts New England Medical Center is outstanding and in the forefront of the field.

My first experience with Dr. Shikora was hearing speak at conference on obesity found it to be informative and found him easy to approach and discuss the issues/questions. rnWhen I met with him for my surgical consult I found that he spent the time with me to answer my concerns and questions thoroughly and did not dismiss my questions when I wanted further clarification or did not understand something. He was very clear it explaining the medical procedures.rnI found the office staff generally very pleasant and helpful scheduling appointments, My real concern was I had to make numerous trips in some weeks to see different disciplines, it was difficult to have some appointments on the same day. Also was difficult when they canceled appointments in getting them rescheduled either on the same day or close together to prevent having to make multiple trips to the center . I think piece of advice I would share is you have be strong advocate for yourself but in positive manner to get across your individual needs and what your outcome would like to be. To be open to sharing your true feelings ,fears, insecurities, it helped me a lot through this process. One of the reasons I went with this program was after being involved for Weight Watchers and workout program for 3 years and loosing over 105+ I had some difficulty maintaining myself and regained back 30lbs, I had to come to the realization that I needed another tool so after speaking with PCP we discussed the OCC with Dr Shikora, and I felt at first I had failed but in time I came to realize I needed this and another tool to aid in my weight loss on permanent basis. this program assisted me to that realization and that it was not failure but addition to what I had already been doing. The after care program is key to the success of the individual they have expectation you will maintain participation in all medical appointments and support groups in order to have long term success.They reviewed all the risks of surgery from the orientation program, video broadcast of the surgery, surgical consult and answered any questions at other times if I had them.I think it has been difficult for me to express my anxiety and fearfulness of the upcoming surgery and really not having place to express it they limit the counseling sessions to 2 visits, but I have advocated for myself for referral to therapist specializing in weight loss. It is something I feel I need right now. I think my overall rating is good/excellent in most of the areas of the surgeon and the program, I still think individuals need to self advocate for themselves when their needs are not being met or do not feel satisfied with the level of service they are getting I requested additional appointments with the psychologist and they responded by providing me the time to meet with her but also my insurance allowed extra visits.I would prefer the surgeon have competence in both surgery / bedside manner but I really prefer an experienced surgeon with the credentials and expertise in his field. But able to take the time with people to hear their concerns and questions. I am the type of person I will ask for nothing less than what I think I should get from this type of surgery. I feel I have been able to obtain that from the OCC and from Dr. Shikora, I do not have a lot negative interactions with center for the most part been very positive, through the first part of my journey.

Dr. Shikora was amazing from the get-go. As the head of the Tufts-New England Medical Center Obesity Consult Center, I knew that I was in good hands, but after meeting with him, any lingering questions or doubts were instantly removed. Competent, confident, funny, sarcastic....he was everything I'd ever want in a surgeon! His pre-op visit settled my nerves and he visited me both days of my hospital stay. All in all, I made the right choice and would recommend him to anyone in a heartbeat!

Dr. Scott Shikora Named a “Top Doctor” in SurgeryrnCongratulations to Dr. Scott Shikora who was listed as one of Boston’s top surgeons in the “America’s Top Doctors” ranking in the Sunday (5/15/05) supplement of The Boston Herald. rnrnThe ranking was achieved through surveys and nominations by hospital executives and other surgeons.rnrnYou can read all about this nomination in either the May 16 Community Newspapers supplement or in the book – “America’s Top Doctors” published by Castle, Connolly.rnrnI like Dr. Shikora. He is very thorough and supportive. He emphasized greatly the need for aftercare. NEMC has a very good pre and post-op program. He is 100+ on a scale of 1 to 10.