Magee Womens Hospital of UPMC Hospital

Dr. Hamad surprised me with her youth. She is young and attractive. She is also very smart (I suppose that helps when one is a surgeon). I liked that Dr. Hamad "struck me" as very competent. I assume that anyone capable of doing a surgery like this would be competent. But I was especially impressed by her intelligence and honesty. She is no-nonsense: she very clearly defines what you need to do and expects you to do it. She (and her staff) encouraged me get involved in support groups, both live and on the Internet. She honestly addressed the risks of surgery. She said she's done 600+ surgeries, but (and she looked me close in the eyes and said this) "someday, I'm going to lose somebody." I appreciated her confidence and her honesty.

The office staff at Magee Women's Hospital is first class. They took care of everything for me , beginnging to end.

I think bedside manner was wonderful. In my case, my doctor(s) weren't all that warm, but the nurses and physician assistants were so supportive. Personally, as to surgeons, I'll take competence in the surgical suite over warmth in the recovery room.

In the months since my surgery, I have gotten to know Dr. Hamad and her support staff, and I've grown to appreciate them all the more. She - and they - truly care about their patients. And I am more than grateful for that, and for their excellence.

My first impression of dr courcoulas was very good, I felt I had picked the right surgeon
As I went through my process with her, I found out how right I was, she is very thourough and truly covers all the bases, before "she" clears you for the surgery, I was cleared by my insurance in may, she was ready to do the surgery in oct.
Her staff is very helpful and ready to share information freely, they welcome questions and take time to help you.
She is big on aftercare, her patients are encouraged to participate in the monthly suport group meetinngs at shadyside hospital and recieve assistance from the weight management center staff that run the meetings.
She was good about explaining all aspects of the surgery, what to expect and the problems that could arise.She even came in to see me while I was in prep getting ready to go to surgery to make sure everything was okay with me.
I think both competence and bedside manner are important, but competence has to take preference. Fortunately she has both. I shopped for the best surgeon I could find before my surgery and I am totally satisfied that I chose her and would and do recommend her to everyone who is thinking about having this surgery
At the bottom of this question session, it asks if I had anything negative to say. I can honestly say that the ONLY negative thing I can say about dealing with dr courcoulas is the time spent in her waiting room for visits. She is very busy and the time she takes with patients puts her behind schedule on a regular basis. My first visit, I had a problem getting there on time and was two hours late, I was in contact with the staff and they were like "don't worry it's okay" when I got there I found out why, I waited another hour and a half to see the dr...that is the only downside I have experienced dealing with dr courcoulas

I was impressed with Dr. Courcoulas-she seems to be pretty supportive of her patients-and is much in demand. The wait in her office was loooonnnnngggg, but I had the heads up on that ahead of time, so I was prepared for it. Her office staff calls me every few weeks to see how I'm doing and to keep me on track with the 6 months of Dr. supervised diet and the other requirements of my insurance. She addressed the risks of surgery well, and let me know it wouldn't be easy-but that she was willing to help me get there.

Dr. Hamad is amazing! She sees a problem and tackles it. She seems a little quiet......but extremely capable. Her office staff is very efficient.
She has a very structured aftercare program. She knows what she expects from you and she wants you to do it. I had a last minute panic attack and she came in and simply stated. "This is YOUR decision.......if youre not comfortable we can try again in a month or so". You wont get a hard-sell from Dr. Hamad.
She has done over 800 of these surgeries and never lost a patient. I asked her about blood clots and she said she has had 3 incidences of them, but all were resolved. Dr.Hamads numbers speak for themselves!

I've only seen Dr. Ramanathan once at my new patient workshop. I didn't get the chance to speak with him one-on-one, but from what I could tell, he's an extremely good surgeon. He was very honest about risks but he was also very encouraging. He seems to be extremely capable. He's done over 500 weight loss surgeries so he's no hack.

My first impression of Dr. Hamad is "warm & compassionate yet firm". The staff was great other than I didn't really like the personality of the resident that checked me & spoke to me. Dr. Hamad tells it like it is, she advises you of all the risks and benfits as well (if you do like instructed). Her last words to me as I left the office were "I look forward to working with you Deborah". That made me feel like a "real" person & I said the same back to her.

Very professional and caring
It only improved as she showed her self to be very serious and strick in her attention of her patient
The staff was extremely efficiant and very pleasent
She did not tlak to me long enough, i liked her
That even thought she is very strick, she really cares and is good with her surgery.
Her staff is at you beckon call and you have personal numbers of staff homes and cell numbers
Yes, she has a nurse at your dispossal at all timesand wants all patients to participate in her support groups .
She was very specific about the risks of surgery almost too truthful and scared me but showed her self to want anyone to knoww just waht they are doing .
Excellent,in her bed side manner,and in her overall care iof me as a patient.
Both are important but of course surgical competence is best.

I liked her very much!

I was impressed with her honesty about the risks.

Every one I talked to in her office was kind and helpful with all my questions.
I have nothing bad to say about Dr. Courcoulas, she is tops!

She tells you like it is. If you smoke stop she will not operate if you do in the month before your surgery!

yes

Yes she told me all of the risks even with the problems with my kidneys

The best!

Both

The first impression I had of Dr. Hamad was a very good one. She was honest and up front about all aspects of the surgery. She made sure I knew all the risks involved. She was also very friendly to me. After attending a support group, my impression only got better. She is really down to earth, but professional at the same time. I have total confidence that I have a very knowledgable surgeon. I feel my life will be in good hands. I absolutely love everyone on her staff. They have always been there for me to answer any questions that I have had whether it be by phone or by e-mail. They kept in contact with me for all needed paperwork and made sure they had everything they needed for insurance approval. Dr. Hamad emphasizes quite a lot on aftercare. Overall, at this point in time, she would get an 11 on a scale of 1-10. I don't know about her bedside manner yet, but will update that once my surgery is finished. I feel that anyone that is interested in this surgery would be in excellent hands with Dr. Hamad and her staff.

Had my 1st consultation with Dr Hamad and her staff in October. She seemed cool and professional and was very upfront about the risks and realities of surgery. Behind her cool exterior is a person of warmth and caring. I understand shes very concerned about all of her patients.
When I went to a support group meeting recently, I was hoping to get a little more insight about her, as I understand she attends the meetings, but unfortunately she was out of town at the time. Those in attendance who were post-op had nothing but good things to say about her...stating that they couldnt have chosen a better surgeon. From what I understand, she does her job well, and the rest will lie within me to make this work.
Her staff is nothing but professional and efficient. Anytime I have had to call with questions about testing, insurance coverage etc..they were very knowledgable and helpful. In fact, I hit a few snags along the way..such as getting denied by my secondary insurance, and before I even got the letter in the mail, they had already started working on the problem. They are definately on the ball, and I cant thank them enough for making the "red tape" so much easier to handle.
In fact, it was only a few days later that they called back with the news that my surgery had been approved by the insurance company, and I was given a date...May 5th..WooHoo...I'm both excited and scared...luckily its only a few weeks away and I wont have to dwell on it for long :)
I was set up for an appt for the pre-op testing and 2nd consultation with Dr Hamad before the surgery. So, will keep you informed on how that goes. My overall impression so far..I feel that I am in good hands with the reputation of Magee Hospital and Dr Hamad...know this is not going to be easy, but I trust them with my life. Cant thank the office staff enough for all they have done..they are an awesome group of people working there :)