Magee Womens Hospital of UPMC Hospital

Very pleasant,knowledgeable about this type of surgery,makes sure you understand the risk
and all that goes with this surgery. Office staff is friendly, especially Nicole, his PA. HAS ALWAYS returned my calls quickly.Good structured aftercare program.They give out alot of hand out materials on diet,the care needed after surgery and long term care.The negitive I have to say about Dr. Ramanathan is that he
never came to check me out of hospital, his
"Fellow" did. I would have preferred to speak to him.

When I referred to Dr. Schauer's group at Magee Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh, I wasnt familiar with Dr. Ramanathan. But after meeting him and the staff I was comfortable with going ahead with the surgery. He was very informative and explained in detail everything about the surgery. He informed me of all the risks, and he had a sense of humor, which made me feel at ease. He suggests follow up visits, and I would reccomend him to anyone.

very kind and compassionate

remains unchanged

excellent;very personable

can be firm;butalways kind;often said things that were hard to hear but necessary to be heard
listen as she and her staff have a very good program
Aftercare very important;very well prepared prior to surgery
yes

yes

excellent;the best

she is all around devoted and a great technical surgeon as well

My first impression of Dr. Ramanathan was that he was highly professional, yet had a very laid-back bedside manner. My impression was right on! He is such a WONDERFUL surgeon, and he will make you feel so confident and self-assured about the very difficult choice you have to make concerning bariatric surgery.

His staff is positively fantastic, especially the physician's assistant associated with his team, Mrs. Nicole Thiel. No question is too small or meaningless...I must have called her every day the first two weeks, and I never felt as though I was bothering her or being ridiculous for asking so many questions.

The only, tiny complaint I would have would be with the office staff. They can be a wee bit slow at scheduling, and getting back to you about tests and whatnot. YOU really need to be on top of everything, and the process will go much more quickly. Make a pest of yourself!!!

Overall, Dr. Ramanathan is extremely compentent, compassionate, pleasant and an all-around great guy! He stresses aftercare, and you are well-informed before and after the surgery about the amount of care that must be involved to be successful.

Dr. Ramanathan works in the department of Minimally Invasive Surgery through Magee Women's Hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. Up to this point (almost 4 months post op), I am very pleased with Dr. Ramanathan and the results of my weight loss surgery. From the initial consultation to the follow up visits, both Dr. Ramanathan and the staff at the Department of Mininally Invasive Surgery have been thorough, compassionate and very helpful on all aspects of weight loss surgery.

She was wonderful and very supportive. Her surgical assistant Dr. Levy was just as great. I felt very comfortable and safe with them. Their program is extensive and their information covered just about everything. If there was any questions I had, I could call at any time and ask and get a straight answer. I just loved her and the hospital, Magee Women's. I know everyone wants to hear what might be negative, but honestly, I don't have any yet. If I do in the future, I'll be sure to come back and post it. I am 6 weeks post op now and so far, so good as far as surgical support.

No problems. She comes across stern but she just wants you take everything seriously and succeed so she means well!

STAFF is amazing!

No problems with the office


Everything is explained in detail and very thorough.

well my first impression of DR. C is she is great! she is very foward and honest about the risks. She makes sure you understand what they do and how they will go about doing it. I could not be any happier with her and her staff. I was seen fairly quickly and everyone was very nice.

Dr. Courcoulas is the second surgeon I've seen since January '03. The first doctor I saw was Dr.Hamad who is also from Pittsburgh. I liked Dr. Hamad and her staff. She is easy to talk to and seems to really care about her patients. I have a very large ventral hernia due to 3 c-sections. The hernia is too large to repair laproscopically and so it seems that the hernia repair and weight loss surgery will have to be "open" surgery. Dr. Hamad seems to prefer to do laproscopic surgery(in my opinion) so she asked me to consult with Dr. Courcoulas. I had all my testing done so I had the paperwork faxed to her office. Dr. Courcoulas reviewed my tests and said she felt confident that she could help me and that I should get through the hernia repair and wls at the same time without much trouble. She was very pleasant and easy to talk to. The office staff has been very helpful. I never felt uncomfortable asking anyone a question. Dr. Courcoulas told me the risks of the surgery and explained everything to my satisfaction. At this point I'd give her a 9 out of 10.
At 12 weeks out I'd give Dr. Courcoulas a 10 out of 10! She did an amazing job with my complicated surgery. Her bedside manner was wonderful. I have been treated very well at my post-op check ups. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Originally I was scheduled to have Dr. Eid as my surgeon BUT... he could not fit me into his schedule until mid-July and this was not a good time at all with family events 8(
The scheduling staff at the MIS unit at Magee's was able to fit me into Dr. Giselle Hamad's schedule in early June. This certainly makes my summer much less stressful. I think Dr. Eid is a very skilled physician and I liked his approach and discussion when we met during the workshop in mid March. BUT I am meeting Dr Hamad on June first and I am confident I will not be disappointed. I think the baraitric surgical staff at Magee's is the most qualified and I feel sucure going there.