Michael A. Snyder, MD

Dr. Snyder is an American College of Surgeons, board-certified, general surgeon in Denver, CO. He first became interested in Bariatric Surgery during his residency in Portland, OR, at Oregon Health Sciences University. Since establishing his practice in Colorado, he has further pursued this interest. He is an active member of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and is Medical Director of the Bariatric Surgery Center at Rose Medical Center. He is also on the Colorado Board of the American College of Surgeons.
 
His bariatric training has been comprehensive and methodical. He sought out and attended an ASMBS-certified preceptorship in Eugene, OR, in August 2000, in order to learn from one of the giants in the field—Dr. Latham Flanagan, Jr. He returned to Colorado to establish the Denver Center for Bariatric Surgery. After becoming established and gaining considerable experience in the field of open gastric bypass surgery, he then went to Jupiter, FL, to train with Dr. Jefferson Vaughan, Jr., and start developing his expertise and knowledge in laparoscopic (minimally invasive) bariatric procedures. Already an accomplished, advanced, laparoscopic, general surgeon and a member of SAGES (the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons), Dr. Snyder felt that his bariatric program was prepared to take the next step. He then went to San Diego, CA, where he trained with the recognized leader of the field of laparoscopic bariatric surgery, Dr. Alan Wittgrove, who had already made a internationally-recognized name for himself as an expert in the advance laparoscopic realm.
 
The next advance made in the bariatric realm, after the laparoscopic bypass program was in place and successful, was the addition of the Lap-Band to his armamentarium in the treatment of morbid obesity. He was educated on this process in the summer of 2001 at the ASMBS conference in Las Vegas, NV. Then, after passing the strict selection criteria set forth by the Lap-Band parent company, he completed his Lap-Band training under Dr. Robert Snow and Dr. Juan Antonio Lopez.
 
In 2012, Dr. Snyder trained in and began performing the Laparoscopic Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. He is now performing up to 10 per week and sees it as a critically valuable tool in the bariatric surgical arena.
 
His expertise and experience in the primary bariatric surgery arena has translated into his being sought out to regularly perform Conversion and Revisional procedures. He is a leader in the region in helping those who have not found success with their bariatric surgery, those who may be having surgery-related issues or who need an alternate surgical consideration. He strongly believes that the "disease-process of severe and morbid obesity" may well need such procedural adaptations and changes. This is not seen as a "failure," but rather as a part of the continuum of management of a complex process.
 
Dr. Snyder is now the regional leader in the field of bariatric surgery. He frequently teaches (nationally and internationaly) about obesity, bariatric surgery, and bariatric patient management. As of January 2015, he has personally done over 5000 bariatric surgical procedures. His program is the most comprehensive and highest volume program in the region. He regularly treats patients from all over the US and, when appropriate, from other countries. He is the most experienced bariatric surgeon in the region. (And, in the bariatric world, experience and surgical volume are critical predictors of safety and success.) Even with such a broad program, he is committed to giving each patient his expertise, availability, and patient-centered care. (Every patient gets his personal cell phone and e-mail.)
 
Dr. Snyder has also worked to create a model Program and Operating Room environment. His program is exceptionally vertically integrated to make sure that each component of his patients' care is individualized to them and the specific needs of the bariatric surgical patient. It starts in the office: He has three coordinators whose only job is to help with insurance and financial inner-workings. They are experts in getting you the benefits you deserve and they have an extremely high conversion rate to surgery. In his office he has three dieticians, an RN, and a NP. In peri-op evaluations, he has his own team of GI, Cardiology, Pulmonary, Sleep, Anesthesiology, Critical Care, Internal Medicine, and allied medical doctors who have a specific interest and expertise in caring for patients with significant weight issues and the attendant medical problems. In his OR he has a designated OR and Surgical Team who also are trained in and extremely experienced in the care of such patients. Their incredible safety record speaks for itself.
 
Dr. Snyder is an internationally published author (1/2011) of the Hay House publication, Full: A Life Without Dieting.
 
Dr. Snyder’s interest in Bariatric Surgery is based on his knowledge that morbid obesity is one of the essential, yet greatly ignored, diseases that physicians are exposed to every day. He believes that, in the appropriate patient, the surgical treatment of morbid obesity is the essential therapy that can treat the real problem-- not just the symptoms. He has found that in his patients the results are dramatic—ranging from life-changing to life-saving. He appreciates and is humbled by the honor and responsibility of caring for his patients struggling with this most debilitating condition.
 
Dr. Snyder frequently says: "Surgery is 'easy.' Living with it is hard. It is my job to make your surgery as safe and successful as possible. But, my real job is teaching you how to live and thrive with your new tool."
 
It is not about "just losing weight"-- it is about becoming able to live life on your own terms and with the health and quality of life that you deserve!