Choosing a Bariatric surgeon is one of the most important parts of weight loss surgery. You want a surgeon who is skilled and who is someone you can trust. How did you find and choose your surgeon when you decided to get weight loss surgery?

Mark your answer and let us know in the discussion below how you found your surgeon and why you chose the one you did! This information can help BariatricPal members who are considering surgery to find a great surgeon.

I asked for a recommendation for a surgeon from a diabetic specialist. His very curt reply was, "Nobody in this town!" So, on the internet I went. I found my surgeon nearly 1,000 miles round trip from my location but still within Alaska where I live. Very satisfied with my choice.

Karen in the woods of Alaska

I saw a TV special for my surgeon's group several years ago... put the idea in the back of mind at that time.

My wife has several friends who had WLS, and all of them were doing well, and were happy that they had it done. When a few friends of mine had procedures, I became more interested. At the time I did not want to risk my life on elective surgery, but after some thought I decided being where I was at was more of a risk. I researched WLS as best I could on-line, and decided it was worth investigating.

I picked my surgeon based on recommendations, and also because of his record and being a circle of excellence clinic--which turned out to be an insurance requirement.

I attended the meetings, and then meet with the surgeon to discuss surgery. I was impressed with his honesty. And I also wanted to have the surgery done in a major hospital with a good surgical staff on hand in case a problem developed. Then the seven month journey of jumping through hoops began. I don't regret it.

Alex's poll is good, but some of us could check more than one box.

I live literally right around the corner from 2 different hospitals, and I attended both seminars on WLS at each hospital and made a decision based on out of pocket fees and experience of surgeon. I ultimately made my choice because the one hospital was very unprofessional in their presentation (a lot of paperwork to fill out and then they gave out a lot of paperwork to keep up with, the chairs were SMALL, the surgeon was rude and didn't want to take questions, the assistant, who schedules and runs the seminars twice a month, didn't seem to understand how to work a simple projector... It was a mess!). They also wanted a $300 fee just to look at your medical records. I ended up going with Dr. Oldham instead. Their team have been nothing but awesome compared to the other group.

my clinic was the only approved "bariatric center of excellence" and I needed to use one in order to be covered by my plan. however, I did have a choice of 4 doctors, which I used the bariatricpal directory to help me decide. my PCP concurred and referred me.... the rest is history!

My GP recommended my surgeon.

I first heard about this through my son and Daughter in law they both had surgery.They both have lost over 200 pds a piece in a little over a year and a half.So I decided if I want out of this Nursing Home then I needed to also have it done.I'm only 56 years old and live in a nursing Home.So I had it done in Dec of 2013 and have lost 200 pounds.I started out at 500 pounds and I can happily say I now weigh 299.My surgeon is Dr.Marshal from Peoria Illinois.He is great

A friend of mine had gastric bypass surgery in Greenville NC. She did so well that I started to think of it as an option for myself. I mentioned it to my family practice doc in New Bern NC. He told me that he had heard really good things about the weight loss surgeons in Morehead City NC which is a lot closer to my home in Havelock NC. I checked into it and attended a seminar . I decided on lap band and the rest is history. It was a great decision for me. I have lost 98 p but ounds so far and am getting close to reaching my goal. I look and feel better than I have in years. I still have the fibromyalgia that contributed to my weight gain but it's easier to deal with without all of that extra weight ! My surgeon and his PA and the rest of his staff are really helpful and supportive !

my pcp recommended my surgeon. He was so concerned with all my diseases and illnesses and wanted everyone of them addressed. it took almost 2 years to see all the specialists. but I appreciated it. I had everyone of my doctors approve wls so I went into it very confidant. my surgeon moved to florida so I am now with his partner at the time.

My OBGYN referred me, and I also did some research on him to make sure he was a good choice. Turns out he is the best in my area.

I picked other as my selection. I like my hospital - it is consistently ranked as the best in Chicago. And I like to keep all my medical stuff within said hospital. So I looked up on their website who their surgeons were and went to a seminar. At the time Dr. Hungness was conducting the seminar, so he is the surgeon I went with. Funny enough, it did not even occur to me to shop around for a surgeon because of the excellence of my hospital. My NP had suggested I look into surgery, but that was a couple years before I actually thought about doing it seriously. And she did not push either Dr. Hungness or Dr. Nagle (in fact she did not even mention their names).

I actually had three friends who had the surgeon that eventually did my surgery. Each of my

friends had very good results and really liked the friendly and professional manner that my

surgeon displayed with each of them. After thinking about the surgery, I decided the best way to know about the surgery was to accompany my good friend when she had her Lap Band surgery. In that way, I met the surgeon and followed my friend through her first few days of surgery. After spending this time observing how well she was treated and how fast she healed I knew I wanted Dr. Michaelson for my surgery as well and I was not disappointed.

Kaiser referred me to Bakersfield Surgical Associates. http://bakersfieldsurgicalassociates.com/about_hirani.html

There are three surgeons. On my first referral I chose Dr.Hormuz Irani based on his experience. Five days before my surgery date Kaiser cancelled our insurance over some silly thing. Got it restored but did not go set up the surgery date again until almost 2 yrs later.

This time I just let them assign a surgeon and I got Dr. Nirav Naik. He is great! really instilled confidence in me as far as going through with the surgery and has closely monitored my progress since my surgery July 23rd.

Right after my surgery Dr. Naik left Bakersfield Surgical Associates and took his patients with him to Valley Advanced Surgical. I am sure glad Kaiser allowed him to continue with my aftercare.

http://www.drnnaik.com/Loss-Surgery-Location-Bakersfield-CA.html

I attended a seminar in my hometown. The surgeon had actually had the procedure. He gave an awesome presentation and is very passionate about the subject. I met with him and started the process. I would have had him perform the surgery except for 2 things. First, my insurance did not cover it so I had to self pay and midway through the process he moved jobs and went to Utah.

At this point, I had been researching the procedure for around 8 months. I now switched to trying to find the best surgeon that I could at the best price. I narrowed it down to around 4 surgeons thanks to this site and then started doing my own research on the internet.

I settled on Dr. Umbach because he was ranked as one of the top surgeons in this type of surgery. I believe he was top ranked in 2011 and 2012. I got lucky and spoke with one of his patients as well. He also has a cash price which was a consideration due to my self pay. Lastly, although this had no bearing on my final decision, he is located in Vegas which isn't a bad place to have to be for the few days that you are recovering.

I know I made the best decision for me. Mexico might be good but I wasn't comfortable with it and the care that I received from Dr. Umbach and his staff was top notch. I would be glad to speak with anyone about them if you are looking and tell you about my experience.

I am pretty independent, so I cannot speak to the long term aftercare as I don't utilize it and I am only 3 months out. I have spoke to the nutritionist a few times and she is very knowledgeable.

My sleep apnea doc referred me to a surgeon associated with the same "group" at a local hospital. I started the process of band to RNY revision as that surgeon was not a sleeve advocate and barely mentioned it as an option. for reasons I can't really articulate, I just couldn't do it. I was very emotional, distressed, cried alot and just felt like such a failure with the band. I felt I would fail again and that surgeon's program did nothing to make me feel any better.

I saw an ad for non surgical weight loss - a 2 year committment. Out of desparation I called them and luckily the director of the program answered my call. After a brief consult, she told me I was not suited for the non surgical program and based on my history, she strongly recommented WLS. I told her no thanks.. but she convinced me to meet with surgeons at Puget Sound Surgical who are big sleeve advocates and have a very comprehensive program.

I was still scared and full of fear of failure, but somehow their program just clicked with me.

I still believe that for some of us, the total package - the nutritionalists, nurses and other support structure is one of the keys to success beyond the surgeons. I also found alot of compassion and understanding AND education on obesity there - from the surgeons and the whole team. The pieces came together, although I still did some kicking and fighting.

They insisted my slipped band HAD TO GO. so I did that. Then I was so incredibly hungry with the band gone. I was already over 300# and realized I was going to just start gaining. Then my insurance was switching as of Jan 1 - to specifically exclude the sleeve.... so more than a year after my sleep doctor sent me out seeking weight loss surgery ... i was finally sleeved Dec 11, 2011.

My only regret is not doing it sooner... I have had unbelievable success and am now at a normal BMI, single digit clothing size etc.

I'd seen a co-worker achieve amazing success with her bypass WLS. I asked her about it & she told me who she went to & what she had done.

I then researched the various available WLS options; Bypass, RNY, Banding, DUO Switch (or whatever that's called); each procedure's benefits, fallbacks, possible complications, the actual procedure details, the risks, how many die on the table from each WLS procedure, and each year from post-opcomplications, the prognoses on each procedure, pre-op protocol, avg hospital stay, post-op protocol & long term prognoses.

When I decided on the banding, I conducted a parallel analysis between the Lap & Realize bands (I chose the Realize).

Then, I checked out the surgeons' practices, online. Read every page. I read every detail about each surgeons' Education, Colleges/Universities attended and whether they earned multiple degrees/ other specializations, their college ranking (if they're dead last in their class, I don't want em!) whether or not they graduated with honors or were awarded Fellowships (only the best of the best are), their affiliations & memberships & what boards/ committees they're serving on, whether or not they are graduate-school, teaching doctors, their practice histories (whether or not they've moved around a lot-not a good indication of quality), other specializations, their WLS philosophies & if they stay abreast of latest technologies, their success rate, if they participate with my ins. & what's covered / what's not, their surgery schedules (how far out they're booking surgeries), etc.

Then, I went to Health Check site which shows patient-rating scores on a number of patient-driven experiences with their surgeon, plus with commentary. This site covers docs across a broad range of specializations, not just WLS. The site also shows whether the surgeon has been sued for malpractice or sanctioned by their licensing agency/oversight org. - for any number of possible violations.

I found Malene Ingram to be an excellent fit for me & she was. After the surgery, though, you only see the PA's for fills, etc. I imagine the PA's refer more serious issues back to Doc Ingram, if it looks like more surgery is necessary.