I am an experienced board certified weight loss surgeon and bariatrician. I specialize in helping people who struggle with their weight not only lose it but keep it off and significantly improve their health for good. I have been doing this successfully for nearly 2 decades. Helping people lose weight and understand how to keep it off is my mission in life and gives meaning to what I do every day. It’s amazing to see the transformation. I not only give people a new surgical “tool” to lose weight and improve their health quickly, but I provide them and anyone who wants to lose 5 pounds or hundreds of pounds with a comprehensive step-by-step program that works so they not only lose weight but change their underlying habits and enjoy their success for life!
I grew up on a farm outside of Buffalo. I am used to hard work. I used what little money I had to put myself through school. I worked to make ends meet along with many student loans. When I finished college, I was like many people – I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted to do. I thought about medical school but knew that if I pursued that career, it would be an intense lifetime commitment and I wasn’t sure I was ready. I loved working with my hands so I began working as a cabinet maker. After a couple of years, I decided to take the exam for medical school and did great. My medical school interviews went well and I began my pursuit of becoming a surgeon at Wake Forest University in NC. It’s hard to believe now, but I completed my surgical residency after medical school in Ohio nearly 20 years ago. During that time, I was trained to perform weight loss surgery. However, after residency, I thought I would focus on general surgery and never perform bariatric surgery again.
Once I began my surgical career in Virginia, I found a real need in the community and a desire within myself to help overweight individuals who were really struggling with their health and unable to fully enjoy their life. I began performing weight loss surgery and something amazing happened. I found a group of the most grateful individuals and families I had ever come in contact with.
In the 1990’s, I decided to do something unheard of at the time – I chose to specialize exclusively in bariatric surgery. Over time, I found some of these grateful people began to regain their weight. They were frustrated and so was I. I realized that they regained their weight because the tool almost worked “too good”. You see weight loss is inevitable after weight loss surgery (particularly during the first year) but if you don’t understand how to use your new tool most effectively and change your underlying habits, you are potentially set up for long-term failure. This began my quest to have the most comprehensive quality weight loss surgery program available anywhere. Over the past nearly 2 decades, I have been able to do just that. I have performed over 4,500 weight loss procedures, become board certified in bariatric medicine as well and developed a curriculum called Weight Management University™ and Weight Management University for Weight Loss Surgery™ that helps to ensure long term weight loss success for anyone who wants to lose 5 pounds or hundreds of pounds. These programs work so well that I want to share it with surgeons, physicians, hospitals and patients everywhere.
Now I give them not only a tool to lose weight through surgery, but teach them how to keep it off so they can get their life back and enjoy the things others sometimes take for granted. This gives true meaning to what I do each and every day and has led me on a wonderful and fulfilling journey. If you struggle with your weight, struggle no more. Let me help you enjoy the life you want and deserve.
- Board Certification
- American Board of Surgery
- American Board of Bariatric Medicine
- Membership
- American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
- American Society of Bariatric Physicians
- American Medical Association
