Education...

For People Who Are Seeking Weight Loss Surgery Information ...
Many people are concerned about their weight -- and whether they could benefit from surgery to help improve their health. This section is designed to give you a basic education about your body. You can explore how weight changes occur, whether you are overweight or obese, and the possible treatments you might explore if you have obesity.

Our section on education for patients is written without "medical jargon" and with the assumption that you have little information about your body, obesity, medical and surgical treatment. It is written in plain English -- to help you get the most out of the information here, regardless of your previous education or knowledge. If you have more medical experience, please don't be offended! For medical professionals, see the next section below -- but feel free to read this part, too.



For Health Care Professionals ...
This section of our website is geared toward licensed health professionals. As a result, we use technical terms and language that may have meanings different from routine words that are spelled the same. As a result, if you are not a health professional, we urge you to use caution in reading and interpreting this section. Thanks for your understanding!

Health care professionals know a lot -- especially in their field. The practice of bariatric (obesity) medicine and surgery combines much information from several different fields. This can be overwhelming for those who don't work in the field every day, and may be faced with pre- or post-operative patients requiring your care. We have devised a primer to help you understand what we do, why we do it, and how to "troubleshoot" your patients that may have had bariatric surgery.

For Support Persons ...
Living with someone with serious obesity and health problems can be a challenge. It can be difficult to understand what your friend, partner, parent, child, or spouse is experiencing with this illness -- and even harder to see them have treatments that do not help. As associated diseases become apparent, their stamina and strength may begin to fail them. You want to help, but don't know how ...

Learning about their disease, the treatments that are available, and getting an idea of reasonable expectations for recovery and improvement are important. Please feel free to learn more from our site; and come to educational classes, appointments, and visits. Everything you learn can only help you be more supportive and compassionate. They will appreciate you taking the time to learn!

For Psychologists ...
An important component of preoperative assessment of candidates for weight loss surgery is a visit with a psychologist. This is to learn more about a patient's mental health and coping strategies, and help predict successful results. We have written this section for psychologists or psychiatrists who see our patients preoperatively, to help understand our needs as weight loss surgeons. We are also interested in ongoing mental health care of the obese and their adjustment to the often marked changes that accompany reduction of body size.