Dr experience with sleeve

[attitudefree 2]

Is there a way to find out how many sleeve operations a Dr has done?

[Elisabethsew 50]

The easiest way is to call the office and ask.

[WASaBubbleButt 41]

Is there a way to find out how many sleeve operations a Dr has done?

No, there isn't. There are a lot of doctors out there that focused on bands because they thought that would be the best of the best surgeries and they didn't do any sleeves. Now that people want sleeves they are in a mad rush to do them and gain the experience.

Problem is, nobody wants to go to an inexperienced surgeon so some doctors are creating outlandish stats. One doctor is claiming something like 900 sleeves yet he was just trained in sleeves 2 years ago. He claims he's been doing them for 4 years. How does that work?

You have to look at the whole picture. Is the doctor fairly young? Is he old enough to have an established practice? A practice is much easier to get going for US docs because they depend heavily on insurance referrals. People don't have a choice who they go to sometimes with insurance. In Mexico there are no insurance referrals and doctors have to work hard and build a practice. It takes years and years to do this. The doc claiming 900 sleeves has only been in practice for 4 years, he was busier than the established doctors before anyone ever heard of him. It's all bogus, see what I mean?

If you check out my sig I have a starting point for research.

[MacMadame 81]

I agree that you have to take what you are told by the office and see if it makes sense.

My surgeon started doing sleeve in 2001 or 2002 (I have it written down somewhere but I can't find the exact year right now). So when he says he's done over a thousand sleeves and then how many procedures over all he does in a year, that number is believable.

I asked for how many of *everything* he did and also his partner. That way I knew I wasn't getting the combined stats of the medical practice. When I added up all the numbers and divided by the number he does in a year, I got a number that was similar to the number of years he'd been in practice. So I knew the stats were legit.

The thing I find interesting is that some docs clearly pad their stats while others seem to pick a lower number than they've actually done. The LapSF ads on OH say "over 1200 sleeves" which is true. But it's a LOT over 1200. It's closer to 2000 for the entire practice including ones done by a doc who left them to start his own practice. Lots of practices would include that doc's stats too, but they don't seem to be doing that.