Advanced Laparoscopic Associates Bariatric Center

Dr. Schmidt seems to be a confident surgeon. I am going to attend the first support group meeting tonight. I would love to talk to some of his patients that already have had surgery. I am a bit frightened, not acutally about the surgery, but about how I am going to feel afterwards. His office staff if very nice, but seem to be overwhelmed with the number of patients on a daily basis. It is a small office and a small staff.
He addressed all the risks of surgery in detail. That was the scary part. I think he is a good surgeon, but I need to find out more. I think surgical competence, of course is the most important because your life and health depends upon it. I would hope that he also has a great bedside manner which I am sure is needed after surgery.

Dr. Schmidt is young, skilled, self assured and confident, and has the qualities that are important when selecting a surgeon. He is an extremely busy doctor but I have found he has always addressed my concerns in a timely manner. I had a very positive surgical experience with Dr. Schmidt and can recommend him highly. I found SOME of his office and nursing staff to be friendly, helpful and knowledgeable and others to be just the opposite (difficult and uncooperative and even nasty at times). Although office staff and support are very important, it is worthwhile to put up with the uncooperative and overworked staff members to have a physician as skilled as Dr. Schmidt. There are several email groups of Dr. Schmidt's patients on Yahoo and OSSG-nyc-metro.org, good places to hear what his other patients have to say about him. On a scale of 1 to 10 I give Dr. Schmidt at 10++ for surgical competence, 10 for bedside manner (he's a little rushed but has a good reason as he has a lot of patients and is very much in demand). His aftercare program is not the greatest but I found enough support through AMOS and other WLS sites. Dr. Schmidt's patients have recently begun a patient-run support group that meets at Hackensack Hospital once a month.

<B><U>8/21/01</U></B> Well, it's over and done. I was THRILLED with Dr. Schmidt and his fellow, Dr. Oliak. They took all the time I needed/wanted to answer questions and discuss the procedure, including why their postop care (more conservative diet) varied from my roommate's (who had an open RNY by another surgeon). I would give them a 12++ on a scale of 1-10. <br><Br>
However, on the mailing list for Dr. Schmidt's patients, I continue to hear of difficulties with his office staff. The only thing I can suggest is that, when you call, ask to speak to Barbara. She has been wonderful at solving what few problems I had (and those were with the hospital, not Dr. Schmidt).<br><br>

<B><U>5/17/01</U></B> It pays to be proactive. I went to get my referral even though my appointment was months away. As soon as I had the referral, I called Dr. Schmidt's office to ask about a cancellation. As luck would have it, they had JUST had a cancellation and were able to see me today. I now have a surgery date for 8/14/01 which was the first available date.<br><br>

I found the office to be small, as others have commented, but the staff was very friendly and courteous. Dr. Schmidt was extremely professional and personable, taking great care to make sure that he explained everything (including all the risks) and that all my questions were answered. I look forward to further interactions.<br><br>

<B><U>5/16/01</U></B> I have an appointment scheduled...am frustrated by the fact that it is going to be 4 months before I can get in to see him but pleased by the courteous and supportive treatment I received from his office staff.<br><br>

a very likeable person. still a very likeable person. excellent.he'll scare the heck out of you, he is very direct no b.s.but that is what i like about him. direct and to the point.continully.not as of yet.directly (you could die).a1 100%.both great.

Dr. Schmitt saved my life I can't say anything bad at all. The office staff helped me greatly and Barbara was very kind and answered all my questions, even when I was pestering her.

I and my wife met with Dr T and almost didn't. I made an appointment 3 weeks prior for a meeting. When we got to his office there was no place to sit in his waiting room. They were that busy! Two hours later we met with the doctor. He explained the proceedure to use. Every other sentence was " or you could die". Needless to say this scared the shit out of us. He explained to use that he was shortly going to leave that office and open his own in the same area. I asked how many surgeries like this he has performed and he reponded about 100. He also explained that statistics show that you loose about 2-3 percent of your patients and he hasn't lost one yet. I am still undecided on the operation but will meet with some of DR T's other patients next week. Also looking into a gastric band.

My first impression was that he is young but very nice his staff was very helpful his office is small when I was there. There were only two people in there
He explained everything and was very nice I would rate on a scale from 1 to 10 a 20 he is that good

Excellent surgeon. Great respect for the patient, and takes good care to make you feel at home. After care is equally as good. Too busy sometimes, but he is there for you whenever you need him. Great Team.
Both his competence, and bed side manner are world class.

My impression of Dr.Trivedi was wonderful.Informative and put me at ease.
my impression of Dr. T. didnt have to change in time.
wonderful staff. epecially Kathy H.
I liked everything about Dr. T./Kathy H.
he is caring and wants to know everything about your history. and follows up on his intentions.
aftercare....you see him every two weeks. but can call anytime to his office/or dr. trivedi
Hope to be starting a support group. works with dietitian's from the hospital.
upfront, and honest.
caring,about patients and family members. concerned post-op. calls 2-3 times while your are a patien in the hospital.
both are needed. good bedside mannors and doesnt walk in and leave in one minute. surgical competence very important

So far, I have only met the surgeon and his staff one time. Dr. Schmidt was on the younger side and very nice and informative. He wanted to be sure that everything I wanted to know was covered. He seemed to be very confident. The office itself was kind of small and the office staff seemed very overworked and overwhelmed. They deffinately need to get some more space and to hire more help as this surgery is exploding onto the sceen as an invaluable weightloss tool. Also, so few surgeons are willing to do this surgery laprascoply like Dr. Schmidt will.

May 13th, 2001: Well the surgery is over and I am 6 days post-op. I am still in alot of pain and trying to figure out the pain. My surgeron, Dr. Schmidt was a real sweetie. He and his associate did a fantastic job and they both took the extra time to address some surprise complications that I presented to them on the operating table. They followed things through to the very end and made sure nothing was overlooked. They took great care of me and I would reccomend them to any one who is considering this surgery laprascoply. Although I understand the wait for an initial consultation is now up to four months waiting time. They were both very kind and caring.