"I would highly recommend the U of I. They are very well trained professionals and this is a great educational facility. Only employ top-notch staff members."
"I first met Dr. Samuel on June 3, 2004 for my consultation at the U of I. The consultation took a total of 6 and a half hours! At times, it became really long, but there was not a lot of down time--his staff was educating us the entire time. The staff was very friendly and informative. First, I met with his nurse Debi, then the nutritionist-Nancy and her intern in a small group setting(2 other people considering RNY-Lap). After going through all of their info, we then met the surgeon, still in small group. He explained the procedure further and answered EVERY question we had. He was very professional, yet he shared his appropriate sense of humor with us. I then met with Dr. Samuel's intern, on an individual basis, who went over our medical history one more time(staff is very thorough). Then, I met with Dr. Samuel, individually. He is so personable, honest and very serious about his procedure, skills and techniques. He went over the procedure again, studied my med history and then answered every question my husband and I posed. I started the day with my list of 31 questions, and by the time I met with Dr. Samuel, only 8 questions remained. I shared my list and he chuckled when he saw the questions numbered. He was impressed that I was so prepared. He knew how serious and determined I am about this surgery. I assured him he ONLY had to answer 8 of the 31 because the other 23 questions had already been answered throughout the day. He said great, what's the first question. I asked about his resume', total number of surgeries and how many per day/week, leaks, mortality rate, ulcers, hernias, his actual procedure, and if ONLY he performs the surgery or do interns assist him. He really impressed both my husband and myself. He expressed the importance of my compliance to his plan for next 3 months and said he would see me lighter in September when we would schedule a date for surgery. He was extremely easy to talk to. I feel very confident having Dr. Samuel as my surgeon."
