"My fist impression of Dr. Kim was that he was a very quiet individual. This is still somewhat true. He is not the typical surgeon type who has a 'God complex'. He is very down to earth, a very humble man. My impression of Dr. Kim has not really changed, only grown into a deep respect. He is willing to do anything for his patients. He is always available to you, in different formats (phone, email, support groups) and always willing to answer any and all questions. Even knowing you won't like the answers!
I started out with his office staff in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. They are truly a great group of people to deal with. South Mississippi Surgeons is very lucky to have such a group working together for them. All calls, emails and questions were answered VERY promptly and the help they provided was priceless. Dr. Kim is now in Celebration, Florida in a new office with US Bariatrics. I have dealt with two of his new nurses and they are just as helpful. He is truly a blessed man to have such good people surround him.
There really isn't anything that I DON'T like about Dr. Kim. He knows his stuff and he's always, ALWAYS right.
If you are considering Dr. Kim as your surgeon, you should be prepared for him to be straight forward with you, he doesn't appease you or tell you what you WANT to hear. He expects you to be compliant with the regime after surgery and won't hesitate to tell you if you are doing something wrong. He expects to follow you THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. If you are not ready for this, he may not be the surgeon for you. I actually look upon this as a Godsend. What more could you really ask for?
He is a real stickler with the follow up care. He does his part to get you to the point where you are healthier and he expects you to hold up your end of the deal in taking care of yourself. He orders the labs through your PCP if you are out of area and then follows up on them with you, and them if necessary. I know that he was not happy with my B12, it was normal, but in the low normal range. He wanted me on injections so we spoke with my PCP and viola! I'm on B12 injections! He will interact with your other physcians with no problem whatsoever.
His aftercare program is a good one, but it also takes effort from the patient. He has organized support groups in both Celebration and Jacksonville. He has alot of patients in Jax that traveled to Mississippi to for him and he's made the committment to come up for a support meeting every month until the end of the year when we will continue them alone (hopefully, with him coming when he can). He has a time table for labs, and adjusts accordingly. He expects to know if there are any problems with you, regardless as to if you're in the area or not. He wants to know.
He addressed all surgical risks very directly. He showed me the complication risk statistics and went over them carefully with me so I was informed about everything that might happen. Unfortunately, I contributed to that complication list after surgery, but it was no fault of his. It did help to know that beforehand it was discussed with me. I just didn't like it that I happened to add to it!
I have the greatest regard for Dr. Kim in before, during and after care. When I was in the hospital for the surgery, I never saw another soul in his office. He was the only one. For three weeks he came, even on his non-call days and weekends. A very dedicated man. I have the utmost confidence in him and would not hesitate to have him operate on me again if it came to that.
I think his surgical skills are excellent and his bedside manner awesome. Every time I see him I hug him and he doesn't seem to mind, alot of doctors in general are not that way. He's a nice man and a good person in addition to being a great surgeon.
I know that no one's experience is 100% wonderful all of the time. But honestly, I can not remember ever having a bad thought about him or his staff in the way he handled me or any situation that arose. When I was hospitalized for the leak a few weeks after surgery he was on the phone with the physicians where I was hospitalized. And I don't mean just once or twice. Many times he would speak to them just to get an update. He would call me in the room, his nurses and insurance people would call, just to check up on me. It was great. I don't think there was a week that went by in my first nine months that I did not hear from him. It was very comforting.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~UPDATE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It's now been seven years since my surgery. Though I am still so grateful to Dr. Kim and love him to death, I had to 'fire' him as my surgeon. Getting through the red tape with his staff got to be too much. They were not very receptive to his "before" patients-those being operated on before he moved to Florida. I had tried numerous times to get in touch with him, my labs were out of whack, I really needed to talk to him. I couldn't get past the nurse. I even made an appointment to see him personally, and I live in Texas, so it wasn't cheap. When I arrived at the office I was told he was out for the day. Really? It was that hard to pick up a phone and call to tell me not to come? As a last ditch effort I wrote him a letter and mailed it in a company envelope from a hospital. I included several email address for myself, my phone number, my work number, several other contact numbers and begged him to call or get in touch. It's been two years and I haven't heard a word. I realize he's busy, but when he said once you were a patient of his you were a patient for life, I believed him. It hurt my feelings very much that he would not be in communication with me. I had a horrible complication and he was there every step with me. I never in a million years thought he would not be there for me in any situtation. He is a greatly skilled surgeon, a very compassionate, kind and loving man. I wish him the best."
