Alan J. Berlin Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

His office waits are usually a bit lengthy, especially if he has an emergency at the hospital. Although he is a bit too direct, he is a thorough surgeon, who truly wants what is best for his patients. He understands the problems each patient can sometimes confront and has up front approaches to them. Professionally he is a 10+, although his surgical competence is much better than his bedside manner!

I TRULY LOVED DR BERLIN AND HIS STAFF.
WHEN U GO TO YOUR FIRST APPOINTMENT, IT DOES TAKE AWAHILE TO GET BACK TO SEE HIM. BUT ALL IS WELL WORTH IT.
AT MY OFFICE ALONE HE HAS DONE TWO OTHERS IN THE PAST MONTH AND I WILL BE THE THIRD.
HE WAS VERY INFORMATIVE AND CARING. THE ENTIRE PROCEDURE WAS TOLD TO ME IN DETAIL AND HE TOOK HIS TIME.
I RECOMMEND HIM TO ANYONE....

Dr. Berlin, My first impression of him was how he favored Sony Bono. On my first visit, Dec. 20, 2004, which was my consultation with him I was happy with him as my surgeon just sitting in the waiting room. My husband, mother and myself sat in the waiting room about 2 hours waiting to see him. But, everyone in that waiting room had nothing but high praises for him and said it was a given if you come to see him you wait, and the wait is well worth it. He thoroughly examined me when we got to the exam room. He answered any questions that myself, husband and mother had. He was very personable. His office staff, Debbie & Linda are extremely nice ladies, very helpful and professional. I really can't think of one thing, yet, that I like least about him. The only thing is I would have liked to have seen him before I did in the hospital post-op. I had surgery on Wed. and saw him around 9:00pm on Thursday.
Future patients should know that if you do what he says you will loose weight and he will let you know that.
Dr. Berlin stresses aftercare, he stresses walking, breathing and following the diet he recommends. He has a very structured aftercare plan with a printed phamplet of dietary instructions that you get when you visit the nutrionist and then he gives you another one before you are discharged from the hospital.
He addresses all the risk of surgery, the fact of surgery itself, being put to sleep to if you don't follow directions you could stretch your pouch or even burst it.
I would rate Dr. Berlin on a scale of 1-10, easily a 10. I have been very pleased with him.
I have every confidence in Dr. Berlin's competence as a surgeon and would recommend him to ANYONE. His bedside manner is also great.

I really liked Dr. Berlin. I found him very compassionate and knowledgeable. He is very thorough and comes very highly recommended.

Everyone is nice at his office, you just have to be on your game and follow every step to make sure it all goes smoothly.

Very friendly and outgoing, very easy to discuss questions I had.


No

Somewhat friendly. You have to stay on them to make sure things get done sometimes.
his staff was the worse thing about him

He is a very good doctor.

He emphasizes aftercare extremely.

not a support group program, but structed program individually for yourself.
Very openly addresses all the risks of surgery.
very highly rated in my book, is staff was the only thing I wasn't that fond of.
I beleive both surgical competence, and bedside manner or both highly important

Dr. Berlin is perfectionist and I think that is what I like having work on me. I liked him Debbie and Linda in his office were great. The only thing is when you go see him expect to sit a while with alot of people he is a very busy man.

I was very impressed with him. He did my husband's surgery in June. I had gone to another doctor in March. It was a very bad experience. His office called me to come in early for my first appointment. I stayed in the waiting room past the first appointment time. I should have known then. They scheduled all of these pre-op appointments for me and had not even filed the request with the insurance company. I call them after three weeks to find out the status. They had not even sent the request. So I had to pay for the pre-op test because insurance would not pay for test dated before the approval. A lesson I had to learn the hard way(over $500.00). His office was no help. I had to file my own appeals. When I was apporved the insurance company sent it to his office. He had also moved to another city. But he was still close enough for him to do the surgery. He came up with some requirements I had to make these extra trips to his office with my husband. Which was a problem because of his job. So I told him that he could not get off and that my mother could come with me. He would not accept that. I told him that we did know what to expect since my husband had had the surgury in June. He would not accept that. I told him about the problems I had with his staff. He accused me of insulting his staff instead of addressing my provlems. I saw that is was impossible to work with this person. I was upset and in tears. A very close friend was with me at the time so she took the phone to try to explain the problem. He would not lisen. After all of that I could not stay with him. I could not trust him. All people and circumstatnces are not the same.

My impression only improved over time. He is very supportive. He knew what I had gone thorough with the other doctor. He worked me into his schedule. This was going to be the last year that my insurance was going to pay for the surgery.

His staff are professional as well as personal. They will go that extra step to help you through the journey. It took me a while to get approval from my insurance company. I did not get approved until after my 3rd appeal.

Future patients should know that he is very serious about his work. Some may complain about time. But he takes his time to get the job done correctly. Because of that you may have to wait awhile at an office appointment.

He does have a structured aftercare program.

He address the risks of surgery as a professional. We all know that there are risks with any surgery.

I rate him as very good doctor.

I believe his surgical competence is a little better than his bedside manner. But overall I would not choose any one else.

Had a wonderful expirence. He is very help ful and his office and surgical staff was GREAT!! He has the same team that works with him on every surgery.

The begin with, I had heard how wonderful Dr. Berlin was. A friend had used him for her apendectomy. At my initial visit, Dr. Berlin told me what to expect and asked if I was aware of the potential risks involved in the surgery. He asked about my children and how they felt about the surgery. He was very informative and I was really impressed with his ability to put me at ease. I did not feel rushed or pushed into making a decision (since I had already made up my mind before I went). He took before pictures and since I had to fill out all kinds of paperwork before my first visit, I feel that it has helped speed things along. He sent me for test the next week and to see a dietician. They in turn gave me the dos and don'ts of after surgery. Debbie, bless her heart, has been extremely patient with me. She faxed my insurance carrier on the 19th of July. Now it is a waiting game.

Initial visit was quick, just two weeks after I called and made appointment. He was very thorough and made sure that I understood the life style changes I was asking him to make. Had very detailed paperwork that you had to have prepared before the appointment.....I really think that this helped with getting approval the first time around. Office staff was excellent- especially Debbie. She was also willing to talk to me with the "stupid" question of the day. Blue Cross approved me 9 days after they say the paperwork was in their office and I had my surgery less than 30 days after my inital appointment. He has a very structured after care program, about 20-25 pages of instructions...Be prepared to follow them because he does expect this of you. In the hospital, he was again great...answering even my children's(17 & 14) questions. First followup is 5-24 after surgery on 5-12-04. You may have to wait in the waiting room, but for me the wait was certainly worth it.