Patricia Byers Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

Dr Byers was very professional, straight forward and perfectionist. Due to this fact her staff changes frequently.rnShe didnt attend the group information meeting so the first time i met her wasn't until my first appointment which took quite awhile. Unfortunately the before group didn't change too much and became somewhat like a meeting place where little new info was past on depending on how long you had to wait for initial appointment (THANK GOD FOR ODALYS).rnThere is a high emphasize on after carerni really enjoyed and found much help in the post-op monthly group setting.rnPlease understand that it is surgery. I do believe Dr. Byers LISTENS, and emphasizes to her staff the need for following up medical calls you might make recent post-op.rnI wish she worked with a plastic surgeon

I was very surprised when I first met Dr. Byers by how pretty she is. I know that is a strange thing to say; but her photo on her website does not do her justice.

She was very cordial; and I felt very comfortable with her. Very thorough. She gave me a tremendous amount of referrals; and was very emphatic that I had to complete the list and that I have all the reports or not come to my 2nd appointment (that is really the appointment where a date is decided...or so I think)

The office staff is very busy but professional and efficient. Betty, who is the patient care coordinator is really amazing.

I also met with Fabio who is Dr. Byers assistant. He is very kind and gave me his work number and insisted that I call if I have any questions. He called me to let me know about my blood work results right away.

I met the dietitian also...I believe her name is Carol who asked me so many questions about my eating habits and let me know what I will be eating post-op. I was also directed by Dr. Byers to lose between 15-20 pounds by the next time I see her. She told me to go on the South Beach diet..which I am on.

Dr. Byers is very strict about adhering to all the rules including attending the pre-op meetings and post-op. She is very insistent that there is a support person in your life. And she wants to meet that person.

Dr. Byers was very frank about the risk of the surgery; and pulled no punches.

From my first meeting with her I would rate Dr. Byer very highly as far as her thoroughness and her professionalism.

To me although I would like a good bedside manner; and ideally both surgical competence and the bedside manner would be great. I'm not sure; but I feel that she will provide me with both...if not, I'll take the surgical competence; and for that I know she can offer.

my first impression of dr. byers was she was not in it for the money. the first appointment with her she requested at least 15 consultations in addition to the ones i all ready had done previously thinking i was a step ahead. truly i'm thankful to her for being so complete. at first her office staff i felt was not on top of things by afterwards i guess with them seeing so many patients that come in initially they pretty much no how to weed out thoughs who are serious and thoughs who are not going to do the work required for the surgery. one thing i can say i don't care for much is she is not as personable as would like. dr. byers stress aftercare , infact classes are set up for you to attend to help you. and even before you are required to attend classes on how to take care of yourself plus you are required to have a surrogate attend classes with you. dr. byers stressed the major risks involved plus she you have to see every kind of doctor before you can even get a surgery date. infact, i called my insurance company and to my surprise i was approved for surgery at least 3weeks before my doctor even gave me a surgery date because there were things i had to do before she would agree to do the surgery , for one lose some weight. overall i am very happy with the doctor i have chosen. dr. byers surgical competence is better. but i must say she has been extremely pleasant wiht me i believe do to the fact i lost the weight she requested plus i schduled and went to all the appts i was told to in record time. i wasted no time in scheduling because this is something that i have been researching for about three years. so i was ready.

My first impression of Dr Byers was that she was very strict. She won't consider doing the surgery if you are not willing to do as she asks. She says we have to lose weight before the surgery to let her know we are sincere.
She is the most thourough Dr. I have ever met and believe me, I have met a LOT of them. I had to have at least 25 different tests. One of the tests came out positive so I had to take meds for two weeks, wait, six more weeks to take the test again before she would even consider doing the surgery.
She is very caring, and an excellant surgeon.
The aftercare is awesome. She sees you in one week, two weeks, three weeks, monthly for three months, then three months, six months, and yearly and any time between if you have problems. She has a 24 hour staff to take care of us if needed.
I do feel her surgical competence is better than her bedside manner, but then, surgical competence is much more important.

Abrupt but competent




I spent almost a year trying to complete various tests assigned me. After each test I would contact the office for results and info on what to do next. No reply to calls, faxes. letters, personal visits. I had my personal Doctor try to reach her for 2 weeks and she never returned those calls either.

She operates only ONCE each week. She generally does an open incision rather than a laparoscopy

This is a very cold judgemental person who has little interest in her patients but rather in her statistics.
Every person I spoke to that had the procedure with her was very pleased with her care. There were three.
I am told her Byer Buddies is a good support group.

I think that she is the bst doctor. My first impression of her? Someone who is very careful. I talked to other post-op patients and they gave me high remarks. I recommend her highly.

5/7/02: Like they say, everything in life happens for a reason. In January I changed ins carriers and changed surgeons. I am proud to say I am having my LAP RNY on June 11, 2002 by Dr Patricia Byers at Univ of Miami-Jackson Memorial Hospital.

I met her for the first time in March and I agree with the comments of others, she's one tough cookie! But I would not have had it any other way. I have several co-morbidities and she has been extremely cautious and has had every possible pre-op and clearance test done.

She has been great calming all my fears. She has a straight forward and no-nonsense approach that may seem cold and harsh to others. But as with everything this surgery is not to be considered lightly. She wants to see a sincere dedication to following all of her pre-op and post op guidelines, if not she will not give you clearance. Folks, she's not in this for the money. It is evident she does this because she is dedicated to making a difference in the lives of people like myself that if not for this surgery have no other hope to "get healthy" outside of fad diets and unhealthy behavior.

Now, I am honest... it's not all a garden of roses. Her staff has been wonderful. But they are severly understaffed and the time frame from initial contact/visit to actual surgery date varies due to your health condition and how much pre-op testing is required.

It's been almost 6 months of phone calls, faxes, pre-op testing, etc... and thru it all Dr Byers and her staff have supported me and encouraged me to hang in there and for that I am eternally grateful!

Since she sees her patients through the Univ of Miami Clinics it's a tough process but worth every drop of blood sweat and tear!!!

My first impression of Doctor Byers was how young she looked, with her credentials I expected someone much older. She was very playful or nothing like that but straight to the point. NO BS type of person, but also nice. Someone described her to me as a drill sargeant but I would describe as meticoullous. She has a great understanding on obese people and she understands that we need to be taken care in a different way. Her bed side manners where very nice and she didn't treat me like a criminal for being overweight. I would normally not trust anyone to perform this surgery on me but she gave a great sense of confidence. I really believe that she knows what she is talking about, plus she is the head of bariatric surgery at Jackson Memorial which is one of the best hospitals in the country, I was very impressed with the care I received over there for pre op, lets see what post op reserves for me.
She emphasized after care and explained more than once the procedure and the risks of surgery, realisticaly. I would rate her in a scale 1-10 a 10.
The office staff, well if you don't have anything good to say about someone just don't do it, but they are very busy and understaffed, lets see if it will get better at post op
See you all after surgery..

My first impression was that she was a tough woman who had strong convictions about what she was doing. I also had complete confidence in what she would eventually do for me.There was nothing I didn't like about her.She does have a rigid, structured after-care program which includes support group meeting and nutritional counseling.I feel that her staff was very efficient alghough difficult at times to contact by phone.She had a good bedside manner. Her surgical competence is weel-known,being that she is also heazd of trauma surger at Jackson Memorial.

Dr. Byers is a wonderful gifted surgeon, and she operates at the Ryder Trauma Surgeon, a great hospital. She insists on a full pre-op work up and I mean full! The only downside is half of her staff are wonderful and angels sent from heaven and the other half should not work in the medical field. The office is disorganized, they don't return calls unless they are medical emergencies and trying to get an appointment and surgery date is VERY frustrating. It is worth the aggravation in the long run, but who needs the added frustration when you are already battling insurance companies and trying to get the needed time off work. However, she has a great aftercare program and free bi-weekly group meetings.