"My first impression was that he was very busy, but caring. My impression of Dr. Schirmer only improved with each visit. He treats his patients with the utmost respect and not like many physicians of morbidly obese patients. His sectretary was helpful about keeping me informed of the next step and about times and places of appointments. His RN, Anna Miller is a God send and is a true angel in every sense of the word. She was not only there to hold my hand for pre op procedures/tests, but there for my family supporting them as well. I like everything about Dr. Schirmer, however, if I had to say one thing I would change, that would be the redundant questions from his residents/interns,etc... In a teaching facility you say many interns/residents and it becomes an annoyance to say the least. Future patients should be very aware that their appointment will be an all day event. Don't plan on doing anything else that day, bring a book, bring a walkman, bring a friend, but plan on spending the entire day as clinic is very busy and always running behind. Dr. Schirmer places a huge emphasis on aftercare and has a multi disciplinary team made up of nutritionists, mental health specialists, physical activity planning, a huge support group. He and his staff make the risks and/or complications very clear upfront. Overall, I would highly recommend him to anyone considering weight loss surgery and I have heard many people say they had to wait too long to be seen or whatever, I looked at it like this, I have been this size, close to 400 pounds, for this long, I can certainly wait another two months to get the best possible care available. I owe that to myself. If I had to say which is better, surgical competence or bedside manner, I would have to say surgical competence which is FINE with me as I am having surgery and less than two weeks and the bedside I can certainly live without, the competence I can't."
