Bruce Schirmer Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

Dr. Schirmer is wonderful. Before I even met him, I emailed him through the University's website. I gave him a brief history of my weight issues, my height & weight, etc...and basically asked if I would be a good candidate based on what information I gave to him. I told him that I didn't want to travel 2 1/2 hours (one way) to met with him to find out I wasn't anywhere close to being a good candidate. He said that I was and his office quickly made an appointment for me.

Every time I've been under Dr. Schirmer's care, he has been very compassionate, took his time, explained everything in detail as to what he needed to do. I like that.

The office staff is wonderful. You couldn't ask for a nicer group.

Dr. Schirmer is a kind, compassionate, caring individual. His bedside manner both in his office and in the hospital were wonderful. I had a complication which required a second surgery to correct and he appologized to me and my husband for the necessity of the second surgery and that I had to go through with that. He never apprears to be in a hurry to leave and get to his next patient, and will take as much time with each patient as is necessary. He has about 20 years experience doing laproscopic surgery and was a pioneer of laproscopic surgery in his geographic area. He takes the time to explain all the risks involved and makes sure the patient understands everything he/she needs to know. My husband accompanied me to my pre-op visit when the surgery date was set and he asked my husband if he had any questions about the proceedure, etc. I think he is a wonderful doctor and highly recommend him to anyone who is considering having this surgery in the Charlottesville, VA area. As far as aftercare, he has a nutritionist on staff to work with patients both pre and post-op. He schedules regular post-op checkups including blood work and faxes a copy of all my records to my PCP.

My first impression of Dr. Schirmer was he was a very busy man. Over time that changed because he was able to spend quality time with me and make me feel comfortable when I was having problems. I really appreciate that in a doctor. His office staff was very efficient. Overall I am glad that I chose Dr. Schirmer because of his bedside manner, expertise, and overall concern for his patients.

I Just went to see DR. Schirmer for the first time on 05/27/04 he is great and every one in his office is to. I was late for the meeting and could not help it i was having problems walking that morning and could not find a wheelchair at UVA it took us 30 min. to find it. When we got to his office they understood that I could not helped being late. Like i said every one in there office was great. I hope to have Dr Schirmer do the surgery. THey og over everything about the surgery with you. The good side and the bad side of the surgery and in detail. I was very happy with everything.

Okay I was a little hasty posting that my date had been moved. I get to meet with the nurse first and then with the Dr. sometime later. Doing things a little backwards. I think they are trying to fit me in. But you know what? That's okay with me. I was so excited today when they called I could hardly work the rest of the day. My hands trembled all day. Still looking foward to my first meeting with Anna on March 10th.

3/17/2004 - Oh so excited. Anna called today and they have an opening tomorrow at 11:00. Scared, nervous, excited all of those things and more. The more I think about being able to play with my kids, riding bike and walking trails with them, just makes me so happy. I can't wait to be energic with them.

4/26/2004 - My surgical team meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 29th. I'm very excited and ready to go. Bring it on! I'm so ready, at least I think I am. Still have great family support and my co-workers seems to be supportive. I'm starting to think about thing I need to plan for. Such as: what I'm I gonna do with the kids before and after school, what kind of meals to fix for the family while I'm down and out.

The first visit with Dr. Schirmer my husband was unable to attend. He will be goign with me and he is interested to meet the man who is gonna give him his bride back.

I will try and post an update and hopefully be able to give ya'll a surgery date on Thursday.

My first impression of Dr. Schirmer was positive. He was very nice, easy to talk to and took his time to answer questions.
My impression of him has never changed. He is a great man and surgeon.
His office staff are great also. Very nice and courteous. Very encouraging and postive.
The only thing I would have liked to change about Dr. Schirmer was I would have liked to have seen more of him during my hospital stay. Room visits were by the student Dr.'s being that UVA is a teaching hospital.
Know that you couldn't get a better surgeon and you are in the best of hands.
He definitely emphasizes aftercare. Every 3 months for the first year and once a year after that for life.
He clearly and completely went over the risks during and after surgery right from the start. Your first meeting involves a classroom environment where a group is told everything about the surgery from the nurses. He then goes over them again on the last visit before your surgery.
I would rate him a 20 on a scale of 10.
His surgical competence and his bedside manner are both excellent.

Dr. Schirmer was professional and compassionate. He is a pioneer in the field of obesity laproscopic surgery and a professor of surgery at the University of Virginia Medical Center.

My impression of him has only improved with time. The biggest drawback was the time I had to wait to see him due to his reputation.

His staff is one of the most organized group I have ever dealt with in medicine. They had all the education, support, care and aftercare down to a science.

The risks of surgery were carefully explained to me and percentages of complications related to Dr. Schirmer specifically were given to me.

His surgical competence and bedside manner were both remarkable.

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I'm not going to sugar coat it for you... he is a wonderful doctor. He has always taken his time with me and answered all my questions. When I was worried about taking antibiotics right before surgery I had him paged, because it was a weekend, and he called me right back. Never once treated me like I was bothering him. I'm very glad I chose him to do my surgery.
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His office is very busy which can be a pain. Getting someone to call you back can be difficult at times but you just have to keep on them. I don't feel that Anna listens to what we need sometimes. My opinion is still not completely formed on her yet. I have found that Janet Dixs is very helpful when I call. She listened to me then consulted with Dr. Schirmer with my ulcer issue. And now Mary... she is wonderful! So nice and so helpful! I can't say enough about this woman.
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I want to write a special thank you to the intern who came to check on me while in the hospital. He was the first one I saw, then he came in with the rest, and he was the last I would see at night. I saw him at my first post-op visit too. He is very nice and will (if not already) make a great doctor! I will see if I can find out his name next time.

Dr. Bruce Schirmer is wonderful, has a great bedside manner, I was impressed the very first visit, he is quite busy but takes the time to answer your questions. Has a very good record with this surgery! I would rate him as excellant!The entire office staff was great, sometimes everyone was in a hurry though and I would have liked to have had more time with my visits, although all of my questions were answered.

My first impression was bewilderment. I had waited so long to speak to the man that was going to change my life. I had excepted to have a very long day and it was.

As time went on, my visits to his office ended up in three to four hour ordeals. I hadn't planned on that. I tried everything to beat the system but nothing worked.

He usually saw 100 patients on his clinical days. It was a long wait and this was for follow up visits.

My main concern was that I had the best surgeon I could find. My surgery went wonderful. I healed very well and my scares are at a minumum. Internally, I feel fine and feel I also healed well.

I have completed my first six months series of visits. Now I do not go back until my one year visit.

I appreciate the surgical team at UVA. Just be prepared to wait.