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

Dr. Bruce Wolfe is a GREAT surgeon. On first impression, he's a bit "dry", but afterall, I care more about his surgical skills and compassion than his social personality! I recommend him without reservation!

I met Dr. Wolfe at a seminar and felt him to be open to questions and knowledgeable but he tended to respond as if everything being discussed was somewhat ordinary; as if we should all understand the benifits and complications of this surgery as well as he does. My impression of him is extremely favorable and his staff has been very helpful in answering any and all questions.

He wants you as a patient to be fully aware of what your getting into and what to expect from surgery which I found to be reassuring.
Dr. Wolfe was very thorough in explaining what might come up in my aftercare and as I live several hours away from the hospital he recomended I stay in a near by hotel for 3 or 4 day as part of their aftercare program just to make sure that I have help near by if there were any complications.

The risks of the surgery have been discussed with me many times. No one wants any suprises and both he and his staff are very clear in making sure you understand all complications that can happen.

For me, I think that his surgical competence is better then his bedside manner but feel very comfortable with him just the same.

My first impression of Dr. Wolfe was that he wants to help severly obese people. He is very serious,and to the point. He is to the pointabout the risks involved . Future patients should know that he has your best interest at heart. We discussed the nutritional changes that would take place as the psychology behind them. I rate him a 8 so far he has been wonderful with me. I am now waiting on Ins. to aprove me.

I have only met with Dr. Wolfe once. My first appointment was with his associate Dr. Nguyen. I liked Dr. Wolfe right away. His assistant was also quite nice.

Dr. Wolfe is with University of California at Davis. So it is a teaching hospital and you get what you get!!

Update: If you are looking for a "touchy-feelie" kind of a relationship with a physician, then UCD is not for you! I have never really hooked up emotionally with either Dr. Wolfe or Dr. Nguyen. They are strictly business, and I feel like I will be a big fat stomach laid out in front of them for them to work their magic. But I guess if you want sound medical professionals these are the docs for you. I do have the utmost confidence that they know what they're doing!

Dr. Wolfe seemed quite personable when I met with him the first time. I had previously seen Dr. Nguyen. I was very unimpressed at my first visit with him--thought he was downright surly! I had to really do some positive self-talk to go back, but the second visit went much better, which I understand from other postings is typical for him. When he did the "random draw" for the type of surgery I would have, and he drew "open," he handed me over to Dr. Wolfe. The office staff has been very kind and helpful.

Ideally, I think a surgeon should be both! But if I had to choose, I'd go for competence. I don't need another friend, but I do need to live through this surgery with a minimum of complications!

Well, I went for my initial consultation on August 23rd and every one @ U.C.D Med Center was very nice and informative. Dr Wolfe explained the whole procedure to me and my options. He also went into great detail regarding the risks of the surgery. I was very informed about the whole thing thanks to WLS. The entire office staff was very nice and appeared to be real organized and on top of things. I felt very comfortable and am glad that I chose Dr. Wolfe. My next appointment is scheduled for Sept 6th.
Dr wolfe and his associate have a great sense of humor and now I am waiting on my insurance company to approve me. I hae read some bad things about Dr. Wolfe on this site but I can personally say that himself and his entire staff have been wonderful to me. They are always very polite, organized and on-time to see you. Once again they all made sure that I was well informed about the procedure and the risks involved.. Hopefully next time I report back, it will be after the surgery. I have chosed open RNY.

10/09/00--Dr. Wolfe is really a nice man. I have met with him about four times and he is always very courteous and asked me if I understand everything that is going to happen and if I have any questions. His staff is the greatest group of people. they didnt even mind when I was calling them for three days straight to see if they had heard form my ins company regardig approval.

I saw Dr Wolfe today for the first time. I felt that he was very nice and thorough. I first saw another member of the surgery staff and she was great, unfortunatly I don't remember her name, I looked at it, but for the life of me can not remember it now. I was really impressed with the punctuality of everyone. My appointment was at 9:30 and I was taken back at 9:30, had all my vitals taken, taken to a room, sat down, picked up a magazine and the first lady came in, examined me, left, I picked up the magazine again, the lady was back with Dr Wolfe, they talked to me for a while, they left and I followed thinking I was done and then the pychitrist took me back to the room to chat with me. Total time about an hour and a half. Dr Wolfe explained the complications, but I had also gotten those from the previous night at a support meeting held for all possible canidates for WLS at UC Davis University. The surgeon that spoke at the support meeting, Dr Goldman, was a bit negative I felt. I remember feeling like he was basically saying that this surgery was not all that everyone was saying it was, that it was not all that successful. I also, felt that Dr Wolfe was very positive, saying he felt I was doing the right thing. Later after seeing Dr Wolfe and listening to Dr Goldman the night before, it reminded me of the "good cop/bad cop" routine, one gave the negative and one the positive and I actually appreciated it after all was said and done. So over all it went really well and I came away feeling very good about Dr Wolfe, his staff and my decision to have this surgery. My next appointment is set for the 18th of October.

My first impression of Dr. Wolfe was that he wants to help severely obese people. He is very serious, and to the point. He is very thourough about the risks involved; and makes sure you are aware of them.(almost to the point of scaring me). Future patients should know that he has your best interest at heart, although he is a very busy,no nonsense type of person.. so, don't look for personality. I'm more concerned with a physician's surgical competence than bedside manner. I believe Dr.Wolfe is the best for this type of surgery in this area. He is the Chief of the gastrointestinal unit at UCD as well as belonging to many bariatric associations, and is a professor of medicine at UCDAVIS. He has done countless surgeries of this type with very good results.
My only negative response so far, is Dr.Wolfe's office staff.. you REALLY have to stay on top of them.

I haven't met with Dr. Wolfe as yet, but wanted to pass on to other patients that it is a long and extensive wait to get in to the office when you are on medical, but not impossible! Just be patient.I found i needed to keep in touch with the office staff in order to ensure my appt got made.

I met Doctor Wolfe on my first visit. He was in a rush but carefully reviewed my history. Since I didn't report many co-morbids, didn't know what there were, he questioned me in detail. Reassured me that I was a candidate for the surgery. He wanted me to go home and review the info and come back in 3 weeks to proceed with my decision.

2nd visit was with him and Dr. Nyghn. Heard alot about Dr. Nyghn but he was not as bad as I was prepared for. He actually sweet talked me into joining the study. Dr. Wolfe was cordial and I really liked him. No lap for me.

Waiting for the bedside manner.