Phillip G Alston Bariatric Surgeon M.D., F.A.C.S.

Have not seen him yet, but I will in Sept. I have done the first step. Well I saw him 9/6/01 and I could not tell you one bad thing about him yet. He and his staff where one of the kindest you will ever want to meet.

Dr. Alston, is very highly informative and sincere. I believe I can put myself in his hands, after all I am already in God's hands.

His office staff are very helpful and they all seem to be in sync with each other.

It takes a while to get an appointment, It took me 2-3 months. Then I had to call and cancel because of an illness (pneumonia - hospitalized for a week) and so I rescheduled, which took another 9 weeks. Also he is quite behind in his surgeries so he schedules quite far in advance.

I have seen him only one time but he just seemed to understand what obesity does to people, not only physically, but emotionally. I saw a video (my husband watched it also) in his office which is mandantory to watch. I cried almost all the way through the video. His office staff has been helpful and polite.

As a nurse, knowing reputations of physicians in this area, Dr. Alston is my choice.

My first impression was that he was not judgemental and that he wasn't there to "fix" me. He was there to help me have the tools to be more normal. He was warm, caring, upbeat, and positive.

One person at the office is rather cool and I'm still not able to find out when my surgery is although I have been approved. Maybe she is just having a bad day or stressed or . . . of course everyone wants to have their surgery immediately after approval and are probably asking her the same question of "when." I waited over five months for my consultation and then almost three for approval . . . I guess I have to practice patience with them as well as with myself.

From my consult I can say that the office staff seemed lovely and caring and discreet. Two patients were talking in the waiting room, one preop and one postop and the nurse realized when she came out to get the postop patient. She apparently asked the patient once they went back if she would care to share pictures of her before surgery and the patient agreed and the nurse came back out (with the patient) so that we could see the transformation in person. I thought it was astute that she asked permission out of our earshot so that the total control was in the patient's hand and we would have never known if she had said she preferred not to show her "fat" pictures.

Aftercare is emphasized as much as the surgery . . . the tools won't work if you don't use them. I'm not there yet but I'm looking forward to it.

I'm in health care so I am fully aware of risks of surgery on the morbidly obese . . . I had addressed that fully before ever making the appointment. He was fully forthcoming without scaring me unduly but letting me realize that there were risks.

I would give the doctor and his practice an "A" overall - not just based on my experience but from those that I have met that have been through the program with him. So far, I have not heard a SINGLE negative thing about him or his staff.

One without the other is nil. I think you can be a competent surgeon but if you make the patient feel inadequate or lacking, it can affect the outcome/recovery.

I was very impressed with him on my first visit. He has a great attitude and was helpful in making me feel comfortable with all the questions that I needed answers for!
My impression of him did not change over time, as a matter of fact, I felt we became good friends. His office staff are wonderful. His nurse, Marsha, is really a sweetheart. They never seems to be in a hurry if I called with a question. There was nothing that I disliked about him. When I went for my pre-op visits, I was always called back and put into a room promptly. Future patients should know that he has been doing surgery to help obese patients for Years. He gave me a packet that covered the procedure from start to finish, even with a diagram of gastric bypass surgery. He also gave me a oral test to make sure that I understood everything before surgery. Aftercare is very important to him, he stresses heavily to call if you are having pain or think you have are having complications. He definitely has a well structured aftercare program. I was absolutely aware of the risks involved with this surgery. Overall on a scale of 1-10, I would rate him as a 9. He has good bedside manners, and he always listened to me when I spoke. He is very competent and I believe he has a geniune care for his patients.

HE IS WONDERFUL AND SO IS HIS STAFF. Dr. Alston staff has been nothing under wonderful for me. He is very understanding and helpful.. He took time with me and then my husband and I took the time to tell us both what to expect from start to finish. I came home with lots of great stuff to read.
His nurse is wonderful . always cheerful . never put me on a answering machine. I was always treated wonderful by the staff.
I loved every thing about this Dr. he is in this for his self to help other people. IT is not about the money he only does 3 surgerys a week... he wants everyone to have great care from hime. He is very expressfull about after care that is a must. He told me all the pros and cons of the surgery. I rate him a 12 on a scale of 1-10 i am impressed he will not do the surgery on a smoker.. he feels they will not benefit.. and that impressed me and i am a smoker but i quit.

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I HAVE A NEW SURGEON NOW BY THE NAME OF DR.PHILLIP ALSTON. I REALLY FEEL COMFORTABLE WITH HIM AS MY SURGEON. I HAD DR.COWAN FIRST. HE WAS ALSO A GREAT DOCTOR. I JUST COULDN'T DEAL WITH HIS STAFF. I THINK DR. ALSTON STAFF IS WONDERFUL. AT LEAST I CAN TALK TO SOMEONE IN PERSON INSTEAD OF A MACHINE. I THINK MEMPHIS HAVE SOME OF THE BEST DOCTORS IN THE UNITED STATES.<FONT COLOR="#0000FF">

First Impression was great!! Very calm and relaxing personality. Makes you very aware of all you need to know. Office staff to date has been wonderful. They truly do want you to succeed. So far a 10!!

I met with Dr. Alston on 3/20/01 and My first impression of him was he is great!!!!
His office staff are all very nice and as helpful as can be. He takes the time to talk to you and answer any questions that you have and works with you anyway possiable. I live 6 hours away from his office so he is going to let me do what tests I can here once I am approved but he seemed really confident that I would get approved . I would recommened him to anyone who is thinking about having this done.