Robert Liem Bariatric Surgeon M.D.,F.A.C.S.

I saw Dr. Liem twice at his seminar @ JFK Hospital. He seems so nice and extremely knowledgeable. However, I must agree with others, that his office is quite busy. Inspite of this, Natalie has been great and Elizabeth has also been so helpful. My surgery date is on 9/20/02. I'm quite excited, yet nervous. However, I've only heard awesome things about Dr. Liem. Several friends and co-workers have had the surgery and are soooo happy. I will see him again prior to my surgery. I have trust his competency and I also love someone with great bedside manners. Will share more after appointments and surgery.

The following comments are strictly my opinion based on my personal experience and do not in anyway reflect what other patients might have to say:

I liked the way he presented the facts about the surgery.
I really liked him at the beginning but after a while I realized that he is hard to talk to. He is using some post-up patients to answer questions via email that should be only between doctor and patient.
He never returns phone calls. Also, he does not have a nutritionist on his staff, nor does he require pre-ops to meet with one prior to surgery.

His office staff is extremely busy...too busy. They could use more office help.




A good surgeon but hard to talk to him. In my opinion his aftercare program leaves a lot to be desired.

No. He has let a few post-op patients take over his support group and they really have no idea what a support group is supposed to be.

When I first went to the informational seminar my impression of Dr. Liem was that he was very intellegent, capable, and also funny. When I met him in his office he proved to be the same. Dealing with his office staff was not always the easiest process. Maria is a doll - very competant. But overall, my suggestion is to "stay on top of things". I think that the office is getting too busy and that's because Dr. Liem is THE BEST. I am so glad that he did my surgery. Dealing with him was always easy and he takes care of his patients 100%. Anything that I ever needed, he provided. I would recommend him to everyone.

5/13/02 I was impressed with Dr. Liem after attending his lecture at JFK on the 13th. First he has performed the surgery over 900 times and has had NO leaks! I am amazed by that! Also, he takes his time in surgery (2.5 to 3 hours). I think I am in good hands. I will post more after my one-on-one consulation on the 22nd.
7/9/02 I am still impressed with Dr. Liem and Maria. My initial consult was short but informative. The office seems to be getting more and more busy. He could use some more help to answer patient's questions regarding insurance approval status, but otherwise I am very happy.

I just hung up the phone for making my first appointment. I called on 6-24-02 and I have an appointment for 7-10-02. The woman on the phone was very nice and as she told me my date I cried. She said "sorry I don't have a sooner date" and I told her I can't believe it will be so soon. I asked her if many people cry when they make the first appointment and she said yes. There is a seminar on 7-8-02 she told me about, I am going to go.

I went to the class, and it was very informative. I had already found most of the info from researching online, but it was a great chance to get a feel for Dr. Liem and his staff. There were also post ops there who had had him do the surgery. He was very nice, and had a little bit of a sense of humor. I am excited about tomorrow! The "real" initial consult!

FROM THE BEGINNING I HAD TOTAL CONFIDENCE IN DR. LIEM.
MY SURGERY WAS UNEVENTFUL WICH IS WONDERFUL.
HE VISITED EVERYDAY IN THE HOSPITAL AND ANSWERED ANY QUESTIONS I HAD.
WILL SEE HIM SOON FOR MY 1ST POST OP VISIT.

My first and continuing impression of Dr. Liem is that he is a confident, competent, very educated, caring and sincere doctor.

His office staff is fantastic. Maria and Natalie are so efficient and caring at all times.

N/A

He is soft-spoken, intelligent, caring, compassionate, very knowledgable and thorough. Top notch credentials.

Sweet,sorta shy and very intelligent and knowledgable. Thankfully not slick or cocky like another surgeon I had consulted.



His staff is very busy,but polite.

Well I met with Dr. liem and his staff on Monday, May 20th. It went very well and I am happy with him being my surgeon. Like others have posted Maria met with me first and went over the pre-op, the surgery and the post-op. She seemed a little rushed but gives you a lot of good info in a short amount of time. Like I said she was going through it fast but was very nice and did answer any questions I had. Dr. Liem then came in and basically checked my medical history and asked me if I had any questions. I really have nothing negative to say about the Doc or the staff. I am happy with my choice. Now the waiting game begins. :-)
Note: I attended a informational meeting with Dr. Liem at the hospital on May 21st.I was told that this was mandatory to have the surgery. It was very good information and any questions I had after my intial appointment were answered. Maria told me after the meeting that my insurance claim has been filed. Well, I week and half later my insurance had not been filed due to a computer going down. Maria said she would file it on Friday May 31, I decided to just wait a couple of days before I bugged her again but on wednesday June 5 before I could call, Natilie (sp?)called me and said that I was approved and we set a date (aug. 1, 2002). This was very good news and I am very impressed with how quick it was.

First impression, it seemed the office was very busy, but the girls were very helpful. Dr. Liem was very quick with his general review of me, and I was not very prepared to ask questions etc. I was a little numb by the whole experience. I hope when I return, I will be better prepared with a list of questions.