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Primary Author & Site Contributor

Bariatric surgery is still a highly specialized field of surgery, which requires not only exceptional surgical skills, but dedication to long-term follow-up care, to help the afflicted person to achieve profound weight loss, and permanent control. Most surgeons avoid operating on the very-obese, believing that the risks are too great, and dreading the difficulty of performing operations in the obese abdomen. Some choose to "dabble" with an occasional procedure, which means they usually discover all the problems, and never get to learn the solutions - they can easily get pessimistic and negative about obese patients.

Like flying on an airliner, when you have surgery, you should seek an experienced and skilled surgeon, with a proven safety record, who performs this surgery frequently. You will also need frequent and long-term follow-up, as a part of the package.

 

This sites primary contributor:

Dr. Clark is an internationally recognized leader in the field of bariatric surgery. He  pioneered the technique of Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass, and has performed careful follow-up research on the procedure and its results, which has been published in several medical journal articles. He has co-authored and published several research papers regarding the operation.  He has demonstrated the Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass to surgeons from throughout the world, performed telesurgery at the Congress of the American College of Surgeons, and has taught the procedure to hundreds of other surgeons. 

         G. Wesley Clark, M.D.

Dr. Clark is a native of New York State, is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, and the State University of New York, Upstate Medical Center, in Syracuse, where he received the degree of Doctor of Medicine. He interned at Albany Medical Center Hospital, and received his surgical training at Albany Medical Center, and at the Great Lakes Naval Hospital, after joining the U.S. Navy as a General Medical Officer. He served on the surgical teaching staff of Naval Hospital Long Beach, and Naval Hospital San Diego, and as an instructor in the surgical training programs at Long Beach Memorial Hospital, and at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara. He is a member of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, the San Diego Society of General Surgeons, the San Diego County Medical Society, and the California Medical Association. 

Dr. Clark was among the first surgeons in the United States to perform laparoscopic surgery, and has received training in advanced laparoscopic techniques, at several centers.  He was a developer of the technique for Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass.  He has now educated hundreds of surgeons throughout the world in the method for performing the operation.

He has performed over 1000 Laparoscopic Gastric Bypasses, and over 2000 total bariatric procedures and is now retired.

Dr. Clark has seven children and five grandchildren.   He favors airplanes, fast cars, motorcycles (Indian and Harley), cowboy boots, and is a computer enthusiast.  He is also an avid photographer.