Georgetown Bariatrics and Advanced Surgical Services

Troy Thompson talks to Dr. Eric Smith and Physician Assistant & Dietician, Janda Morgan from Georgetown Bariatrics and Advanced Surgical Services.

News at noon will be right back.

C1 3 dr. eric smith from georgetown bariatrics and advanced surgical services.

Welcome to the show, my friend.

Dr. eric smith: thanks, thanks for having me.

Troy- host: nice to see you, some exciting news, georgetown bariatrics and advanced surgical services are expanding.

Dr. eric smith: yes.

Troy- host: i want you to introduce you a newest member of your team.

Dr. eric smith: so this is janda, she's our new pa.

We have grown so much and we have so many more patients that we needed some help, and she's the perfect person to do it, she's also a dietician by trade as well.

And she is going to be helping steer our medical weight loss program.

Troy- host: oh really?

Dr. eric smith: yes.

Troy- host: well, welcome to the team, janda, nice to see you- janda- pa, dietician: thank you.

Troy- host: and nice to meet you.

Janda- pa, dietician: you too.

Troy- host: explain to everyone at home what dr. eric smith was saying about medical weight loss.

Janda- pa, dietician: okay, so medical weight loss, it's as simple as it's a weight loss plan or program that is designed and supervised by health professionals.

We design a specific tailored diet and fitness plan, and we also use prescription medications.

Troy- host: okay, so when you say prescription medications, they're prescribed by doctors.

Janda- pa, dietician: correct.

Troy- host: correct.

Why would someone use prescription medication for the medical weight loss versus the surgery that you do?

Dr. eric smith: well, first of all, they may not qualify for the surgery.

They may need to lose weight, but they may not be in the morbid obesity category.

Or what if we have someone who had surgical weight loss five years ago, and maybe they've still lost a lot of weight, but they gained a little bit back and they need a kickstart.

So, prescription drugs, there's lots of things out there for weight loss, but don't really have any fda approval for it, or they don't really have any data and literature to back it up.

And these are medications that have been proven when they're released for an indication for weight loss, that they will show weight loss in patients.

Troy- host: well, let's talk about what it entails, can we?

So i come in, i see you, what's the process?

Explain to everyone at home.

Janda- pa, dietician: okay, so your initial visit, you will meet with me.

I will do a detailed history, a history of previous weight loss attempts you have made, a physical exam.

I will order laboratory data.

You will have an inbody evaluation and meet with our dietician.

Troy- host: okay.

So how long is this weight loss medical program would run for normally, if i was the average patient?

Janda- pa, dietician: okay, so the great thing about some of the newer medications that are out, is that you can use these longterm, generally up to a year.

And again, it's a case by case example of how long you need to be on the medication and how long we need to monitor you.

Troy- host: right.

Why is it so important to be able to combine both of these under one roof now?

Dr. eric smith: well, we want to be, and we are now the most comprehensive bariatric and weight loss program in the state.

We provide everything and not just surgery.

And we've talked so many times about how effective surgery is, but there are some people either that aren't comfortable with surgery yet, they're not ready to make that commitment, or they don't