ThinnerTimes

Dr. Charles Callery  has been treating patients with severe obesity since 1991. He first became interested in the field when listening to the experiences of a patient who was referred for another operation after losing 140 pounds with gastric bypass. After learning from Richard Catlin, MD and Mary Lou Walen, he started his own obesity surgery program. He has performed over 3,200 gastric bypass, Lap-Band® , and vertical sleeve gastrectomy surgeries in both primary and reoperative settings. These surgeries include over 1600 laparoscopic gastric bypasses. Now almost all patients undergo these procedures by laparoscopic technique.

Dr. Callery is the Medical Director of the Bariatric Surgery Department at Pomerado Hospital in Poway, Ca. He has led the medical and hospital team to enable Pomerado Hospital to qualify for Center of Excellence (COE) status with the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) sanctioned Surgery Review Corporation. To qualify for COE status the practice and hospital must adhere to rigorous surgical volume and outcomes standards.The hospital and practice submit their surgical results on an ongoing basis to the national database. They can then download national benchmarks and compare their results to the results from other Centers of Excellence.

Dr. Callery has also been instrumental in developing and refining WLS procedures to reduce complication rates, and has the implemented comprehensive pre and post-operative support programs, including the Thinner Times Forum, an online support community for gastric bypass, Lap Band, and vertical sleeve gastrectomy patients.. He recently authored and article about improving the safety of gastric bypass by the use of staple line reinforcement technology in the ASMBS professional journal, Surgery of Obesity and Related Diseases.

"I find helping obese patients achieve a more normal and healthier life both technically challenging and personally rewarding. Obesity surgery is one of the most optimistic specialties of medicine."

Dr. Callery's office is located in Poway. He performs surgery at Pomerado Hospital in Poway and Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego.

Professional Services:

1. Performing gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, and Lap-Band® procedures
2. Providing care to Lap Band patients who have receive surgery elsewhere
3. Speaking to and educating primary care doctors and organizations about the treatment of morbid obesity