I want Dr. Schauer but they assigned me to Dr. Brethauer..not happy

I have read amazing things about Dr. Schauer. He has 165 reviews here on OH.  They assigned me to a different surgeon in the practice, Dr. Brethauer.  I  havent read any bad reviews about him but yet I can't find ANY info on him.  He only has 2 reviews here on OH. Needless to say, I am worried.  Do I have a right to pick a different surgeon? I would assume that I do.  I thought that maybe Dr. Schauer has a waiting list but I would be willing to wait.  He's wonderful from what I have read and this is major surgery. I don't want somebody doing it that I haven't even heard of.  I hope they don't give me a hard time about this.  Anyone ever experience anything like this?

You certainly do have a right to choose your doctor.  Just tell the office manager (or whoever "they" is) that you are willing to wait, if there is a waiting list.  You don't have to settle for just anyone performing your surgery. 

Of course you have a right to pick a different doctor.  Now, if Dr. Schauer isn't taking on new patients or something, you can't make him operate on you.  But you don't have to let a doctor you don't want do your operation.  You can find a different doctor.  Did you ask for the doctor you wanted?  What did they say?

I have Dr Stacy Brethauer, I love him !! He is a great Dr . I have met with him and he takes his time and answers all my questions. I feel VERY good about him doing my surgery.                                                                                                                     

 He does have a female (maybe a intern ) that came in with him to my visit and I didn't like her at all ( shoulder length  blonde hair wearing the white coat),  she seemed rude and didn't have a very good bedside manner,  which I noticed when she rudely butted into our conversation, he gave her a look, like "shut the hell up" ( which was great) .  I would recommend him any day ! I REALLY like him alot !

Just wanted to make sure you knew you don't have to allow students to be present during your visit if you prefer not to.

Did the intern have a Russian accent?

I would put in a word of caution about assuming that only reviews online indicate experience and competency. I always like "googling" stuff and I easily found extensive experience for Dr Brethauer. The most significant information was that he has done bariatric surgery for 9 years. That's a lot. Also I found that he's written papers and abstracts. Another significant thing he is involved in is the ASMBS executive council  http://asmbs.org/organization/   and he's on the Clinical Issues committee  http://www.asmbscommittees.org/committees/clinical_issues/pu blic/spi.asp   and he works at a Center of Excellence which is the top of the line as far as insurance companies go.

This doctor is not a newbie but highly ranked in the bariatric world. My doctor is young (or just looks it) and only 2 years at his facility but 6 prior years doing bariatric surgery at another facility assisting the doctor I really wanted in the first place (Dr. Hunter at Virginia Mason) but was booked up. He turned out to be just fine and my surgery went phenomenally well. I am aware that my doctor does many bariatric surgeries and yet I noticed only 8 people have left reviews about him and I wonder why. My doctor practices in a higher socioeconomic area of greater Seattle (Bellevue) and perhaps a greater number of his patients just don't bother with online discussion boards?? I don't know. I do know he is skilled and on my insurance company's short list of accepted surgeons.

I would advise that you at least meet this doctor in person before making a final decision because 6 to 9 months of waiting is prolonging your recovery. I can't imagine the problems I would be struggling with if I had waited for the original surgeon to be available. I probably would have had more nerve damage in my foot and a stress fractured bone that couldn't have made it that long (was stressed fractured and not healing for 1.5 years). Waiting would not have been better for me. 

Just something to think about.

Who is "they?" The practice, insurance, or who? It could be that the surgeon you want is not taking new patients. When you made the appointment did you ask for you choice?

The bariatric institute is the one who assigns the surgeon. Thanks for the info everyone. I'm going to have to think about it a little more however I spoke with a couple of the people who work the bariatric wing and they told me in a "nice" way to go with Schauer. I take the employee opinions very seriously. I am going to just see how long the wait is for the surgeon I want. I'm not going to wait forever and prolong this as long as I know that Brethauer is a competent surgeon.

Go to who you want to go to.  You have every right to it.  You are going to be paying money from your own pocket to cover what insurance doesn't, so you reserve the right to pay for the service that you want.  SCHAUER IS AWESOME!  :)  His fellow Dr. Dua is pretty cool too.  She really listens and remembers you!