John Pilcher, Jr., MD, F.A.C.S.
E-mail:DoctorJP@hotmail.com
Click here to watch Dr. Pilcher's Video Presentation.
The thing I love the most about bariatric surgery is the chance to help people stop suffering from weight and begin living the life they are supposed to lead. I really enjoy getting to know people as they consider surgery for their weight, discussing their hopes and goals, then coaching and helping as they achieve many of those hopes and goals.
I perform 5-15 bariatric surgical procedures each week, and bariatric surgery is my entire professional focus. I have personally done more than 1,600 bariatric surgical procedures since completing my surgical training in 1995. I am proud to serve as a respected colleague and resource for bariatric surgeons throughout the Southwest U.S.
Recently, I am proud to have been one of 12 national investigators for the FDA research project that established the safety and effectiveness of the REALIZE Gastric Band for patients in the U.S. I now have the honor of being a national proctor to teach this surgical procedure to leading surgeons across the Southwestern U.S. My key enthusiasm about the REALIZE Band is the lifelong approach that is being taken to patient success after the Band procedure.
I was born in Roanoke, VA, which is located in a valley in the midst of the Blue Ridge Mountains. I am the oldest of three children. I now have four children of my own, the oldest of whom graduated from nursing school at Penn State and now works in the operating room at a hospital in Philadelphia. My wife Sheryl practices Plastic Surgery here in San Antonio.
Following high school, I entered the University of Virginia, where I studied from 1982 until 1995. I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry in 1986, my MD degree in 1990, and finished surgical residency at University of Virginia in 1995.
Medical school was financed by means of an Air Force scholarship, which is important because it is the Air Force that brought me and my family to San Antonio from Virginia.
During my 5 year General Surgery residency at University of Virginia, I trained intensively in the full range of surgical care, especially the practices of minimally invasive surgery, complex biliary surgery, surgical Intensive Care, and Weight Loss Surgery.
Upon completion of surgical residency, I was selected to serve my Air Force duty at Wilford Hall Medical Center – the Air Force’s worldwide referral and medical training center – in San Antonio, TX. On the staff there, I was responsible for the care of a substantial volume of varied surgical problems, and for teaching surgical residents in the care of these patients. Based on these responsibilities and many hours of study, I progressed to achieve the status of Diplomate of the American Board of Surgery in February of 1996.
Wilford Hall also featured a tradition of maintaining a program for the surgical therapy of obesity dating back to the 1980’s. I was asked to take over leadership of this program immediately upon my arrival at Wilford Hall; during my tour at Wilford Hall I performed approximately 120 Gastric Bypass procedures. My time at Wilford Hall (and these 120 patients) showed me how incredibly rewarding it is to help someone get their life back by freeing them of massive excess weight.
Thus the practice of Bariatric Surgery, which began as an assigned interest for the benefit of surgical resident training, quickly became a career focus for me. Patients frequently ask how I became interested in bariatric surgery – this is answered more fully in the section below.
At the completion of my military duty in 1999, my family and I chose to remain in San Antonio because we are fond of the people and the environment, and because of the outstanding opportunity to partner with Dr. Paul Selinkoff, who was then the leading bariatric surgeon in South Texas. Dr. Selinkoff retired from direct patient care in 2003, and I have had the honor of leading this group toward ever improving care of bariatric patients.
I was the first surgeon in South Texas to perform the gastric bypass procedure laparoscopically, in early 2000. I am a principal investigator for the FDA research trial that has demonstrated the safety and effectiveness of the Realize Adjustable Gastric Band, and I am also an research surgeon for several “next generation” bariatric surgery projects. I am now proud to be a mentor and resource for surgeons and other bariatric medical staff throughout the Southwestern U.S.
I do 200-400 bariatric operations per year, and this leaves me a bit of time to work for better patient access to the full spectrum of treatment for obesity. Currently, this mostly means working with insurance companies, major employers, and government entities to reduce financial barriers that keep appropriate people away from the option of surgery. I believe there is a lot to do in the fight against obesity prejudice as well.
Currently on the staff at the following hospitals:
- Southwest Texas Methodist Hospital
- Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital
- Northeast Baptist Hospital
- TexSan Hospital
- Innova Hospital
Member of the following organizations:
- Fellow of the American College of Surgeons
- Diplomate of the American Board of Surgery (1996)
- The American Society for Bariatric Surgery
- The Texas Medical Association
- The Bexar County Medical Society
- The Texas Association of Bariatric Surgeons
Folks often ask, “Dr. Pilcher, how did you get involved in Bariatric Surgery?” It’s a natural question, because I am not very large in terms of height or width. There is also not anyone in my immediate family who has undergone this type of surgery. So here’s the story:
My practice in bariatric surgery actually began as an assignment. The Air Force had put me through medical school on a scholarship, in return for four years of service after completion of my training.
It happened that I was assigned to Wilford Hall Medical Center (the Air Force’s leading teaching hospital) just at a time when the surgeon who had been doing gastric bypass operations was leaving. (The preceding surgeon was Dr. Scott Shikora, who is still very active in bariatric surgery and who practices in Boston – his program’s website can be found at obesityconsult.org)
It turns out that the head of the surgical residency training program had a strong interest in continuing to support gastric bypass operations because that was the best source of surgical resident experience in advanced gastric surgery. The surgery residents at Wilford Hall were participating in more major stomach surgery than most surgeons in training across the country, largely thanks to Dr. Shikora and his gastric bypass program. By chance I had done a significant number of gastric bypass procedures during my own surgical training (I trained at the University of Virginia under Dr. Bruce Schirmer, who also continues to be very active in bariatric surgery), so upon my arrival I was asked to take over the program.
During my four years at Wilford Hall (1995-1999) I found the practice of bariatric surgery to be extremely rewarding. There are few surgical fields that can be so challenging, and have such a tremendous positive impact on the lives of the patients. I have come to see that releasing a patient from the bonds of obesity is akin to curing cancer – it is not exaggerating to say that patients get their lives back.
Therefore it was a natural thing for me to seek a practice in bariatric surgery upon my departure from the Air Force, and I found a place with Dr. Paul Selinkoff who, ironically enough, was the surgeon who BEGAN the bariatric program at Wilford Hall in the mid 1980’s. I continue to feel that this area of surgery offers hope to many who have lost it, and I plan to provide this service until a non-surgical solution is found.