Metabolic and Bariatric Surgeon Criteria—An International Experts’ Consensus

• Published in: Obesity surgery Vol. 34; no. 9; pp. 3216 - 3228
• Main Authors: Kermansaravi, Mohammad, Chiappetta, Sonja, Shikora, Scott A., Musella, Mario, Kow, Lilian, Aarts, Edo, Abbas, Syed Imran, Aly, Ahmad, Aminian, Ali, Angrisani, Luigi, Asghar, Syed Tanseer, Bashir, Ahmad, Behrens, Estuardo, Billy, Helmuth, Boza, Camilo, Brown, Wendy A., Caina, Daniel Oscar, Carbajo, Miguel A., Chevallier, Jean-Marc, Clapp, Benjamin, Cohen, Ricardo V., Jazi, Amir Hossein Davarpanah, De Luca, Maurizio, Dilemans, Bruno, Fried, Martin, Gagner, Michel, Neto, Manoel Galvao, Garneau, Pierre Y., Gawdat, Khaled, Ghanem, Omar M., Al Hadad, Mohammed, Haddad, Ashraf, ElFawal, Mohamad Hayssam, Herrera, Miguel F., Higa, Kelvin, Himpens, Jaques, Husain, Farah, Kasama, Kazunori, Kassir, Radwan, Khoursheed, Mousa, Khwaja, Haris, Kristinsson, Jon A., Kroh, Matthew, Kurian, Marina S., Lakdawala, Muffazal, LaMasters, Teresa, Lee, Wei-Jei, Madhok, Brijesh, Mahawar, Kamal, Mahdy, Tarek, Almomani, Hazem, Melissas, John, Miller, Karl, Neimark, Alexander, Omarov, Taryel, Palermo, Mariano, Papasavas, Pavlos K., Parmar, Chetan, Pazouki, Abdolreza, Peterli, Ralph, Pintar, Tadeja, Poggi, Luis, Ponce, Jaime, Prasad, Arun, Pratt, Janey S. A., Ramos, Almino C., Rezvani, Masoud, Rheinwalt, Karl, Ribeiro, Rui, Ruiz-Ucar, Elena, Sabry, Karim, Safadi, Bassem, Shabbir, Asim, ShahabiShahmiri, Shahab, Stenberg, Erik, Suter, Michel, Taha, Safwan, Taskin, Halit Eren, Torres, Antonio, Verboonen, Sergio, Vilallonga, Ramon, Voon, Kelvin, Wafa, Ala, Wang, Cunchuan, Weiner, Rudolf, Yang, Wah, Zundel, Natan, Prager, Gerhard, Nimeri, Abdelrahman
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer US 01.09.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Bariatric surgery; Fellowship; Gastrointestinal surgery; Learning curve; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Metabolic and bariatric surgeon; Metabolic surgery; Metabolism; Original Contributions; Surgeons; Surgery; Training; Fellowship; Metabolic surgery; Learning curve; Metabolic and bariatric surgeon; Bariatric surgery
• ISSN: 0960-8923; 1708-0428; 1708-0428
• DOI: 10.1007/s11695-024-07395-y

Purpose With the global epidemic of obesity, the importance of metabolic and bariatric surgery (MBS) is greater than ever before. Performing these surgeries requires academic training and the completion of a dedicated fellowship training program. This study aimed to develop guidelines based on expert consensus using a modified Delphi method to create the criteria for metabolic and bariatric surgeons that must be mastered before obtaining privileges to perform MBS. Methods Eighty-nine recognized MBS surgeons from 42 countries participated in the Modified Delphi consensus to vote on 30 statements in two rounds. An agreement/disagreement among ≥ 70.0% of the experts was regarded to indicate a consensus. Results Consensus was reached on 29 out of 30 statements. Most experts agreed that before getting privileges to perform MBS, surgeons must hold a general surgery degree and complete or have completed a dedicated fellowship training program. The experts agreed that the learning curves for the various operative procedures are approximately 25–50 operations for the LSG, 50–75 for the OAGB, and 75–100 for the RYGB. 93.1% of experts agreed that MBS surgeons should diligently record patients’ data in their National or Global database. Conclusion MBS surgeons should have a degree in general surgery and have been enrolled in a dedicated fellowship training program with a structured curriculum. The learning curve of MBS procedures is procedure dependent. MBS surgeons must demonstrate proficiency in managing postoperative complications, collaborate within a multidisciplinary team, commit to a minimum 2-year patient follow-up, and actively engage in national and international MBS societies. Graphical Abstract