Target Audience
Learning Objectives
Who Should Attend
- Primary care physicians and internists managing obesity and related comorbidities
- Bariatric and metabolic surgeons applying updated surgical criteria and techniques
- Endocrinologists and obesity medicine specialists integrating medical and surgical therapies
- Nurses, dietitians, and allied health professionals supporting patients in inpatient and outpatient settings
- Residents and fellows seeking structured updates on obesity management and bariatric surgery
What You’ll Learn
- Review of the 2022 ASMBS/IFSO guidelines, which updated the original 1991 NIH criteria for bariatric surgery
- Updates on criteria, thresholds, approved procedures, and devices for obesity treatment
- Considerations for comorbidities such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and liver disease
- Practical strategies for multidisciplinary management of bariatric patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings
- Case-based discussions to translate guidelines into real-world clinical practice
+ Topics:
| Second Annual Essentials of Obesity Symposium Saturday, August, 2, 2025 | ||
| Time | Topics | Speaker |
| 7:30 AM | Registration and Breakfast | |
| 8:30 AM | Welcome | Nabil Tariq, MD, FACS, FASMBS |
| 8:40 AM | Obesity Pathophysiology | Aman Ali, MD |
| 9:00 AM | Why is This Important – Weight Loss and Impact on Health | Kershaw Patel, MD |
| 9:45 AM | Lifestyle Interventions in the Management of Obesity | Wynnifred Hoodis, MS, RD, CSOWM, LD |
| 10:05 AM | Resistance Exercise for Weight Loss Patients: Role of physical activity in treatment of Obesity | Brandon Jay, CEP, CMES, CPT |
| 10:20 AM | BREAK | |
| 10:35 AM | Enhancing Patient Engagement in Minutes: Motivational Interviewing for Time-Pressed Clinicians | Ramiro Saavedra, MS, RD, CSR, LD |
| 10:50 AM | Initial Clinical Assessment in Obesity Management | Ahmed Ali, MD |
| 11:05 AM | Pharmacotherapy in Obesity Part I – Old Tools, New Insights: Revisiting Traditional Anti-Obesity Medications | Garth Davis, MD, FACS, FASMBS |
| 11:30 AM | Pharmacotherapy in Obesity Part II – GLP-1 and Other New Medications | Garth Davis, MD, FACS, FASMBS |
| 12:00 PM | LUNCH | |
| 12:30 PM | Therapeutic Interventional Discussion (is surgery still relevant in 2025) | Nabil Tariq, MD, FACS, FASMBS |
| 1:00 PM | Advanced Endoscopic Interventions | Thomas McCarty, MD, MPH |
| 1:15 PM | Case Presentation and Therapeutic Panel Discussion | Kyle Stephens, MD, FACS |
| 2:00 PM | BREAK | |
| 2:15 PM | Practice Management/Patient Workflow | Joanna Schaffer, NP |
| 2:30 PM | Patient Panel Discussion – Patients that have had success with Medical, Surgical, and Endoscopic Therapy | Laura Choi, MD, FACS |
| 3:15 PM | Closing Remarks and Evaluations | Nabil Tariq, MD, FACS, FASMBS |



