Dr. Cywes is board certified in general surgery.  Not all surgeons are board certified.  To be certified by the American Board of Surgery means that a surgeon has met the highest standards of education, training and knowledge in the field of surgery.

Board certification is voluntary and demonstrates Dr. Cywes’s commitment to quality patient care.  In contrast, simply having a medical license is required by state law for an individual to practice medicine and is not specialty specific.

What does it mean to be a surgeon certified as a Bariatric Center of Excellence?

The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) identified the need to recognize surgeons and facilities that provide superior bariatric surgery patient care and promote optimal levels of performance. The ASMBS founded Surgical Review Corporation (SRC) in 2003 to oversee a designation for the surgeon, practice and facility that have together met the highest standards in all aspects of patient care.

The surgeon and facility must undergo a rigorous initial certification and recertification process every three years in order to have the designation as a Bariatric Center of Excellence.  To achieve this objective, SRC developed and administers best-in-class bariatric surgery center of excellence programs around the globe.  Dr. Cywes and Memorial Hospital Jacksonville were among the first to achieve this designation in Florida/Georgia.