Meet Our Experts
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Dr. Cottam grew up in Houston, Texas. He left Texas to complete his undergraduate studies at Brigham Young University. Afterwards, he returned to Texas to attend medical school at the University of Texas. His residency was completed at Nassau University Medical Center in Long Island, New York. While at the Nassau University Medical Center, Dr. Cottam developed an interest in bariatric surgery.
After leaving his residency, Dr. Cottam completed a two-year fellowship at the prestigious Mark Ravitch ⁄ Leon C. Hirsch Center for Minimally Invasive Surgery at the University of Pittsburgh. During his time there, he performed hundreds of bariatric surgeries and groundbreaking research on inflammation in obesity, diabetes and bariatric surgery, and the training of bariatric surgeons. He also helped pioneer the sleeve gastrectomy as a weight loss procedure.
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Dr. Walter Medlin grew up in Memphis, Tennessee. He and wife Sarah met at Dartmouth College. He worked as a hospital orderly and phlebotomist, and graduated from University of Washington School of Medicine, where he did research in immunology, and completed training periods in Alaska and Pocatello, Idaho.
His surgical residency training was in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and Minneapolis, Minnesota with a research project in arteriovenous fistula. He later did advanced training in Minimally Invasive Surgery and Bariatrics in New York and Pittsburgh. In Pittsburgh, he was mentored by Dr. Daniel Cottam. He has also sought extensive additional training in Flexible Endoscopy, Colon surgery, and Hernia surgery.
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Dr. Mooers grew up in Salt Lake City, Utah. He attended Highland Highschool and was active in community service, athletics, and academics. He moved to Washington State to pursue his undergraduate degree at Whitman College where he completed research in bacteriophage and E. coli immunology. Prior to medical school, Dr. Mooers worked as a pharmacy technician and phlebotomist at Maliheh Free Clinic in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Dr. Mooers attended medical school and completed general surgery residency at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. During medical school he was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor society for excellence in clinical care and as Chief Resident was awarded resident teacher of year by the medical school. Dr. Mooers developed an interest in Bariatric Surgery due to the efficacy of interventions, which cure type two diabetes, ameliorate cardiovascular disease associated with obesity, and prolong and improve the quality of patients’ lives. While at the University of Iowa, Dr. Mooers trained under colleagues of Dr. Mason, who is considered the grandfather of modern bariatric surgery.
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Dr. Pristas grew up in Delaware, OH and attended Denison University for her undergraduate studies. She was awarded an Air Force scholarship for medical school and studied at Ohio University.
After graduation, she completed an active-duty residency in general surgery at Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, MS. During residency, she received training in advanced laparoscopy including bariatric and robotic surgery.