Why choose a female team?

Dr Freeman is a certified General and Upper GI Surgeon who is an accredited member of The Royal Australian College of Surgeons, Australian and New Zealand Gastro-Oesophageal Surgical Association and the Australian and New Zealand Metabolic and Obesity Surgery Society.

She is the acting Head of Surgery and current surgical trainee supervisor at Sandringham Hospital, an affiliate of Alfred Health. This accreditation and membership means Dr Freeman has had at least 10 years of surgical training with 5 years devoted specifically to Bariatric and General surgery. She has passed rigorous oral and written examinations and has demonstrated safe and ethical surgical practice, gaining Honours at the top of her class. 

It is important for patients to find a surgical team who makes them feel comfortable and safe. It can be due to personal, cultural or religious reasons, or simply because they feel female physicians have the emotional capacity to empathise with a life-altering decision such as bariatric surgery. Dr Lara Freeman is one of only a small number of female bariatric surgeons in Australia, and one of less than ten in Victoria, and we saw a hole in the market for that kind of care. 

Additionally, female and male clinicians differ in their practice of medicine in ways that might substantially affect patient outcomes. In a recent study published in the British Medical Journal and reproduced globally found that the patients of female surgeons tend to have lower death rates, fewer complications, and lower readmissions to the hospital after their procedure.  

Furthermore, evidence indicates that there is a strong positive relationship between a healthcare team member’s communication skills and a patient’s capacity to follow through with recommendations, self-manage a chronic medical condition, and adopt new health behaviours. 

We truly believe that our clinician’s ability to explain, listen and empathize can have a profound effect on your biological and functional health outcomes as well as your satisfaction and experience of care. 

Dr Freeman only works out of Accredited Operating Facilities, which maintain strict standards when it comes to equipment, safety and staff members. Accredited facilities have less than 1% of serious complications and have onsite backup in case of an emergency. 

Finally, we are committed to you for life. Post-operative and long term follow up is core to our service offering and we believe this is one of the greatest recipes for success with Bariatric surgery. 

Please check out our blog to learn more!