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Dr. Samuel Szomstein was born January 16, 1968, in New York, USA, during his father’s residency training. He then went back to his family’s native country, Venezuela, 2 years later. Sam grew up in Caracas, the capital city of Venezuela. He received his medical degree in 1993 from the “Luis Razetti School of Medicine” at the Universidad Central de Venezuela. He graduated in the Top 10% of his class. Following his graduation from medical school, Dr. Szomstein migrated to the USA. He completed his General Surgery internship at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in 1996 and his General Surgery residency at the New York Hospital Medical Center of Queens in the year 2001. During his training, Dr. Szomstein received the “Leadership Award” voted by his fellow residents for greatest contribution to the Quality and Life of the Surgical Residency Program. Subsequently, Dr. Szomstein began his training in the fields of Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Florida (CCF) in Weston, under the guidance of Raul Rosenthal, MD FACS FASMB. In fact, Dr. Szomstein was the first Advanced MIS and Bariatric fellow at CCF (in Weston). He then stayed on staff and in 2002, he was appointed Associate Chairman of the Bariatric and Metabolic Institute at CCF, a Bariatric Center of Excellence, at which more than 1500 general and bariatric surgical procedures are carried out each year. To date, more than 6000 bariatric operations have been performed by The Bariatric and Metabolic Institute. A few years later, Dr. Szomstein was named the Director of the Advanced MIS and Bariatric Fellowship Training Program. To this day, he still holds both titles along with Director of Bariatric Endoscopy and Director of Simulation and Virtual training.

Besides being an outstanding clinical surgeon, Dr. Szomstein also has numerous Academic achievements. He has mentored countless medical students, residents, fellows, and colleagues from the USA as well as the rest of the world. Dr. Szomstein has trained more than 80 clinical bariatric fellows and served as a mentor to over 100 research fellows. He also holds the title of Clinical Associate Professor of Surgery from the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine (FAU), Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine (FIU), and Ross University School of Medicine. He is also a clinical assistant professor of surgery from NOVA Southeastern University.

Dr. Szomstein currently serves as the President of the Florida, Puerto Rico, and Caribbean Islands Chapter of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). He was the chair of the ASMBS international committee (2014–2016), the ASMBS membership committee (2012–2014), and was a council member of the South Florida Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. Dr. Szomstein is an active member of several renowned societies such as the ASMBS, American College of Surgeons (ACS), Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), Americas Hernias Society, American Obesity Association, and the International Federation of Surgery for Obesity (IFSO). Additionally, he was appointed honorary member of the Venezuelan Society of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery.

Dr. Szomstein has always been highly interested in pursuing an academic and scholarly surgical career, leading him to acquire an extensive list of peer-reviewed publications. He has authored and co-authored over 250 peer-reviewed publications in high impact journals, 30 book chapters, and 20 educational videos. He is also been a frequently invited speaker and faculty for national and international meetings, and has presented at more than 200 conferences. He is an active member of the Editorial Board of Bariatric Times, Bariatrica and Metabolica IberoAmericana (BMI), and Bariatric Surgical Practice and Patient Care. He is also the Editor for monthly columns in surgical newspapers: “The Surgeon’s Lounge” for General Surgery News and “The Hole in the Wall” and “Bariatric Checklist” for Bariatric Times.

Across his successful career, he has achieved numerous recognitions. Sam has been honored multiple times with the leading physician award for ranking lists such as US News “Top Doctors” from 2011 to 2019 (Castle-Connelly) and “Top Doctors” from 2010 to 2019 Gold Coast/Boca Life Magazines. He has also been awarded the CCF CME Coordinators Award “Program Director of the Year 2016,” CCF “Scholar of the Year 2014,” Physician of the Year Award, by the Cleveland Clinic Hospital in the category of Service. He was also featured in the ASMBS 30 Members who made a difference over last 30 years (Honorary Mention).

Dr. Szomstein has built an extensive clinical career as a surgeon, academic, and scholar, through which he’s influenced many others among the surgical field worldwide; however, family is always first. Sam lives in North Miami Beach, FL, USA, with his wife Pierina, his three children, Nicole, Arie, and Mark, and his dog “Yankee.” His most important hobbies are snow skiing, road biking, and following his beloved New York Yankees.