Prakash R. Paragi, MD

Dr. Paragi is an experienced surgeon who received his medical degree and completed a general surgery residency at the Bangalore Medical College in India. He went on to complete a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, and was later an appointed Lecturer at the Government Homeopathic Medical College and Assistant Professor in the Department of Surgery at the Sri Siddhartha Medical College. Dr Paragi also operated a consulting surgical practice in his hometown of Bangalore (India) and in the West Indies for more than a decade.

Dr. Paragi immigrated to the United States in 2001 for advanced surgical training. He completed his second research fellowship at the Department of Molecular Cardiology and Integrated Medicine at the renowned Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio, and a third in Minimally-invasive Surgery including Bariatric Surgery at the Geisinger Medical Center in Danville, Pennsylvania. In 2005, he joined the Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center (SBMC) following an internship at the Bronx Lebanon Hospital in New York, and completed his General Surgery Residency. Dr. Paragi is currently licensed in the state of New Jersey, and has been appointed as the Director of Minimally-invasive Surgery at SBMC.

Dr Paragi has contributed extensively to the surgical literature as well as presented on a variety of surgical topics including weight loss and bariatric surgery at numerous meetings both nationally and internationally. He is a member of the American College of Surgeons, the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons, the Society of Laparoendoscopic Surgeons, Association of Surgeons of India, the Bangalore Oncology Group, and the Indian Medical Council.

Philosophy:

"Changing Lives" Surgical and professional services is a multi-specialty practice dedicated in improving the lives of people who are struggling with obesity through delivery of high-quality and compassionate health care. A center dedicated to the reduction of obesity - Metabolic and Obesity related diseases (diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea etc.). In addition to obesity treatment , patients with various general surgery conditions are treated. The center was established in 2014 by Dr. Prakash Paragi and Dr. Lalitha Prakash who felt the need for one stop shop for treatment of obesity in a 3000 sq. foot facility, located in West Orange, NJ. SPS- BI is affiliated to the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP) jointly initiated by American College of Surgeons, (ACS) and the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS). The societies combined their respective national bariatric surgery accreditation programs into a single unified program to achieve one national accreditation standard for bariatric surgery centers, the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Accreditation and Quality Improvement Program (MBSAQIP®). Our surgeons perform Surgeries at a Center of Excellence. The outcomes are excellent and the rate of complications are below national average. This is attributed to our expertise in the field of obesity and general surgery. Over the last several years our center has treated more than 5,000 patients and has excellent outcomes.