Ethan Lazarus elected to the Board of Trustees at the American Society of Bariatric Physicians

On August 30th, 2013, Dr. Ethan Lazarus was elected to the Board of Trustees of the American Society of Bariatric Physicians.

The American Society of Bariatric Physicians (ASBP) has been at the forefront of educating physicians on the evaluation and treatment of obesity and medical weight loss for 45 years. Dr. Lazarus has been very involved with the ASBP having helped teach their Obesity Medicine Review Course for the past several years. He also serves as the ASBP’s delegate in the American Medical Association (AMA).

As a trustee on the ASBP’s board, Dr. Lazarus is in a position to influence and advance the study and education regarding all aspects of obesity. Physicians need to be at the forefront of efforts to advance the study of obesity, prevention strategies, and treatment strategies. Because obesity is not currently taught in the majority of medical schools and residencies, the ASBP is important because it gives doctors an opportunity to learn the most current science regarding obesity.

This election further solidifies Dr. Lazarus’s position as a national thought leader regarding obesity treatment and puts him in a position to influence both the direction of the ASBP, and to further advance their objectives in the AMA. I hope to improve awareness of obesity as a medical disease, reduce weight bias and weight stigma, improve obesity education for physicians in medical schools and residencies, and achieve obesity parity. Our insurance system should compensate obesity treatment the same way as other diseases.