Physicians
Northeast Baptist Bariatric Center
Dr. Cavazos
Medical Director
Dr. Ramiro “Sonny” Cavazos received advanced fellowship training in weight-loss surgery at the prestigious Wittgrove Bariatric Center under the guidance of world renowned surgeon and past president of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, Dr. Alan Wittgrove of San Diego, California. Dr. Cavazos is the Medical Director of Bariatric Surgery at Northeast Baptist Hospital in San Antonio.
Dr. Cavazos received his undergraduate degree at the University of Texas at Austin. He attended medical school at the University of Texas at Houston. His residency in general surgery was completed at Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver, Colorado. He then began fellowship training in San Diego. Dr. Cavazos is a board certified surgeon with the American Board of Surgery and a member of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery.
Dr. Cavazos enjoys golf, skiing, fishing, and other sports. He is a native Texan and currently resides in San Antonio with his lovely wife and daughters.
Dr. Patel
Dr. Nilesh Patel is a fellowship-trained, minimally invasive surgeon. He has extensive experience in weight loss surgery procedures including laparoscopic gastric bypass, lap band, and revisional bariatric procedures.
Dr. Patel received his undergraduate degree at Seton Hall University in New Jersey. He then attended the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. His surgery residency was completed at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. His fellowship in Minimally Invasive and Bariatric Surgery was also completed at Allegheny General Hospital. Dr. Patel is currently the Associate Director of Bariatric Surgery at the University of Texas Health Sciences Center in San Antonio Medical Director of Bariatric Surgery and also serves as a consultant in Bariatric Surgery at Innova Hospital-San Antonio. He is a board certified surgeon with the American Board of Surgery, a member of the American Society for Bariatric Surgery and a member of the Advisory Board for www.ObesityHelp.com .
Outside the hospital, his hobbies include boating and traveling. Most importantly, he prides himself as a family man and cherishes his experiences as a new father. Dr. Patel lives in San Antonio with his charming wife and daughter.
Dr. Martinez
Dr. Carlos Martinez received his advanced fellowship training in weight loss and minimally invasive surgery at the top ranked Baylor College of Medicine, the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery in Houston, Texas.
At Baylor, Dr. Martinez presented current research and numerous papers to national society meetings including the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), American Society for Metobolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS), and the American College of Surgeons (ACS). He has extensive experience in many general surgery laparoscopic techniques and weight loss surgeries and specializes in laparoscopic gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy, Lap Band®, and revisional bariatric procedures.
Dr. Martinez received his undergraduate degree from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, NM and was awarded his medical degree from the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque, NM. He then entered general surgery residency at Morristown Memorial Hospital of New Jersey in affiliation with Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He then completed his advanced fellowship training in weight loss and minimally invasive surgery at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, TX. Dr. Martinez is actively involved in numerous medical and surgical societies and is a current member of ACS, SAGES, ASMBS, AMA, and the Texas Medical Association.
Dr. Martinez lives in San Antonio with his delightful wife and son. He is bilingual in English and Spanish. He enjoys spending time with his family, camping, skiing, world traveling, and scuba diving.
Dr. Gonzalez
Dr. Gonzalez was born and raised in San Antonio, Texas and attended Central Catholic High School. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from Stanford University. He then attended The College of Physicians & Surgeons at Columbia University where he was awarded his Medical Degree. His residency in General Surgery was completed at Harvard University/Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Gonzalez received advanced laparoscopic training under the tutelage of world-reknowned laparoscopic surgeon Dr. Morris Franklin at the Texas Endosurgery Institute.
During his 2-year fellowship at TEI, he received additional training at the Institut de Recherche Contre les Cancers de l’Appareil Digestif, a minimally invasive surgery center in Strasbourg, France. He also studied foregut and weight loss surgery at the Wakefield Clinic under Dr. Richard Stubbs in Wellington, New Zealand.
Dr. Gonzalez is the author of numerous journal articles and book chapters in the field of laparoscopic surgery. He has given oral and poster presentations at over 15 international meetings and has been on the teaching faculty at the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES) annual scientific sessions and at the XII International Congress of Endoscopic Surgery in Veracruz, Mexico. Dr. Gonzalez is also a proctor for Allergan for whom he teaches surgeons from all over the country how to perform laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding.
Dr. Gonzalez is board certified in general surgery with the American Board of Surgery and a member of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. He is currently a staff general surgeon at the Texas Endosurgery Institute and a consultant in bariatric surgery at the American Institute of Gastric Banding and the Texsan Bariatric Program.
Dr. Rajajoshiwala
Dr. Paresh Rajajoshiwala, known to patients as Dr. Raja, is a premier weight loss surgeon practicing in San Antonio, Texas. He is the medical director for the Bridges Center for Surgical Weight Loss and is a consultant to Innova Hospital. Dr. Raja is credentialed with all the major hospitals in San Antonio including Baptist Health System, Christus Santa Rosa Healthcare, Innova Hospital, Methodist Health Care System, Nix Health Care System, and Southwest General Hospital. In San Antonio, he has established a well-respected surgical weight loss program that is recognized by the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery as a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence. He has cared for close to a thousand obesity surgery patients in San Antonio with a strong track record of excellent outcomes with minimal complications.
Dr. Raja has been Board Certified in General Surgery since 2001 and is a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons (FACS). He is an active member of the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES). ASMBS is the largest society for surgical treatment of obesity in the world. SAGES represents a worldwide community of surgeons that can bring minimal access surgery, endoscopy and emerging techniques to patients in every country. Dr. Raja is also certified to perform Lapband and Realize band procedures.
Dr. Raja performs all weight loss procedures laparoscopically with a typical hospital stay of one night. Dr. Raja performs the Roux-en-Y Gastric Bypass, Sleeve Gastrectomy and the Adjustable Gastric Banding procedures. He also performs revision bariatric surgery and was the first to offer the new non-surgical procedure called the StomaphyX™ in Texas. The StomaphyX™ procedure is designed to address inadequate weight loss or weight gain in former gastric bypass surgery patients without any incisions or associated pain.
Physicians are members of the medical staff at one or more of Baptist Health System's affiliated hospitals. However, these physicians are independent contractors who are neither employees nor agents of those hospitals or of Baptist Health System and, as a result, none of these hospitals nor Baptist Health System is responsible for the acts of these physicians in their medical practices.