Dr. Raime Geidl has been a family bariatric physician at Moscow Medical since 2011, and is now the only Idaho doctor outside of the Boise metropolitan area certified by the American Board of Obesity Medicine.
“I’ve had a medical bariatric practice for a couple years now and I am now past that bar,” Geidl said. “Basically, I’m just demonstrating competency in these areas.”
Certification is not an easy process — among other requirements, physicians must first complete 500 hours of an obesity-related fellowship, and be actively certified by the American Board of Medical Specialties or an equivalent organization.
“There’s a fair bit of continuing education you have to get to to even get to the board,” Geidl said.
Since ABOM’s founding in 2012, only 158 physicians have finished their certification, which Geidl said is close to a 50 percent success rate.
Much of Geidl’s work involves dealing with patients who already suffer from obesity-related health problems, such as prediabetes, high blood pressure and a weakened liver.
“My patient is generally the patient who knows that something is wrong with them,” Geidl said. “This may or may not be related to trying to lose weight, and nothing has worked for them.”
Often, treatment of these problems focuses on what Geidl said are not so substantial changes in a patient’s life — such as adjusting their eating, exercise and sleeping habits.
“It’s rare that we can’t fix it,” Geidl said.
Geidl, a Troy native, began her education at the University of Idaho before going on to medical school at the University of Nevada School of Medicine. She later returned to Moscow to serve as medical director of UI’s Student Health Clinic, before moving to her current position at Moscow Medical.
“I loved the university and the campus, but this was a big opportunity for me,” Geidl said. “Probably about 50 to 60 percent of what I do now is medical bariatrics, and I love it.”
Daniel Durand can be reached at [email protected]