Medical Weight Loss of New York Tips the Scales Toward Positive Results

Dr. Wendy Scinta doesn’t just treat disease and symptoms—she turns back the clock to reverse them. “We are about reversing the disease, not just treating the symptoms that surround it. In my practice, we attack and eliminate obesity at its core.”

A little over one year ago, Dr. Scinta, the only board certified bariatric physician in Central New York, had an idea: To create a center for individuals who are seeking an innovative approach to weight loss that would be grounded in medical science. With eight years as a family practitioner and a previous career as an engineer, Dr. Scinta merged her passion for science with her integrative medical approach. The result, Medical Weight Loss of New York, is an alternative to weight loss and long-term maintenance that is inventive and effective.

We treat obesity as the science that it is. We use state-of-the-art equipment to determine an individual’s energy expenditures and break down the body into its core components: fat, muscle, and water. We then perform calculations, draw blood, and modify the patient’s program so that we see rapid weight loss with optimal muscle preservation.

The Science of Bariatrics in New York

The field of bariatrics is gaining credibility as obesity gains acceptance as a disease. Bariatrics is now a subspecialty, one that Dr. Scinta describes as a combination of psychiatry, endocrinology, exercise physiology, and nutritional training layered over a basic background of internal medicine and pediatrics.

Certification takes several years and involves extensive coursework, followed by an oral and written exam. After passing the exam, the physician must see 50 to 100 cases where specific protocol is followed and a significant weight loss is maintained for a period. The final step to certification is a site visit where the clinic is scrutinized, charts are audited, and the staff is interviewed. Once certified, the physician gains diplomate status from the American Board of Bariatric Medicine (ABBM). Like other subspecialties, the ABBM has a seat on the House of Delegates for the American Medical Association.