14 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • MAY 2021
COVER FEATURE
DR. DAVID BUCHIN ON FRONT
It is not lost on anyone that obesity is a
health crisis in the U.S. According to
the Centers for Disease Control (CDC,)
42 percent of Americans are obese, with
weight-related illnesses being a leading
cause of death. Insert the Covid-19 pandemic,
and even less attention has been
paid to our minds, our bodies, our poor
habits and the need to address these
areas.
Dr. David Buchin, the founder of Long
Island Obesity Surgery (LIOS) in Huntington
and director of Bariatric Surgery
at Huntington Hospital, is on the front
lines of the obesity battle. Under his
leadership the hospital has been named
a Bariatric Surgery Center of Excellence
by the Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery
Accreditation and Quality Improvement
Program. Dr Buchin is the only verified
MBSAQIP surgeon at Huntington
Hospital.
Identifying the need for action in
the Long Island area specifically, Dr.
Buchin founded Long Island Obesity
Surgery in 2007, performing bariatric
surgery on patients who had lost hope
after a series of worthless diets and
wasted time and money. He is the first
surgeon on Long Island to perform the
laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, as
well as other cutting-edge procedures
(such as the argon plasma coagulation
of gastrojejunal anastomosis for weight
regain after gastric bypass). He is also
the first surgeon in the New York area
to perform the OverStitch for revision
weight loss surgery. The result of these
surgeries is not only immediate weight
loss, but a long-term solution to the yoyo
dieting associated with weight gain and
loss often experienced by people battling
obesity.
Dr. Buchin’s commitment to surgical
excellence, quality of care and patient
safety have attracted the attention of
front-line and essential workers such as
EMS professionals, nurses, surgeons,
firefighters, police officers, and teachers.
One example is with the Huntington
Manor Fire Department. These first
responders and lifesavers trusted their
lives to Dr. Buchin
The department had many firefighters
and volunteer firefighters who had
gained weight over the years. They had
trouble losing their weight through traditional
means, though they remained
extremely active. One was done with
struggling and visited Dr. Buchin’s office.
After a single consultation, he committed
to bariatric surgery and changing his life
for the better.
His long-term success was so remarkable
that a dozen members of the department
followed his lead, and also had bariatric
surgery performed by Dr. Buchin.
“The members of the department have
lost a collective 2000 pounds — a ton
— and their weight-related health conditions
have become a thing of the past.
In addition to looking great, they feel
great, and they have been empowered
and inspired to take back their lives,”
said Dr. Buchin.
“The significant amount of weight lost by
all of us, brought the firehouse together,”
says First Assistant Chief Chuck
Brady — who dropped 160 pounds after
surgery with Dr Buchin. “We feel far
more energized and enthusiastic about
what we do.”
One firefighter, who at 3 years old lost his
364-pound father to a heart attack, said,
“I still feel the sense of loss from losing
my father, and this helped me feel confident
that I won’t do the same to my kids.”
Following his surgery, another firefighter
said, “when we complete the fire
training exercises, we have to to crawl
through a narrow maze. I know I would
never have been able to complete that a
few years ago. It would have been just
too taxing.”
Patients recounting the outstanding
results of Dr. Buchin’s work do not stop
there, but his story has been 40-plus
years in the making, beginning with his
family emigrating to the United States.
When Dr Buchin was just 2 years old
his family emigrated from Tashkent,
Russia to the U.S. Like so many that came
before them, the Buchin family came to
the “melting pot” that is New York City,
to seek a better life.
Buchin’s parents were both engineers
in Russia, so he developed an early fascination
with how things function. As
he grew older, he and his father shared
a fascination with cars and anything mechanical
in their home, leading a young
Buchin to after-school jobs at auto shops.
“My dad and I had an inclination to tinker
with everything, and as I grew up,
we worked on anything and everything
together. To deconstruct, reconstruct,
and see what made things work,” he
recalled.
Throughout the years, Dr. Buchin’s
mother saw his skill and interest in these
fundamentals, and encouraged him to
attend medical school. Buchin agreed,
and after graduating from the City
University of New York, City College, he
went on to New York Medical College.
“When I first started in medical school,
I knew I wanted to become a surgeon.
It was a really revolutionary time to
be in this field, as the old-school way of
surgery was rapidly evolving into the
laparoscopic techniques we use today,”
the doctor said. “I trained at the best
time, under some of the finest doctors,
Surgery Department Chair Dr. Louis
Del Guercio and Professor of Surgery
John Savino, and learned from them the
magnificent techniques that they used
during my time at New York Medical
College,” he continued.
After earning his medical degree, Dr. Buchin
completed his surgical residency in
the North Shore-LIJ Health System (now
known as Northwell Health), then completed
one of the nation’s top minimally
invasive surgery and bariatric surgery
fellowships, at Westchester Medical
Center.
Dr. Buchin met his future wife, Helene
Feinberg, in 2006 when they were working
together at North Shore-LIJ. Helene
was hired as the administrative manager
of the surgery department, and a year
later, Dr. Buchin was hired as a surgeon
in her department.
But together, Helene and David shared
an even bigger vision of opening an
obesity surgery practice and that is just
what they did in in 2010, with Huntington
based Long Island Obesity Surgery,
with Helene as director. Helene and
David were married in 2010 and made
the Town of Huntington their home.
The practice has flourished under Team
Buchin.
“Each and every day I see our patients
turning their lives around thanks to
their successful bariatric surgeries from
David,” his wife says. “He is a first-ofhis
kind surgeon, whose top-of-the-line
care has helped thousands realize that
a healthy weight is attainable. I see it
firsthand, the personal stake he takes
in every patient’s health and well-being,
Dr. Buchin in his Huntington office. (Photo courtesy Long Island Obesity Surgery)
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