Physicians

Baptist Center for Weight Loss

Ramiro "Sonny" Cavazos, M.D., F.A.C.S., F.A.S.M.B.S.
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.

Frank "Terive" Duperier, M.D., F.A.C.S.

Frank "Terive" Duperier, M.D , one of a select group of highly-skilled San Antonio bariatric surgeons, has years of experience in advanced laparoscopic and bariatric surgery including REALIZE Band, Allergan LAP-BAND, Sleeve Gastrectomy, Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass, and Revisional weight loss surgery procedures.

Dr. Terive Duperier obtained his fellowship training at the world-famous Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. This is the highest level of surgical training one can complete. He has a very broad experience in many advanced laparoscopic procedures including: laparoscopic weight loss surgery, anti-reflux surgery, and endocrine surgery. He also completed a Mini-Fellowship in Endocrine Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.

A native of San Antonio, Dr. Duperier earned his undergraduate degree in Neuroscience from Brown University in 1991 after graduating from Alamo Heights High School in 1987. After leaving Rhode Island, Terive moved to Ohio where he received his medical degree from the University of Cincinnati School of Medicine in 1996. The residency match moved Dr. Duperier to Newark, New Jersey where he completed his 5 year surgery training at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ-Newark). Training under internationally-known laparoscopic surgeons, Dr. Duperier became interested in minimally invasive surgery.

At the completion of residency, Dr. Duperier and his wife moved back to Ohio for dedicated Fellowship training in Advanced Laparoscopic Surgery and Bariatric Surgery at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Cleveland, Ohio. At the Cleveland Clinic, Dr Duperier also became proficient with a myriad of minimally invasive procedures, including laparoscopic gastric bypasses, laparoscopic repair of paraesophageal, ventral and inguinal hernias, laparoscopic splenectomy and adrenalectomy, laparoscopic Nissen Fundoplication for reflux (GERD), laparoscopic Heller myotomy for achalasia, as well as laparoscopic radio-frequency ablation for liver tumors.

Dr Duperier is currently the Bariatric Medical Director of the Foundation Surgical Hospital of San Antonio. He recently served as the Chief of Surgery at the Methodist Specialty Transplant Hospital of San Antonio. He has also been featured on many news channels discussing his expertise in weight loss surgery. Dr Duperier is currently a member of the following: Bexar County Medical Association, American Society of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgery, American College of Surgeons, and the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons.

Dr Duperier enjoys exercising, fishing, and spending time with his family.

John J. Gonzalez, Jr., M.D. 

John J. Gonzalez, Jr., M.D. 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.

Carlos G. Martinez, MD 

Carlos G. Martinez, MD , 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.

Michael V. Seger, M.D., F.A.C.S

A native of Lubbock, Texas, Dr. Michael V. "Mickey" Seger attended college at The University of Texas at Austin, where he received a bachelor of arts in zoology. Upon graduation, he moved south to San Antonio to attend medical school at the University of Texas Health Science Center. He completed residency training at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. Dr. Seger completed an advanced laparoscopic fellowship at the University of Texas HSC Houston under the guidance of Philip L. Leggett, M.D.

In July of 2004, the Seger family moved back to San Antonio to join New Dimensions Weight Loss Surgery where he served as president in 2007. With the addition of their twin girls in October 2007, Dr. Seger and his wife Jennifer are the proud parents of five children.

Dr. Seger founded the Minimally Invasive Surgeons of Texas advanced laparoscopic and bariatric surgery training program in San Antonio, where surgeons from around the country come to learn these highly specialized procedures. He is a national proctor for Ethicon Endosurgery traveling around the country teaching surgeons how to place and manage the REALIZE Band.

San Antonio bariatric surgeon, Dr. Seger also performs a broad array of minimally invasive general surgery. He performs extremely complex abdominal surgery using very small incisions and a camera. Dr. Seger uses this technique to complete operations on the stomach, colon, intestine, spleen, kidney, pancreas, liver, gall bladder, and adrenal glands. By using these minimally invasive techniques, patients now experience less pain and can return to their normal activities much sooner than with the traditional open surgery.

Dr. Seger has presented articles at national and international meetings on bariatric and laparoscopic surgery. Dr. Seger is on the board and the past treasurer of the Texas Association of Bariatric Surgeons. He is a member of the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons, American Society of Bariatric and Metabolic Surgeons, Bexar County Medical Society, and the American Medical Association. He is a Diplomat of the American Board of Surgery and a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons.

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.