Bariatric surgeons join Brody School of Medicine

GREENVILLE, N.C.   (Aug. 23, 2004)   —   Reflecting its commitment to the treatment of and research on obesity, the Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University has added two bariatric surgeons to its faculty. 

Drs. John R. Pender IV and Stewart E. Rendon have joined the medical school as assistant clinical professors in the Department of Surgery’s division of gastrointestinal surgery and surgical endoscopy. 

“ECU has been a national leader in bariatric surgery for many years,” said Dr Kenneth G. MacDonald, professor of surgery and chief of gastrointestinal surgery at the Brody School of Medicine. “The addition of two new surgeons of Rendon and Pender’s caliber will help us to maintain excellence in the care of these patients and to meet the demand for the surgery, which has increased dramatically. With these additional resources, we hope to reduce the period of time patients wait to be evaluated by the program.”

Gastrointestinal surgery relates to procedures performed on the stomach and intestines, including bariatric surgery, the surgical approach to the treatment of obesity. ECU is a recognized national leader in gastric bypass surgery, which is used to treat patients with morbid obesity — 100 or more pounds over ideal body weight. More than 103,000 morbidly obese adults had gastric bypass surgery last year, according to the American Society of Bariatric Surgery. 

Pender is a native of North Carolina with family ties to Edgecombe County. A graduate of the University of the South in Sewanee, Tenn., Pender has a medical degree from Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. He completed residency training in the Department of Surgery at Pitt County Memorial Hospital, where he served as administrative chief resident.

Pender is certified for Intuitive Surgical da Vinci System Phase II Training and Aesop Robotic Camera System, both through the Center for Robotic and Minimally Invasive Surgery at ECU. 

He also has a certificate of advanced trauma life support from the committee on trauma with the American College of Surgeons and a certificate of completion of advanced cardiac life support from the American Heart Association. 

Rendon recently completed a fellowship in bariatric and laparoscopic surgery with the Brody School of Medicine’s department of surgery. He came to ECU after completing his residency in general surgery at the Loma Linda University Adventist Health Sciences Medical Center in Loma Linda, Calif. 

A graduate of the University of California-Riverside with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences, Rendon has a medical degree from the University of California-Los Angeles School of Medicine. He completed three years of residency in general surgery with Sound Shore Medical Center of Westchester County, an affiliate with New York Medical College in New Rochelle, N.Y. 

Rendon is a member of the American Medical Association, the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, the Society of American Gastrointestinal Endoscopic Surgeons, and the American College of Surgeons. 

Pender and Rendon will see patients at the Brody Outpatient Center under the auspices of ECU Physicians, the group practice of the Brody School of Medicine. To schedule an appointment with either physician, call (252) 744-2018.