First Australian credentialed as a Board Certified Bariatric Counselor AABC.

Louise Petrou is the first Australian health professional and member of the Australian & New Zealand Metabolic and Obesity Surgery Society, to be awarded Board Certification by the American Association of Bariatric Counselors (AABC). After completing a specialised training and education programme in bariatric science she was recently credentialed as a Board Certified Bariatric Counselor (CBC).

Mrs Petrou is an integral member of the Bariatric Surgery Team at Port Lapsurgery (Mid North Coast Bariatric & Hernia Centre), located in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, Australia, where she coordinates a patient to patient support programme. This unique program offers pre-surgical patients an opportunity to learn from the experiences of post-surgical patients.  For remote post-surgery patients Mrs Petrou offers electronic and phone counselling. Her extensive background in multi-media has enabled Port Lapsurgery to produce public health documentary videos that are used for their innovative patient education programme.

While attending a US professional conference, International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders, she became familiar with AABC and the need for specialised training and education.