I was under Dr. Botson's care when he was a Fellow at National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD in 2008-09. I don't have the competency to comment on his medical knowledge or skills, but the fact that he was in the rheumatology program at NIH speaks volumes. Moreover, I got better under his care (i.e., went into remission for the serious chronic illness I have).
What I am more competent to rate him on is his communication skills with patients. He is excellent: he never made me feel as though we had to hurry; he always listened to my concerns and questions fully; and he made certain that I understood instructions completely by being very specific and repeating them if necessary. I also appreciated the fact that he told me the "road map" of my care, so that I could see the big picture rather than just being given bits of information in a vacuum.
I would still be his patient if he had not moved out of the area when he completed his NIH fellowship. read more