I just want to say that I have been at this clinic for a few years, and I feel like I have just had a wave of bad experiences. I would have transferred clinics sooner but my husband and I knew we were moving but didn't know details for a while so we made a conscious decision to stick it out until we had more info.
I have felt dismissed abundantly at this clinic. About a year and a half ago, I had gotten off birth control and wanted to get pregnant but found through at home tests that I wasn't ovulating. When I went in, I told them my concerns and they told me I probably don't have anything, they don't think I have PCOS but I probably just need to lose 30 pounds. I was insistent that I got the bloodwork done regardless because I have also tried to lose weight my whole life without success, and it felt like they reluctantly agreed.
Well fast forward to getting those results and an MA called me and said so nonchalantly, "so yeah you have PCOS". I had no idea what that was at the time I had never had any health diagnosis in the past this was all uncharted territory. So I tried asking okay so what do we do? what does this mean? And I kid you not, they said I need to "Stop slamming sugar and layoff sodas and sweets". Which was a disgusting and untrue assumption. They also put me on a medication which was actually helpful. But bedside manner was at a 0.
After trying to get pregnant for a year, I went back so that I could get a referral to a fertility clinic. This clinic was GREAT. Their testing was thorough and also revealed that Desert Sage missed an additional diagnosis of hypothyroidism, which would also explain not being able to get pregnant.
All this I feel like I could have forgiven. BUT since getting pregnant I started also seeing Dr. Sholten in addition to the nurse practitioner I was seeing and Dr. Sholten's bedside manner and professionalism is horrendous. My first time meeting her she told me she hasn't even bothered to read my chart, and we spent 2 minutes in silence in the office so she could catch up, honestly she could have done that out in the hall and then come in prepared. She then comments that my medical history is long, and I was like well yeah, I had the fertility struggles and we have since found out I have factor 5 but I feel like it's all important. She then tells me that she is going to delete some of my medical history so that it is easier for her to read! I was appalled, especially because I knew at this point I was going to transfer care and now I am worried that my next Doctor isn't going to have all my medical records.
There has also been a few times that she will just make these off handed comments and they are all about my weight. And I understand Doctors bringing up weight for medical purposes, but it wasn't like that, it was just like hey reminder! you are fat. At the beginning of my pregnancy I told her I had a mild concern because I wasn't nauseous and I wasn't eating different but I had lost over 5 pounds and I just wanted to confirm that was normal. And she went on and was like oh you should be so proud of yourself keep it up. And I was like... no I haven't been doing anything different. She then goes on to tell me that if I can go through this pregnancy without gaining any weight that I should be proud of myself.... Like ma'am even at my weight, it is still likely I will gain 11-20 pounds.. because I am PREGNANT.
This last appointment was probably the worst of them all. I have had really bad groin pain and I did a bunch of research and found before my appointment it is probably Symphysis Pubis Dysfunction, my mom also had that during pregnancy. It is just where your ligaments are so loose during pregnancy your pelvis is unstable and causes pain. For me it has been so bad that it has been hard to get out of bed because of how painful it is, and I have honestly a decent pain tolerance. I told Dr. Sholten what I thought was going on and she responded with (I am not kidding) "what is that", like ma'am it is literally your job to know pregnancy and related conditions and this is a common one. I explained to her what it was and she was just like "weird, didn't know it had a name, welp, it's just gonna get worse". No recommendations, nothing. I tried to tell her exactly how bad it is and she was just like shaming me for not getting out of bed, and I was just like "ma'am I physically can't".
I got switched over to a new OB- who has been great- so at my last appointment with desert sage I made sure to fill out the forms to get my medical records sent over-but when I got to that appointment the new place informed me that they don't have my medical records. So I called and the medical records department said all of my stuff was in order but "Dr. Sholten just hadn't gotten around to sending it over". I just felt like Dr. Sholten's incompetence was haunting me.
I have seen other reviews about how bad Dr. Sholten is in Labor. I would not want her delivering my baby. read more