A couple of years ago I posted a review on Doctor Dubow's practice (the link on his yelp page) which contains more than one doctor without realizing that there was a separate entry specifically for Doctor Dubow. With that said, Yelp removed both and asked me to repost in one or the other. As I'm not looking to critique all doctors I didn't see at a practice, I felt that posting here was more appropriate. To be fair, I'll reiterate again that this review is actually from a couple of years ago when I moved back from Pasadena to this area, I still think it is relevant for people to see ALL experiences, not just the positive ones. I am not questioning Doctor Dubow's expertise or his knowledge as I'm sure given the proper amount of time I would have loved him as he was a very nice person. However, I have every right to question his process when it affects my wallet and my valuable time when I felt I wasn't getting the appropriate amount of time. If things have improved since my appointment and now people are getting more time in front of him, that's great. However, that wasn't my experience when I saw him.
My wait time was extremely lengthy (if I recall correctly it was at least an hour), but I understand that happens every once in a while and I can put up with that if I get the time and attention that makes me feel like a valued patient. In this particular instance, it wasn't just that I felt rushed as it wasn't a perception, its a fact. The appointment was rushed. You talk to a nurse first about all the things that are bothering you and the nurse discusses it in private with Doctor Dubow. Since Doctor Dubow is hearing everything 2nd hand, you have no idea if the message you communicated is received properly by him. When he came back into the room, I didn't have an opportunity to really explain everything with the same level of detail I did the nurse and he spent just a couple of minutes with me at most and quickly left the room. Then the nurse comes back and she discusses the treatment plan. However, that just led to more questions. I stated that I have more questions, but he never came back to see me. That left me very frustrated, again, due to the lengthy wait in the waiting room coupled with the very short time in front of Doctor Dubow (maybe 2 minutes at most). It wasn't the first time I felt rushed as it wasn't the first time I saw him. However, this particular time felt more rushed than the previous time.
Perhaps my perception is due to the fact that with other doctors I am unfortunately forced to see (General Doctor, Cardiologist, Urologist, Gastroenterologist) I feel as if they give you adequate time, 5-10 minutes at a minimum to discuss things, often more time depending on the nature of the visit. I mean I had at least 3-4 different areas of my body and face with issues related to psoriasis and/or eczema with different prescriptions or lotions and I wasn't clear when leaving which prescription or lotion was tied to which skin issue. One of the issues was left unaddressed. I blame that on poor communication between the nurse and Doctor Dubow and my advice would be to stop overbooking (if that was the cause of the delay) and to get the details directly from the patient, not the nurse. When I chose a doctor, I chose a doctor to see, not a nurse.
Anyway, as he did respond to my taken down review offering a free discussion, I'll bump it up one star...but I doubt I'll go back after that ridiculously long wait in the waiting room for such a very short unclear appointment. read more