I wish it were possible to give negative stars. This is the worst experience I have ever had at a doctor's office and had to calm my 2 year old down after Sarah was visibly hostile and angry in front of my toddler. When we first moved to the Bay Area one of the teacher's at my 2 year old's pre-school recommended Bayside Medical Group. For some reason I could not remember the name and we ended up at a different group seeing Sarah Handelsman.
Everything was going great at first, nice front office staff, Sarah was also nice and kind to my daughter and commented on what a great patient she was, and that she had a toy for her. At the end of the visit when we discussed vaccines, we said we were going to give them to her but not all at once and not right away since we had some time. We needed a medical report for her to continue going to school and a form had to be signed which said Sarah or a doctor had informed us of vaccinating but we were choosing not to at the moment. She refused to sign the document. So we spent money and time to have this check up, and especially the form signed, for her school enrollment and she would not sign it. She then stormed out of the room and refused to come back and speak with us. I went to her office door and said, while she kept her back turned to me, "I understand that you do not agree with us, but you should at least sign the form which only says you have told us the risks and benefits of vaccinations. It doesn't say you consent to anything, it only says you have informed us. Can't you at least tell the truth?", I asked her.
She said she would not sign it. A few moments later while we were left sitting in the room where my child could hear everything, including her angry loud voice, and not even knowing if the check up was finished, she came back into the room and said someone told her that by law she had to sign the form saying she had informed us about vaccinations. She was angry in front of my child who up until then was happy and calm. She came back into the room basically throwing the signed form at us and said she had never signed anything like that before and if it were up to her she never would,
My daughter after seeing her face and being incredibly rude, hostile, and angry in front of her hugged my husband and said "I want to leave now". As we were leaving the front staff were talking about us and saw us walk out and didn't say a word. All of the friendliness suddenly disappeared, which just revealed who they truly are, rude, unprofessional, unkind and could care less about a child's feelings. Of course they didn't give her the toy they promised.
I know that there are very strong opinions and differences about vaccines. I even told Sarah all of the vaccines my child already had and that I wasn't anti-all vaccines. My husband and I are professionals with advanced degrees, I have studied public health at an Ivy League, have worked for Doctor's Without Borders and on many health related issues and epidemics in developing countries. We did our research before deciding which vaccines were most important and when. And we compared vaccination schedules and types with European countries, with far better health rankings than US to guide our decision making.
In the end, if you are passionate and angry about people wanting to delay some of their child's vaccines, then you need to ask them their beliefs on the topic before they even make an appointment, if you cannot control your rage in front of children. They don't deserve that, no one does. Sarah does not belong in pediatrics, perhaps a lobbyist for Pfizer or working with Martin Shkreli would be better. read more