There are five pediatricians in this office, and i've had the opportunity to interact with three of…read morethem. Before i get into that, though, a review of the office itself:
Horrible. Honestly, i can't think of much that goes right in this office. They don't even have an automated system to call patients and remind them of appointments, which is silly when well-baby check-ups are often scheduled months in advance. The reception staff is, on their best days, distracted by socializing with each other. Count yourself lucky if that's what you get, though, because far more often they're surly or downright rude. The average wait time from scheduled appointment to going into an exam room with a nurse for height/weight and the like is 30 minutes. The shortest i've ever waited between the nurse's departure and a doctor's arrival was 15 minutes, but it's been as long as two hours. There's no separation, physical or temporal (i've seen both done successfully in other pediatrics practices), between teenagers coughing up their mono or influenza and otherwise healthy four-week-old infants in for their well-baby check-ups.
Even if the doctors at this practice were fantastic, dealing with the office and staff is enough of a nightmare to make anyone think twice.
And with that segue, on to the doctors:
As i mentioned above, i've had the chance to visit with three of the doctors. (We didn't actually choose my son's pediatrician, as he was born before the interview appointment where we would have had a chance to meet a few of them and see who we thought we'd mesh with best.) Of these three, all clearly know their stuff, and on a technical level i can't fault them. Their styles are so wildly different, though, that i urge anyone not put off by my review of the office as a whole to do interviews before selecting one.
Dr. Chambers: I don't remember too much, as we saw her many months ago, but she struck me as friendly, open, and approachable.
Dr. Berman: Also friendly and open. Interacted well with my son and with me. Listened to my concerns, discussed options, and generally made me feel like i was relevant to the situation.
Dr. Tolchin: In stark contrast to the others, Dr. Tolchin has a rather authoritarian style. She sits behind her desk and asks questions. If you provide extra information that answers a later question, she'll make you repeat it when she gets to that question on the checklist. She doesn't bother with trivialities like saying 'hi' to the baby she's treating. If you like a doctor who doesn't seem to get friendly with patients (or their parents), Dr. T's a good place to start. If you're more a of a treehugger, you might find her style a bit cold and distant.
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So, after all that, maybe you're wondering why this place gets two stars instead of one. First, they have saturday hours. Second, they'll wedge you in for a sick-visit same day, though do expect to wait hours past the supposed appointment time if they do. Third, when my son had to be hospitalized. the doctors at Astor Ave worked very closely with the hospital to make sure everyone was on the same page. (That last one almost bumps them up to three stars, but hopefully most prospective patients will never have to deal with such a situation.)