My main interest in posting this review is to inform potential new patients BEFORE they choose Liz Cavin as a Naturopathic doctor. I have been a client/patient of Liz Cavin's since her beginnings here in Helena in 2006. In the beginning, she was helpful, able to assist with standard and easily diagnosable health issues. She diagnosed me with Hashimoto's but that was the end of her ability to treat me consistently and over time. Most recently, I developed more complicated issues such as heightened anxiety, sleeplessness/insomnia and increased dietary sensitivities. I believed these and other more severe symptoms were all related to my Hashimoto's but she did not and performed expensive tests that only showed where my anxiety, for example, was reflected but not WHY.
Time and time again, Liz was unable to properly diagnose whatever issue was challenging for her. She did not research or explore possibilities and options for me as she proposed - which is what a Holistic doctor does and she clearly did not!
She also did not do ANY follow-up with me regarding tests (such as complicated adrenal testing) or my expressed concerns, curiosity, and suggestions about my conditions. I always had to call her office for follow-up information.
Unfortunately, her receptionist, Carey, is not only poorly suited for her position of working with people, but is also highly incompetent. Liz would never acknowledge my fair complaints obviously based on my experience and would just try to proclaim Carey's abilities (which are what, exactly) and dismiss my concerns.
In addition, I would call, leave messages, or make simple requests to Carey and would be consistently made to wait for unacceptable amounts of time for simple requests OR she would simple "forget" to pass on my questions or deliver information to Liz.
Over a period of 6 months to a year, Liz dropped the ball on me and blatantly dismissed and thus disrespected my health concerns for what seems like unethical and unprofessional reasons - rather than be professional and tell me she is unable to help me due to her lack of knowledge and experience, she ignored my requests and any important follow-up. Anyone familiar with the auto-immune condition of Hashimoto's and concurrent "leaky gut"/food sensitivity problems knows that staying on top of this health condition is absolutely ESSENTIAL.
As an educated patient, being ignored or dismissed by the doctor responsible for properly treating such health conditions is completely unacceptable and very disturbing.
Here's an example: Recently, we did a blood test for my Hashimoto's condition (at my suggestion). She received the results within a week and did not call me. Another week went by and I CALLED HER. She was overly nice on the phone, explaining that she hadn't called me because she had been "putting out fires all week." Then she said that she wouldn't be able to see me or discuss the lab results the following week because she would be out of town (picking up a car). She then told me that she would not be able to see me the next week when she would be back in her office because she had clean things up in her office. THEN, she read me some of the test results over the phone...none of which I really understood. As she read the information, she would tell me that she didn't know why some numbers meant or why they were elevated, for example. She also said that she didn't really know what the test truly showed because she hadn't compared it with the most recent, previous blood test. ALOT of "I don't know" OVER THE PHONE. I think it is very unprofessional and unfair to the patient to read results of any test over the phone because not only does the patient not see the numbers the doctor is referring to, but when numbers out of the so-called normal ranges are told, this can be upsetting and disconcerting - not understanding what the out-of-range numbers are reflecting can be disturbing.
After this unhelpful conversation, I was supposed to wait another 2 weeks to meet with her in person to go over the test. A full 4 weeks of unnecessary waiting for important blood test results about my Hashimoto's (which directly effects dietary restrictions and sleep issues) is not only unfair, but unethical.
Liz is perfectly aware of my thoughts and feelings about her unprofessional and frankly, incompetent behavior. I've received no apology or acknowledgement. DO NOT assume she is a capable doctor without getting specific answers to your health questions and concerns. The more issues you have, the less she has shown to medically or holistically understand or care to investigate. Her knowledge is extremely limited and she does not appreciate working with an intelligent or educated patient (in other words, a patient that educates him or herself about his or her own health conditions). Please be very cautious about putting your trust in her. read more