Is it weird that I want to scream from the rooftops about how much I love this doctor? My…read moreexperience today as a new patient was remarkable enough to actually get me Yelping again after more than a year's hiatus. So, yeah...here I am, stripping myself of shame in hopes that this helps out some other ladies in their search.
Finding adequate and not totally horrid healthcare providers nowadays is damn near impossible, and any woman can tell you that it is especially challenging to find a decent gynecologist, let alone a stellar one. I am happy and relieved to report that this happened for me today!
Note: Dr. Tarakjian (more simply known as Dr. T) is probably not everyone's cup-o-tea (no pun...ouch.). And that's fine...we are talking about precious materials here. So let's go over the most important factors, which I personally consider when evaluating a new lady-part doctor, and how he scored in these categories.
Scoring is based on 1 to 5: 1 rated as "have you ever even seen a vagina before?" to 5 as "where have you been all of my post-pubescent life?"
1) Punctuality: 4
I was taken back to the exam room within 5 minutes of checking in, which is usually half the battle. From the time I disrobed from the waist down until I heard a tap-tap on the door followed by a super friendly and almost comical "...is that Melanie in there?" totaled about 10-15 minutes.
Five minutes longer and this may have dropped to a 3.5, but to be fair, I was a couple minutes late to the appointment because I had a hard time finding the building.
2) Bedside Manner: 5+++
This is where you may totally agree with me, or be all "wtf, Melly?" but I think his personality was just splendid. He was warm and casual enough that it wasn't any more awkward than it already is to have a doctor all up in your biznass, but extremely attentive, funny and showed seemingly genuine consideration for my well-being and concerns.
He really listened to me with no apparent judgment. Just as important to me, I never felt like I was being criticized or patronized when discussing my holistic/homeopathic lifestyle and remedies with him or his nurse. More on this in item 4.
3) Thoroughness/Knowledge: 5
Without going into too too much personal detail, this appointment was pretty routine but addressed some run-of-the-mill "why being a woman sucks" questions. His answers, tests and solutions were so straight-forward and simple it makes me really question all of my previous doctors regarding their ethics and diligence. Dr. T even ran a quick test while I waited, eliminating literally all of my worries. This is rather than sending me off to a lab, which usually incurs more bills and lots of waiting time. I am so thankful for this kind of treatment.
4) The Superiority Complex Factor: 5
I totally get it. You went to medical school and neither myself nor my friend Dr. Google have your expertise. That said, I am not a fan of defaulting to the prescription pad and/or generalizations when it comes to my own personal health. Most Western doctors tune out pretty quickly when they hear this along with my "hippie-dippie" methods. Instead of getting the proverbial eye-roll from him, Dr. T proved that he wanted to help me find solutions on my terms, combined with his knowledge. He spoke to me like an equal and not a dumb patient, immediately "picking up what I was putting down," and suddenly there was no more mention of pharmaceuticals. This is SO RARE. Aside from his thorough and necessary medical explanations, I really appreciated the banter.
Disclaimer: Now, this guy is from Brooklyn, so a large factor in my satisfaction may be that we were speaking the same "language," but even back home in NYC, I had never found such a truly incredible and personable doctor. If you are shy, conservative or have no sense of humor, I'd recommend a more vanilla doctor. But if you appreciate real, kind, sincere human interactions with some slightly-off-color humor laced in, this is your dude!