I went with my dad to his appointment with Dr. Kathleen McDonald because my dad is very worried and scared about a health issue he's been having, and he got a referral for Mc Donald from his primary physician.
Dr. McDonald examined my dad while I watched and listened from a nearby chair. She checked his ears, nose, throat and heart, then had him do numerous little motion tests like those you'd do in a field sobriety test. She made him stand on one leg, sing with his arms out and his palms facing up, and walk toe-to-heel across the exam room, etc.--for her amusement, evidently, because she failed to say a word about her findings either then or later. Not one word about what she'd seen or heard or determined from all that rigamarole. I had to ask her in the hallway at the receptionist's desk on our way out whether what she saw was normal, or what? Her expression went totally blank and she said, "Yes, pretty normal." That's it? That's the sum of your insight?
Then my father started to ask her something, but she turned her back and bustled off to her office, sat down before her tablet, stared at the screen and started typing. My dad kept asking his question, directed more at the receptionist by then. Dr. McDonald hollered an answer at us from across the office space, without looking up, none too concerned about my dad's privacy.
We wasted five hours of our morning getting to this appointment, signing in for the appointment (which took my dad an hour to complete because they make their customers fill out endless pages of questions on a tablet gadget first. I offered to fill it out for him; he wanted to do it himself). And then being put through the paces and resoundingly dismissed by Dr. McDonald -- without a word about her determinations or recommendations for my dad so he could start to heal and feel better.
My dad needs a doctor who takes her time, answers his questions carefully and respectfully, gives prompt feedback after her examination, and who, most of all, tries her best to help him recover from a baffling, worrying, scary illness. Dr. McDonald seemed like she didn't give a flyin-flip about her patient, my dear dad. She was rude, brusque, and dismissive. She treated us like an inconvenience. For these reasons, my dad and I do not recommend Dr. McDonald. read more