I have worked in the medical profession since 2003. I have experience working in the ICU and customer service in the hospital. With that being said here is my experience objectively:
I found myself needing to find an OB-GYN after 4+ home pregnancy tests and missing a period. I am fairly new to the area (about 3 yrs) so I don't know many people personally. I have always felt word of mouth was the best route to finding an excellent medical professional that you can trust. Since I couldn't go to any close friends/family nearby, I based my decision to go to Dr. Kreitmann off of scores on healthcare review website.
At my first appt the wait was not long, about 5-10 minutes after filling out paperwork. My boyfriend was with me. I thought it was important for him to be apart of every aspect of the pregnancy since we were both very excited to be pregnant. We went in for a transvaginal u/s (ultrasound) and to our dismay there was no baby to be found despite my symptoms pregnancy (breast tenderness, food cravings, some nausea). Dr. Kreitmann was professional and explained that we would get an HCG level and set an appt exactly a week later for follow-up. I did go through about a week of grieving, and finally came to the terms that it simply wasn't meant to be.
At my 2nd appt, the wait was over half an hr. I didn't notice, but my bf had pointed it out. I said, in the dr's defense, that he's probably seeing another pt, and that he couldn't see 2 ppl at once anyways so be patient. We were then seen and proceeded to do another transvaginal u/s. Still no baby. Dr. Kreitmann explained that D&C might have to be planned after he see's the blood work that they'll send again that day. He said he would call back. That day was 1/13 Mon. I got a call back on 1/17 Fri, he wanted to schedule the D&C for the following Friday 1/24. I asked him how long would I be in the hospital. He said I would go in on Friday and be out by Monday. That struck me as rather odd for an outpatient procedure, and D&C's don't take that long. I told him I strictly work Sat & Sun, I am free M-F. On Monday 1/20, I found an email from the day before from him that he scheduled by surgery for 1/23 Thu. I would've have understood if it was an emergency but he didn't make sure if the day was ok with me or if I was even okay with going through with at all.
I also consulted my mother on her opinion (medical professional for more than 30yrs in a variety of ICU's) and she said that it is no rush. I called him to cancel my appt and he said that it wasn't fair to him because he spent 45min making my story for my chart, his staff at the office working on my chart, and the hospital staff working on my chart. I told him that I could not make the appt because I didn't have a ride. He said take a cab. I said how will I get home, my boyfriend will be at work. Then he said why can't he call off, he did this to you, that's not right that he just goes off and does his own thing. I told him that he does not know the nature of my relationship between me and my boyfriend. I told him I would call back and see what I could do and hung up.
After seeking opinions of others (my mother's, co-workers), I called his office back and told them I'm canceling and not coming back. His secretary tried to stop me by saying that this is so last minute and that he would want to talk to me. I said ok, and I'm still waiting for a call back.
My opinion: I don't mind having a knowledgeable doctor taking care of me despite their rudeness in EMERGENCY situations as long as they know what they are doing and saves my life. I was very disrespected by the way he talked to me. He judged me and my significant other through a chart and seeing our faces only for a total of less than an hour. I have never talked to my patient's in that manner, and always worked by the ideal of "what if I (or my family) was in their shoes." I may have stayed with this doctor if he had not talked to me in that manner. It does not bode well to have someone operate on you that you are angry with or do not have a good relationship with. Doctors forget that they are human and how to interact with other humans as well. Needless to say I will be looking in to other doctors. read more