This doctor seems to be going downhill. I've been a patient of Dr. Cohen's for several years now, and I always thought he was excellent until today. Friendly, knowledgeable, responsive, nice office staff, but today was a genuinely terrible experience.
Where he once had a nice, spacious office, I was told to see him today in a cheap, rundown office with a waiting room smaller than my bathroom. Every chair was filled, and people were left standing up. I waited over 30 minutes before going to the front desk and asking how much longer it would be. They said they didn't know, so I said I would leave and reschedule, because I had to get back to work. Only then was I called.
When I went back to the room, the nurse told me it would be a little longer because a different nurse needed to take my information. I told her I needed to get back to work, and if the doctor couldn't be there within five minutes, I would leave and reschedule. She frowned, disappeared, and Dr. Cohen came walking in immediately. I didn't raise my voice or say anything disrespectful in the slightest, but he was visibly irritated and proceeded to grab my foot and trim my ingrown toenail with nothing for pain while I was wincing and saying, "Oww, that hurts!"
As he was preparing to leave, I said, "One other thing... what's going on today? Are you running behind?" He walked out the door, didn't turn around, and said, "Yep, it's that time of year. If you don't like it, find another doctor who is less busy," and then walked into the room of the next patient.
Up until that point, I was willing to chalk it up to a bad day and give him another chance, given my positive past history, but it felt like he was basically telling me to go to hell. I felt immensely disrespected. Even on my worst day, I've never treated another human being that way, especially not at work. So, I gathered up my things and quietly left without saying another word.
Reading this, you might be tempted to believe, "Well, he's probably just a problem client who causes a scene for no reason and doesn't pay his bills." But that's not true. I pay every bill in full at the time of the visit, I'm always polite, I'm very quiet, and I've always been respectful. I have no idea why Dr. Cohen acted so terribly, and I was stunned to see his attitude change so much. He was like a different person.
I can only imagine how difficult it is to be a doctor, but no one deserves to be treated like I was today. If I can be on time, so can he. If there is another patient who needs attention and causes him to be late, he can at least apologize or offer to let me reschedule. If he's angry, he should never come in and begin a medical procedure with complete disregard for anything I say. And I should never be told, "If you don't like it, find another doctor." That kind of attitude is simply unacceptable. read more