Posting my review here of DR. JOSE RAUL CANLAS, Orthopedic surgeon specializing in sports medicine.
Similar to many others, I felt compelled to book a visit to Dr. Canlas' Sprain & Strain clinic in Alabang after learning of his many accolades online - with him apparently being a doctor for FIBA and PBA athletes. Apparently, all these accolades afford you the kind of arrogance I was met with during my consultation with him last month. This unfortunately has to be one of the most disappointing appointments I have ever had with a doctor of his supposed caliber.
First, a little bit about my condition: I am an avid ex-varsity football player and unfortunately injured my knees after working out at the gym with a experienced player. Happens to all of us, right? I briefly explained this to Dr. Canlas at the very beginning of our consultation and the following conversation ensued:
Me: I feel some pain in my knee Doc after I had worked out after my football training.
Dr. Canlas: So how do you do you some of your exercises? Squats, presses, etc.?
Me: Well... (here I try to remember specific metrics taught to me by my coach and friend, but I obviously did not explain it as well as I would have wanted).
Dr. Canlas: It sounds like you have no idea what you're doing.
Me: *Taken aback* I wouldn't say that, I have researched and I have had someone more experienced watch me once before...
Dr. Canlas: You just said you work out with mostly your own research. You basically have NO IDEA what you're doing.
Me: Um, okay?
After some silence, Dr. Canlas then proceeds to explain that due to me having knocked knees, my form might have been compromised. Ok, fair, but then he proceeds to go on for another minute talking about how various other parts of my body may have been hurt due to me working out with knocked knees but using very complicated medical terms. I probably understood 10% of what he had said when I decided to ask for clarifications. This was what followed:
Me: Okay Doc, why do you say that *insert complicated medical term here*?
Dr. Canlas: You know, I've been doing this for a while. Just trust me.
Me: Um... I just would want to know why?
Dr. Canlas: *Sigh* okay here...
First of all, I get it, I did not have the resources to pay for a high-level trainer to watch me work out. However, it is my expectation that if I pay for a consultation with a doctor, I expect to get proper medical advice as to what I should be doing and not being condescendingly told that I do not know anything. It did nothing but make me feel bad. Instead of just rubbing that in, why not immediately just offer constructive advice?
Second, the whole reason as to why I am setting an appointment is to have my concerns addressed by someone who WOULD know what they are talking about. I just felt like a burden asking what the complicated medical terms were. As a medical professional, shouldn't you EXPECT that someone with no experience in medicine is going to ask what you mean, especially if you make absolutely no effort to break it down yourself?
It is clear that Dr. Canlas is knowledgeable, and it is no mistake that he is at the top of his field for a reason. I guess this gives me more of a reason to be disappointed with him as he seemed genuinely disinterested in helping me. What good are all of your accolades if this is how you treat your patients? Maybe as someone who isn't a professional athlete or a big name star, he felt that I was not worth his time. My condition did not warrant me paying a few hundred thousand pesos for reconstructive surgery and maybe he just wanted his consultation fee from me as quickly as possible.
I left that appointment feeling worse than I had going into it. Would I recommend him? ABSOLUTELY NOT.
Hopefully this review helps someone in the future make the proper decisions and not just rely on individual accolades in choosing a doctor. read more