Well, as long as we're talking about PCPs.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Anyone have any thoughts to share about any of the primary care docs affiliated with Cambridge Health Alliance (also includes Somerville Hospital, Somerville Adult Medicine, Somerville Primary Care, etc)? I need a new PCP, and the last time I was looking for one, I was living in Jamaica Plain. Don't really want to keep going back down to JP every time I need a prescription renewed.

I'm on Tufts insurance, not that I think it matters.

Comments

[recoiling.livejournal.com]

I see Dr. Hertzman-Miller at Somerville Primary Care and am for the most part underwhelmed with their services. She's nice enough, it's just that the clinic is so big that they don't really seem to be able to get to know you. I did really like the nurse practitioner I saw a few weeks ago. Her name was Carolyn Jordan and she was really nice. They also have a really cool person doing the STD testing and reproductive planning stuff. [not somewhere you want to go if you just want to run in and out though]

[summerrose.livejournal.com]

I also see Dr. Hertzman-Miller at Somerville Primary Care and think she's fantastic. I really like that she explains things to me without talking down to me, a great quality in a doctor. The front desk can be a bit irritating to deal with, but I think that's typical - I've had to deal with much worse front desk situations at other practices.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

I like Rachel Wheeler in Union Square, but I hate her office (inconvenient hours, hard to understand on the phone, time in waiting room is always epic; though you can get prescriptions renewed over the phone). So I would avoid any of the Union Square ones. In fact every time I go there I wonder why I haven't switched yet (this is a fine thing to wonder while you are waiting an hour for your appointment).

The midwives at the Cambridge Birth Center do well-woman care and are pretty awesome (as are their staff), but I don't actually know if you're a woman.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Yup. =) And general female care is on my list, though I'm not quite an expectant mother, more quite the opposite at the moment.

[lissie930.livejournal.com]

Dr. Teresa Corcoran at Cambridge Family Health in Inman Square is fantastic, we *love* her and were devastated to lose her as our family doc when we moved to the 'burbs. I like the whole practice, actually.

I got awesome prenatal care from the Birth Center, but had a less great birth experience the first time around with them.

[joylewis.livejournal.com]

I really like Dr. Obbard at CHA on Broadway, but as ukelele mentioned, the rest of the practice is really difficult. Getting appointments is nightmarish if you work a regular schedule, I have waited up to four hours (they usually average around an hour late), and the referrals process is terrible (requires constant follow up). But as a doctor, Dr. Obbard is the best and for me, those not inconsiderable inconveniences are worth it to stay with her.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

Wow, that sounds terrible. I would not wait four hours unless I was bleeding out.

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

Looks like Bari-Sue Brodsky is affiliated with CHA, and I highly recommend her. She was my PCP eons ago, and while she's not all "giddy-smiles-and-lollipops", she showed a genuine interest in my well-being when I lost my insurance and she still managed to hook me up through free samples of my meds (according to the original Rx, of course). In this day and age of Princessy MDs, it's not easy to find a doctor who gives a shit about your health, let alone willing to take the time to treat you off the books, so I am very grateful to her for that.

[lizzyclean.livejournal.com]

I second Dr. Brodsky. She's friendly, very knowledgable and I find her bedside manner to be quite pleasing. She also takes the time to listen to whatever I have to say and answer my questions during the appointment and I have never felt rushed with her. I've been going to see her for years (minus a brief interruption when she left the last practice she was in) and I have always felt thoroughly taken care of. I really like her! And I do believe she is taking new patients. She's located in Central Square now.
Good luck finding a doctor!

[jenskot.livejournal.com]

Wait, what?! Central Sq? New patients? I'm totally going to see if my ghetto grad student insurance will let me see her now! :D

[lizzyclean.livejournal.com]

Yup! At the Riverside Health Center in (or just outside) Central Square.
She was my doctor when she was at Davis Square Family Practice and I ended up following her after a bad "replacement doctor" experience.
Good luck!

[labellabonaroba.livejournal.com]

I see Dr. Lisa Carlson at Somerville Primary Care on Central Street and it's GREAT. No complaints. Ok one - she is so thorough that sometimes she gets behind and you have to wait in the waiting room for a bit.

[exsplusohs.livejournal.com]

Ohh, see, I had an absolutely wretched time with her. To the point where I've vowed to never go back.

Different strokes for different folks, I guess!

[omnia-mutantur.livejournal.com]

Can you say a little more? I had one really good appointment, one really horrible appointment and one mediocre appointment with her, and I can't tell if I should keep going and get more data, or find another PCP.

Totally TL;DR, but whatevs.

[exsplusohs.livejournal.com]

First, she was an hour late to my appointment. But, I didn't get to sit in the waiting room and read the ancient magazines...They left me IN the exam room for an hour.

The real crux of the issue was, however, the fact that I'm fat. I have always been fat, and I know it. I was obviously expecting it to come up in conversation, as it was my yearly physical, but she would just not drop it. I tried to explain to her that I am getting more active, and trying to eat healthier, but every time I tried to say something, she ignored me. I can recognize that being fat impedes me from doing certain things, like running marathons or wearing really small pants, but beyond being fat, there isn't anything wrong with me! I don't have high blood pressure or cholesterol or difficulties getting around. In fact, when I met with her, I was walking a mile and a half to and from work each day.

The fact that she was so dismissive of my efforts and continued to brow beat me (Even signing me up for a nutritionist appointment, when I clearly said I didn't want to!) was just over the line for me. I went home, cried, and vowed to never go back to her again. So now I'm looking for a new PCP as well.

Re: Totally TL;DR, but whatevs.

[omnia-mutantur.livejournal.com]

I had much the same experience. I had an awesome first appointment wherein we talked about mostly about anxiety, an indifferent appointment about something else, and a yearly physical that reduced me to tears. I too am fat, but not unhealthy and eating well and getting exercise and all the things she suggested and didn't listen to my answers about. And now i never want to go back.

(she told me maybe the key to losing weight was drinking less orange juice)

I'm sorry I wasn't the only one she did this too, but thank you for validating my experience.

Re: Totally TL;DR, but whatevs.

[exsplusohs.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry it happened to you as well, and thank YOU for validating MY experience. Maybe she's just a total fat-phobe?

I don't think either of us should go back, to be honest. To me, going back makes her attitude/manner okay, and I don't think it is okay to treat people that way.

Re: Totally TL;DR, but whatevs.

[phoenixy.livejournal.com]

You might be interested in nurse practitioner Marie Botte at Davis Square Family Practice, if that's on your insurance. I recommend her wholeheartedly. At one point she was a bit late for an appointment, but apologized and explained why (patient emergency). I'm a bit overweight and I preemptively mentioned it--"I know I need to loose weight; I started a diet." and she said something like, "I'm not really big on diets; I'm more in favor of lifestyle changes. It's hard to lose weight!" and that was it. I had had no idea it was possible for a doctor not to be a jerk about weight loss until that moment. And in addition to having a really great bedside manner, she also checked up on some stuff none of my doctors had before and found a couple of minor problems (e.g. vitamin deficiency).

Re: Totally TL;DR, but whatevs.

[exsplusohs.livejournal.com]

Thank you SO much for this! I wasn't sure how to begin my hunt for a doctor that wouldn't be really nasty about fat, beyond calling the office and asking "Any fattie haters in the building? No? Okay, thanks."

You rock!

Re: Totally TL;DR, but whatevs.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

That's a good kind of rec for me too. I'm overweight, but I work on it. And I don't really need anyone ELSE in my life telling me I shouldn't be, cause, I know it already.

Re: Totally TL;DR, but whatevs.

[lizzyclean.livejournal.com]

To chime in again, I had an experience like this with Dr. Bershel at Davis Square Family Practice. She came recommended to me by two friends so I was feeling pretty confident. When it came time to get on the scale the doctor actually GASPED and said "Oh my god." Apparently, since I started going to that practice (6 years ago) I had gained maybe 20 pounds. I mean, I knew I gained weight but GEE, I didn't think it was gasp-worthy. She then spat obesity statistics at me for ten minutes while I sat there wondering if she was serious. I am not anywhere near obesity and exercise regularly and watch what I eat. She didn't seem to want to discuss WHY I had gained weight or how I could lose it. She was just fixated on my eventual obesity and diabetes, and all the trouble I'll have losing weight after I have kids. Finally, she looked at a height/weight chart and said "Oh, wait, you're fine. You're still within the normal range." But by that time the damage was done. First and only time I cried after an annual physical.
I know lots of people love her (from other posts I've seen in the past and my two friends,) but she was wacked out when I went to see her.
Nobody needs anyone, especially a doctor, to gasp at their weight. Gadzooks.

Re: Totally TL;DR, but whatevs.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

I find I don't have a lot of patience with that, especially as gaining weight is one of the manifestations of a lot of other things in one's life. And you know, for some people, not having a lot of nutritional info at one's disposal. (not me, but in society as a whole I am convinced people don't always know what they are eating.) Treat the root, not just the symptom.

[tt02144.livejournal.com]

While I'm sure there are some very good doctors affiliated with them, I wouldn't go anywhere near Cambridge Health Alliance or Somerville Hospital, for reasons too numerous to mention. My sympathies if you are required to go there.

[prunesnprisms.livejournal.com]

You're going to have to give me more data than that for a blanket statement to that effect. I'm affiliated with them in a non-obvious way.

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

I will say that I've actually had very positive experiences with Cambridge Health Alliance and Cambridge Hospital.

[sissychrissy1.livejournal.com]

Mount Auburn is also included, because they were able to give me referrals to CHA when I asked. That said, I love Family Practice Group in Arlington. There are like six folks there, and I've always been able to be seen the same day. Additionally, they've added extended evening and Saturday hours. I typically see either Wayne Altman, Lisa Gordon, or Heather Becker, but I've seen all the people in the practice over the four years I've gone there and liked them all. They accept Tufts too. The number is 781-648-9700, if you're interested.