Before deciding to move forward with Dr. Kim, I had 'interviewed' several laser centers and, as I'm sure it is the case when selecting ANY doctor for your elective procedure, it all comes down to how comfortable you feel and how much it is all going to cost. In terms of comfort: I have to admit, Pacific Vision Care in San Francisco was a little more welcoming (the waiting area is more reminiscent of a day spa than a doctors office), but the price was $2000 more than what Dr. Kim had quoted and didn't include the antibiotic drops. Same machine... I checked. Dr. Kim was able to provide a similar level of comfort at a greatly reduced rate and being that the office is located inside of a medical center, the antibiotic drops were included and ready for me right after my procedure. A few tips for those of you who are interested in doing Lasik with Dr. Kim: 1) You will read about Halos and Starbursts and you WILL get them for at least a couple of months after your surgery, but trust in Dr. Kim when he tells you that they will go away. 2) The surgery takes 15 minutes! 3) Your eyes will feel like someone poured sand in them (and will peak at 3 hours after your surgery) and you won't be able to do a thing about it since your eyes will have guards taped to them, which you will have to wear every night before bed for 10 days. 4) Even though they give you a Valium to calm your nerves before the surgery (I needed two) and one more after the surgery, ask for extra! If you don't know why you'll need it, see number 3. 5) Load up on eye drops. Dr. Kim has a stash, and if you ask nicely, I'm sure he will give some up. Otherwise, Costco has them for cheap. 6) Waking up the next morning and being able to see 20/20 was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Great doctor. Highly recommended. read more

I was seeing Dr Kim annually to check for side effects of hydroxychloroquine that I was taking to treat Sjogren's. The last 3 years I saw him, I expressed concern that my left eye vision was progressively impaired with blank spots. He shrugged it off, saying it was just floaters. I finally went to a new opthalmologist. At my first visit with my new dr I was advised that I have retinal toxicity in both eyes and that the toxicity is quite progressed in my left eye as a result of taking hydroxychloroquine. It took 4 months for Dr Kim's office to transfer all my records. When they were reviewed by my new dr, it was clear that I had developed the retinal toxicity years before and Dr Kim had missed the diagnosis each of those years. I now have irreparable damage to my vision, and have been referred to a retinal specialist. Had Dr Kim diagnosed the toxicity when it first appeared on the scans, I would have stopped taking hydroxychloroquine then and my vision would not have been impaired. Dr Kim is either incompetent and doesn't know how to identify retinal toxicity, or he just doesn't care. Please take care of yourselves and stay away from Dr Kim! read more

Dr. Kim made a strange, off-topic, violent political comment during a routine visit. Spent only a few minutes taking care of my grandmother. Would definitely not recommend. read more

I have deferred commenting on the subpar vision care I rec'd from Dr. Kim at Marin Eyes until I got over being so mad. I began seeing Dr. Kim some years ago as having annual dilated eye exams was recommended to me by my endocrinologist to keep track of any diabetic retinopathy. Although my first years of having the annual eye exams with Dr. Kim had always been satisfactory (I thought) until he performed a routine cataract removal surgery. When I lost vision following that procedure, he referred me to a Retina Specialist in San Rafael. That doctor gave me a very complete eye exam and diagnosed Macular Degeneration in both eyes. I was astonished that this very common disease among older patients had never been mentioned to me by Dr. Kim. After the briefest exams, he routinely commented: "No retinopathy. See you next year." I thereafter got an appt to talk over with Dr. Kim (1) hisfailure to diagnose MD and (2) why I lost binocular vision following his removal of the cataract in one eye. Rather than listen to my questions, he responded: "You're just looking for someone to blame," and abruptly left the room leaving me in tears. I was there for INFORMATION, not accusation. Needless to say, I have since been referred to a different opthomologist for future care. Dr. KIm's usual breezy approach quickly turned to anger. He failed the top duty of any medical practitioner, namely, the requirement that a doctor care about his patients and treat them courteouly and respecfully. Dr. Kim failed me on all these standard of care read more

Run for your life and do not go to Christian Kim! In 2021 Dr Kim attempted to perform routine cataract surgery on my husband. He totally botched the surgery! He broke the capsule in my husbands left eye. My husband had to have two very painful emergency eye surgeries by a different surgeon. He continues to have problems with vision and eye pressure and will need to put drops in for the rest of his life. His eye hurts all the time. Just terrible. Dr. Kim arrived 45 minutes late for my husbands cataract surgery with the lame excuse his alarm did not go off. I suspect he is a user. Choosing Dr. Kim was the worse decision of our life. Do not go to Dr Kim at Marin Eyes! read more

Kim Christian, MD - Ophthalmologists Near Me - Novato, California

Dr Christian Kim is great. He's experienced, knowledgeable, confident , and friendly. One thing though, I make sure I go in there with my brief list of questions I need answered. Otherwise, we spend the whole visit talking about our dogs, lol. His office staff is okay; sometimes they're less than helpful and frustrating. With routine stuff they're capable enough, very courteous and friendly. read more

I waited over an hour past my appointment time for him to spend literally 30 seconds with me and write my eye issue off as nothing. It's like he could not be bothered and practically ran out the door as quick as he could. He did the most pathetic exam I've ever seen. Made his money off me though. It's the second time I've been very disappointed in this guy, there won't be a next time. Total quack and honestly given some of the other negative reviews here, very suspicious in general. The office is also very dated and dungeon like. Avoid for your eye care. read more

The staff, nurses and receptionists were great. Dr Kim was awful! Completely dismissive, rushed, rude and terrible bedside manner. He injected my eyelid with lidocaine and didn't even wait for it to be numbed before slicing open. I have been an ER nurse for almost 20yrs and and have first hand knowledge of appropriate technique and care for an I+D. I have had this same procedure done before and NEVER experienced such a hack job and poor care. So inappropriate. If I treated my patients the way Dr Kim does I'd be out of a job and a license. Do better Dr Kim! read more

After three appointments and two visits with Doctor Christian Kim at Marin Eyes I feel strongly compelled to warn Marin residents to steer clear of Dr. Kim and Marin Eyes. It was an extremely unpleasant and humiliating experience seeing Dr. Kim. First of all, the staff at marin Eyes cancelled his first appointment an hour in advance due to air travel problems, then showed up late for the two subsequent visits. In both encounters with him, he was rushed, rude, unprepared (didn't read my history or listen to my specific eye complaint), and dismissive. In both instances he rushed me out of the exam room and tossed me a 1 ml sample of eye drops with no instruction or explanation of any kind. The staff covered for his rude behavior stating he was rushing to get back to San Francisco before the heavy rain began. On the second visit, Dr. Kim was again 1 hour late, and the office staff said he had an "emergency" procedure. I sat in the cold and dark SR office of Marin Eyes for one hour without anyone checking in with me to inform me what was happening. It was very awkward and I had to go out to the waiting room waiting to ask what was happening. The staff said they would check on Dr. Kim's whereabouts, but then never came to check on me. A family member waiting in the parking lot observed an Audi automobile with "MD" sticker speed through the parking lot, and it was indeed Dr. Kim. He was very stressed out and rude and when I attempted to explain that this was a second visit with him with no improvement, to which he stated that he had never seen me, and that I was probably mistaking him for his partner because they are both of Korean descent ! I did not know what he meant with this statement, but it was said in a accusatory and judgmental manner. When I attempted to plead with him for help and to simply listen to my eye problem, he suggested that I should leave the practice. Not only did I NOT receive any meaningful treatment for my debilitating eye problems, I was treated with rudeness and disrespect by Dr. Kim. There is clearly something wrong in this man's life that he is so angry and unhinged. read more

The worst experience ever they wanted payment before I could see the doctor just because I had a deductible claiming that, that was their office policies when I ask for the policies in writing they couldn't provide it. Then I said I will talk to the physician I'm going to see, but the physician refuse to see me which I found very unprofessional and disturbing. Looks like they don't care about you they will be nice and smiley as long as you pay them up front, all they want is your money before the service. Frankly I don't know of any business you have to pay before the service. But it's the case here. read more

I recently experienced eye trauma and was recommended to see Dr. Kim. His staff was friendly, professional, and very efficient. Dr. Kim himself was very patient and thorough during his examination, and even took the time to explain to me exactly what was going on with my eye. He answered all my questions and definitely got rid of my anxiety about my injury. If I have any further complications with my eyes, Dr. Kim will be the first person that I see. Highly recommended! read more

This review is for lasik. A recommendation for a Dr is easy to give when everything goes as planned. It's how they treat you when it doesn't, that really matters. My review is for the latter. So, I waited over a year to write this review, hoping my vision would improve, it has not. I had my FIRST Lasik surgery with Dr. Kim last year. I had perfect reading vision, but distance needed slight correction. Everyone in the office was extremely nice & helpful. Until they weren't. In my first surgery Dr. Kim admitted that he over corrected me. This ruined my reading, and I now require glasses to read anything up close. He did the SECOND surgery to correct distance vision, but then there was an issue with the flap. I needed a THIRD surgery, all of this within two months. My left eye has a constant haze over the flap and some days I can see nothing out of that eye. My distance vision is worse than before lasik. My real issue is how I was treated when I told him the problems I am having with vision. He told me "you have 20/20, you should be happy". Well, I do NOT have 20/20. My vision is worse than before, and he told me that because of my age (43) I should need readers now anyway- refusing to acknowledge that his over-correction ruined it ( even though he initially admitted his mistake). He told me that he would make an appointment with a specialist at UCSF, but never called me. His office has never even called to see if there were any improvements. I went to another doctor who advised that he sees the "haze" on my eye- so even though Dr Kim is acting as though I am "imagining it"- I am not. It's very disheartening to be experiencing a problem to be told by your doctor, that you are not. I've tried every eye drop you can imagine. Nothing helped and Dr Kim has offered nothing to improve my situation. I honestly wouldn't let him touch my eyes again. No compensation was ever offered Surgery was well over $5k. Dr Kim has done lasik for several of my friends who had good results, but I wish I had never let him touch my eyes. The lost money isn't even the issue, it's the fact that my vision is destroyed and can never be fixed. read more

Very professional and courteous! Would highly recommend him for LASIK procedures. I could not be happier! And the office and staff in Novato are top notch as well! Plus easy parking! read more

My husband recently had a LASIK procedure with Dr. Kim. Not only was Dr. Kim a very thorough, professional, and knowledgeable doctor, but the kindness of his entire staff made both my husband and I feel completely at ease with our decision. They prepared us for any and all possibilities and patiently answered our questions. Many doctors' offices have become commercial and impersonal. Dr. Kim's office was the exact opposite and could not have been more supportive. A small stuffed toy lamb was even provided during the procedure to lower the stress level. Talk about attention to detail!! And the procedure itself was completed within 15 minutes with virtually no discomfort. The following morning, my husband was able to see clearly, without glasses, for the first time in 10 years. He is delighted with the improvement in his vision. We both highly recommend Dr. Christian Kim. read more

I went to Dr. Kim for cataract surgery for both eyes in December of 2012. To be honest, I went to him because I had been referred to Marin Eyes and he was the first appointment available. Generally I track my medical doctors very carefully and research their skill set and reputation prior to surgery. My opportunity to have surgery surfaced suddenly so I went forward without my normal laborious research. I told Dr. Kim about this, and that because of this I had at least 2 dozen questions for him.To be honest my questions were extremely direct about his expertise, training, and experience. I talked to him during our pre surgery appointments and he then gave me his email encouraging me to ask as many questions as i needed to in order to feel secure in my decision. I took advantage of this big time. I was incredibly impressed with his candor, his ability to handle very direct questions, his honesty and his genuine kindness and concern directed solely at answering my questions and having me feel comfortable. He gave me all the time I needed to talk, never seemed rushed and immediately returned my emails, in addition to calling me. I couldn't have asked for a better "bedside manner", patience and excellent performance. The moment I opened my first eye operated on, I could see better than I had in my whole life. Dr. Kim was sure to let me know that both eyes can react differently and not to compare my one eye to the other during the first couple days after surgery. I was so glad that he had taken the time to prepare me for this. Both eyes are wonderful! I am grateful to him for all he has done and the way he handled himself as both a professional and a concerned care giver. I am already recommending him to anyone that has asked me for advice. He was everything I wanted in my surgeon. A true gem! Paula read more

MY FAVORITE doctor AND staff!!! I've had numerous eye problems and found Dr. Kim to be so caring and listens to all my problems. His staff is so friendly and professional. Dr. Kim is so thorough and professional and highly regardd by other professionals. I wish he could handle ALL my medical needs! read more

Dr. Kim did my refractive eye surgery about a month ago, and I am so happy with the results! I really did my research and talked to a few doctors before going with Dr. Kim. It turns out that he's had an extra two years of med school, above and beyond most, specializing in reflective eye surgery. He's a great Doctor, very thorough, and patient with questions or concerns. His nurse and surgery scheduler Jackie is the sweetest, and held my hand through the whole process. When you go in for surgery you have a nurse with you the entire time, and there are 3-4 people overseeing the surgery, which made me feel really taken care of. He also does the surgery in the same office as his regular practice in a little surgery suite, so it's an easy in and out. It took about 15 minutes and I was done! I had 20-20 vision within 24 hours with zero complications! I would 100% recommend Dr. Kim and his staff! read more

I had correction for astigmatism. After two surgeries, I am left with a permanent round scar "of unknown ideology" as another doctor put it. It reminds me of those bizarre unscientific treatments for mental issues. Worse is that the correction they did was not wide enough to cover my pupil at night. There is not even a record of him ever checking the night vision width. I would have never consented If I knew there was a guarantee that this would happen, that the machine was not capable of doing a complete correction. Now I am left with night glare that would require expensive glasses to correct that I cannot afford. On top of that, the daytime correction isn't sufficient and I must still wear glasses day and night. He seriously does not know what he is doing. I ask questions, he doesn't know the answer, I suggest a possibility, and he goes, Oh its that! He put pressure on me to love my new vision and resisted additional treatment despite knowing I am not happy. My body is now permanently damaged due to his incompetence and neglect. Do not hire him! read more