I give Dr. Shepps a (provisional since the healing is still not complete after almost three weeks)…read morefour star review for competence, and one star or lower for everything else.
It pains me to write a negative review for Dr. Shepps, whom I have no doubt is highly skilled at the laser surgery he performed on each of my eyes for cataracts. However, his bedside manner (at least with me) was absolutely awful, almost reportable, from the rushed and impatient moments in the office both from him and his staff and the downright tantrums I was subjected to when I experienced legitimate post-surgery complications (hopefully to be resolved elsewhere). To start with, the office was incredibly stressed and rushed. (One exception was Yvonne, who deserves kudos for both kindness and competence.) The first tester was glum and barely looked at me to establish a minimum human connection. The second tester was incredibly rushed and was literally halfway out the door before I could ask a simple question. Shepps was also very rushed in the same way.
The day of the first surgery, I had second thoughts about whether I wanted the surgeries to make it so I could see near or far without glasses. One would mean no glasses for distance, a cosmetic choice my wife favored. After acting incredibly put out and telling me that "either way, I'm no Charlton Heston anyway," he was rough and pouty and brusque setting me up for the procedure, yanking my head here and there to put me in position. Of course I wanted to be in the right position, but it felt purposefully punitive. I come from a medical family and I understand the need to stay focused, but switching the numbers took two minutes on the computer, and his attitude was very rude.
After the second surgery, I had some worrisome symptoms I had not been forewarned about - a strobe light effect whenever I entered brighter light, and a spontaneous "circle" in my peripheral field like those old 1920s movies when they try to mimic binocular vision.
I called his office four times over a week requesting a very brief callback about it with Dr. Shepps. He never called me, but finally sent his non-medically trained assistant after the fourth call, who (understandably) could not address my concerns. I was told he was too busy to call. But honestly I should have been one of the patients he was busy with.
Through her, he sent me to a retina specialist who was very helpful. However I still wanted to connect briefly with Shepps himself, as he was, after all, the surgeon.
Ti his credit, he did finally call me with a very irritated tone the next day while I was driving; he was with his family and I told him I appreciated the effort. I never got to speak. Just a wall of words that did not directly address what I wanted to talk with him about; this was understandable, since he never heard from directly what the issues were!
Finally, I asked him politely to please slow down and give me a moment to express my words myself. That's when he became beside himself with rage! He shouted, he was abusive, and my very reasonable request, stated calmly, still went unanswered. For a moment I held the phone up so my companion (who had overheard my end of the conversation) could hear. My friend's reaction was also shocked-- "horrible, just horrible" in his word. I told Dr. Shepps I coud not continue the conversation until he took a breath and calmed down and simply listened for a moment. He did not, and eventually, I had to hang up, shaking and deeply upset.
Again, I am sure he is brilliant, but my experience of Dr. Shepps was as a caricature of the arrogant surgeon, coupled with a lack of emotional dysregulation that borders on malpractice.
I admire doctors and a negative or even a neutral review from me is exceedingly rare. They have a tough job with lots at stake, but this was beyond the pale. I cancelled my two follow-up appointments and am making appointments with calmer, similarly competent doctors.
I feel for the guy, but all I can say (at this remove) is "SHEESH!"
