North Carolina Dermatology Associates — Attraction in Raleigh

Dr Ju seemed knowledgeable and professional during my first appointment, but I did get a slight feeling she was trying to sell cosmetic services for my acne issue. I had been stable on a treatment for hormonal acne for 4 years prior to seeing Dr Ju, and she had no issue continuing my prescribed therapy during my initial visit. Upon arriving for my second appointment, she refused to continue the therapy at the recommended dose, and advised me she would be lowering the dose and then discontinuing therapy, because “drugs that affect your hormones are not healthy for long term treatment.” I addressed concern, and admittedly became defensive—I had been stable for years and happy with the therapy. She refused to discuss the concern or objection that I had with her decision. There are multiple issues with this—first being, she is failing to practice using evidence-based medicine. There is ABSOLUTELY no scientific basis for her assumption that long term treatment with spironolactone has any adverse health effects. In fact, there is little research to substantiate her view, except for an article which took results of another study out of context and drew incorrect conclusions. Additionally, long term treatment of hormones is actually pretty normal for most adult women—you know, in the form of birth control, which actually has proven negative health effects. I digress, I left that day upset. When asked to schedule my next appointment, I told the receptionist I would like to hold off, because I wasn’t happy with how things went, and I would probably want to see one of the other doctors next time. Flash forward, after having my family care provider continue the therapy for a few months, I called to schedule an appointment for myself and my spouse. I figured I would give the other provider a chance, since the office seemed okay aside from Dr Ju. The receptionist told me that “there is a note on my account,” and she had to check to see if she could schedule me. She returned after several minutes, to tell me that they would not see me, and I had been “discharged,” or something similar to that. She said they “sent me a letter,” which I never received. She refused to explain further, and when I asked if I would be able to speak with the office manager, she said sure. Without telling me, she sent me to voicemail. Completely unprofessional. The entire situation is unethical—dismiss a patient from your practice for asking for a reason to why they are changing a perfectly effective and safe treatment, without offering a recommendation for another provider? I would recommend Dr Ju get some C.E. credit on evidence-based medicine and bedside manner. Maybe gain some...

On calling the office to schedule an appointment, I noticed the receptionist spoke broken English (not a problem, just an observation), and had a hard time waiting for me to finish speaking.

I arrived 25 minutes before my appointment, and was not seen until 20 minutes after my time, classically watching patients that arrive after me leave before I've even left the waiting room.

I knew what was wrong, and asked for a specific treatment that has worked for my family, which the doctor promptly denied. She instead "prescribed" some unrelated product, not even medication, that I have to have mailed to me to treat a BACTERIAL INFECTION.

I say "prescribed" because she ticked a box on a pamphlet and told me to have a nice day.

The infection has grown worse to the point where I can not work a full shift... Expected from applying such a product to a bacterial infection (Just give the antibiotics I asked for).

The doctor was obviously grossed out by the area of my body the infection lies in. Don't be a dermatologist if external anatomy of any sort is gross to you (Feet may be smelly sometimes, but that's why I'm here!).

Maybe the worst of all, turns out the office did not send my insurance information along with the notification of my prescription to the pharma company. This led to the request being ignored. I am a week past my appt., and will now wait up to 2 more weeks to receive my redundant, mail-order glorified baby wipes.

Upon calling to try and sort through these issues, I was met with an unprofessional tone, and the person on the other end even told me that what I had was not a bacterial infection... 5 seconds ... "Oh wait, it is. No, I don't know why there isn't an antibiotic listed... hmm have a nice day, CLICK."

OVERALL: The staff here are not listening to a word you are saying. The placement of profit over health is baffling to me. If a patient knows what is wrong and a certain treatment is preferred, at least some weight should be placed on the wishes of the patient, not the pharma rep you have to keep happy. Unprofessional in every sense, from phone to front desk to doctor, and don't even get me started on personal treatment or...

I will begin by saying that not all doctors are created equal and we rarely have any idea what we have plucked out of the pot. Dr.s Ju and Patel are AMAZING! I had been seeing Dr. Ju until I was informed she was out on maternity leave. I needed a full body check and I had a rash that needed to be diagnosed. Dr. Patel is a man and despite his rave reviews I was more comfortable with a female for the body check so I went to someone in Knightdale. WHAT A FOOL I WAS!. My appointment took under 4 minutes (first time patient!). My body check was about 25 seconds. She failed to check btwn toes, fingers, inner leg, under arms, etc. When I asked her to look at some spots that concerned me I was told " I have already checked that". I went to a different Derm months later and I got the same treatment regarding the same spot I was trying to show her. "I have already checked that area". Grrrrr.....

Well, low and behold, the skies cleared, the birds were singing and Dr. Ju was back at work! I could not get there fast enough. She immediately biopsied a rash on my legs (which is now clearing up due to her expertise!) and that spot i wanted looked at? She biopsied it right away.

I LOVE THIS WOMAN!!!!!! in addition to kissing the ground she walks on, her staff is great. The front desk may have been a little wonky due to one cranky apple but that has been remedied. Please pay attention when I underscore the importance that they are independently owned. No corporate price gouging or stupid policies. Drs. Patel and Ju run the show. If you go, you will see a big difference in the way a practice is run and care is delivered.

I cannot close this review without opining on Dr. Patel. Dr. Ju was out of the office and I saw Dr. Patel. I'm not kidding - he is the nicest man on the planet and as with Dr. Ju, the patient/Doctor relationship is a partnership. He is patient, he explains things very well and he's a great listener, just like Dr. Ju.

If you are looking for a good practice, I implore you to give them a shot. I'm not kidding. You will never look back. ...