Abott Michael L MD

After a terrible experience with my first Primary care doc under EmblemHealth (dirty office, incompetent doc) I was worried that there would be small chance of finding a decent doc with this plan. Doctor Abott changed that perception. I went to his Park Slope location, which is in a brownstone, very quaint, clean, and quiet. No mass of people waiting. Natasha, his admin, is very organized and reliable in sending referrals etc. The Doc himself is a solid general practitioner, nice guy who takes his time and isn’t arrogant. Unfortunately all of my doc’s visits are primarily for sports injuries so he has to just give me referrals to specialists rather than give an evaluation in-​house. You will wait 45 minutes or more, but I’ve found this to be standard.

Ok… two hour wait just to get blood test results that could have been mailed to me in the first place. Can anyone say «greedy»? Thank god I’ve started a new job with benefits that begin soon so I can ditch this awful health care plan.

Just went today and am not happy at all. I chose him cuz of the good review below and cuz he is supposedly 2 blocks from my apt. For future reference here is his schedule: Mon, Th he is on 72^st and 18^th av, ridgewood, brooklyn; wed and fri morning he is in park slope; tu and fri afternoon he is in greenpoint.
so i call PS office and they kindly schedule my appt with him in ridgewood for that same day (lady in PS is natasha, lady in Ridgewood is Marie). I called at 2 they scheduled me for 5.
I get there early, fill out papers. First the entire front desk doesnt know what is happening in the office at all. they were wondering who i was then marie who i guess doesnt work at the front desk appears while they were talking to me so thank god i am okayed for 5 (i am mentioning this cuz there was a lady who came in at the same time checked in, they couldnt find her name in the schedule so they put her for 7.30pm; she said she called them 3 times the day before…)
i got in at 6.30… waited inside for the doc another 15 mins then he left and saw me a bit later to discuss. i was out at 7.25. 2h and 25 min it took me. u can say that i got in the same day, yes, BUT you better get real, people have a life and more importantly — people work! i would have rather come in the next day than this. also, there was a lady there scheduled for 4.15. she got in after me, so past 6.30.
the doc himself… well. i do not doubt his knowledge of internal medicine (he spec in that), but he is not a good doc. seems a bit full of himself as in «i know the best» so i didn’t feel comfortable asking additional questions and asking for explanations and elaborations. i came in fore a sore throat that i have had for a wk. he gave me antibiotics (no white patches in the back) w/​o doing a swab to see what it is that i have. so the antibiotic is a general one with a wide spectrum of things it works for, not targeted one. i don’t like that though i do agree that i need some sort of an antibiotic. he didnt tell me anything about my diagnosis at all, so i had to ask which pills he is giving me, if it is antibiotics, and what disease i have…
i asked him about something else i am concerned about in general and his answer was «that doesn’t happen at your age». oh REALLY? so he dismissed all my feelings and fears w/​o giving me any scientific answer whatsoever. i asked if i should see a specialist for that — No.
Also, which I really found annoying, he said that if i ever wanna see any specialist or anything I should call him and he will recommend me one. Know what those referrals mean? Money. They send patients to each other and thus get more patients = more money. he couldve said, if you ever need a referral please do not hesitate to ask for one, for example. but he basically told me i neeeeeddd to call him.
So yeah, he wasn’t thorough while he was examining, he wrote false info on the paper (that i said sore throat got first better than worse which is not true, it got better a bit and then stayed that way), he didn’t take any of my concerns into account, showed no care or real interest in me as a patient, etc.
well, there is one good thing about the health care in usa and that is that all this is an open market and he def won’t see me again. ever.

As a new resident, I needed a doctor that was in the area. I asked around for recommendations, but no one I knew had anyone in mind (as most don’t have health insurance to begin with). I chose the first name off my insurance’s website, and I was beyond lucky with Dr. Abott. He is incredibly knowledgeable and has a keen sense for his patients’ needs. I will recommend him as a primary care physician to anyone who asks.