Robert R Walther, MD, FACP

Unfortunately, my review will contrast markedly with the previous one here. But I must first specify that this review does NOT pertain to Dr. Walther directly, but to my overall experience with his office and staff. I found Dr. Walther himself to be perfectly friendly, efficient, understanding and extremely knowledgeable. If it hadn’t been for his horrible office staff (which may or may not be under his control) then I would give him a much higher rating. Dr. Walther himself? 4 stars. The overall practice? I’m sticking with 1 star and here’s why:
At my first visit to the office, I showed up 10 minutes early for a 9AM appointment. I was not told ahead of time that I would have to fill out paperwork, and that I would have to go to two different desks before actually even being called into the office. I filled out my paperwork, then had to wait about another 10 minutes before being called to go up to yet another, different desk to pay my co-​pay. I had to wait in line there, then once I paid the co-​pay, I was told to go back to my seat and wait to be called to the exam room. I’ve never had to go through this much pre-​exam beurocracy at any other dr’s office. After another 5 minutes, I was finally called into a room. By this point it was around 9:20. Another ten minutes of waiting, and finally Dr. Walther came in. Once he saw me, everything was fine and efficient as I mentioned above.
Unfortunately, the medication I was prescribed ended up causing some side effects. When Dr. Walther told me about the medication, he didn’t mention any possible side effects, so it took me nearly a month to make the connection between my annoying and recurrent stomach problems and the medication. Only after I looked this medicine up online did I read numerous horror stories about it, many of which matched my own but were worse. Another more minor side effect I was having (extremely oily skin as a result of the med) was also mentioned. Ok, so then I looked back at the pamphlet that came with the Rx and saw a distinct warning about how if there are stomach problems, this could be a severe and potentially deadly side effect, so to contact your doctor right away.
This morning I called the office at 8:45 to try to talk to Dr. Walther and make sure I was Ok, and ask what other different medication I could try. I got the answering service. I left a message and did not hear anything back within an hour. I called again at around 10 and reached the office, where I was told that they would get back to me and if I didn’t hear anything within 2 hours, to call again. 2 more hours passed. I called again — they took my name and number AGAIN. You’d think that for patients experiencing potentially serious side effects, they would take that seriously and call back. FINALLY at around 1:15 I got a call from the Dr’s assistant (I think her name was Veronica). This is where the experience took a turn for the worst.
I thanked her for calling and was extremely cordial and calm while I explained my side effects. Veronica was rude, in an obvious rush and had the gall to dismiss all of my complaints. She had the nerve to say «well it IS summer so you’re going to sweat more» in response to my complaint about drastically oily skin (I did not have oily skin before the medication). She said this with a sarcastic, snippy attitude. Then I told her about my stomach problems in detail and she said (again, with major ‘tude), «Well ANYTHING can be a side effect for ANYONE. This is the most benign skin ointment out there. There is nothing less harsh than this one!» When I asked her if other patients had complained about these symptoms, she barked «NO!» and then I told her I’d both read the Rx pamphlet and reviews of the medication online and in both cases saw warnings repeatedly about how if you have stomach problems it could be a severe side effect and to call the doctor. So she said «Ok so stop using it and the dr. will call you on Monday!’ She was completely rude. I have never felt so belittled, not taken seriously and made to feel like an idiot by anyone in a doctor’s office before.
Suffice to say that I am switching dermatologists immediately. If this had been a life threatening situation I obviously would have gone to an ER, but I would have expected at least the courtesy of getting a phone call back within an hour or two, AND actually speaking to my doctor. It’s Friday, so now I have to go through the entire weekend with no new skin treatment to try before I can even speak to Dr. Walther. This experience was completely unacceptable. I will tell everyone I know to avoid this practice at all costs.

This is hands-​down and absolutely outstanding physician, and I say that after having had a pretty terrible experience with another dermatology outfit in New York City (whom I’ve also reviewed).
Walther, and Columbia University’s East Side Physicians, are an incredibly well-​oiled machine.
I has previously gone to another dermatologist because of a mole that satisfied all of the visual requirements of being cancerous. Luckily, I had a biopsy done, and it turned out to be very untypical scar tissue. However, the dismissive and rude attitude of my previous dermatologist made me go back to my PCP to get another referral.
This led me to Dr. Robert Walther. For my first appointment, I arrived at 9:55am for my 10:00 appointment, filled out the usual paperwork, was called in at 10:00 sharp (!!), barely got into the gown to meet Dr. Walther. Mind you, he travels with none of the typical dermatology entourage. No three nurses holding clopboards. It’s just him. He takes his own notes, is incredibly methodical in his exams, really takes note of the important details, and very systematically checked out my lesion. He was honest in saying that he had never seen anything like it, but he showed no doubt in his mind that it should be removed. We discussed the surgical option in depth, and after 20 minutes, I was done. I spent a total of 25 minutes in his practice, had a very productive appointment with my physician, and knew what was to come next. Excellent!
On the appointment of my excision, I returned to his East Side practice, arrived about 10 minutes early, only to be waived into his practice, get prepped, and have the lesion removed in 20 minutes. The whole procedure was performed very methodically, and Dr. Walther let me know at all times during the procedure what he was doing. I walked out at 11:59, as promised — before lunch!
Overall, this guys is just hands-​down a true professional at his craft. He is ruthlessly efficient with his time, provides all of the necessary information, asks the right questions, and is very sensitive to patients’ needs.
For a person who doesn’t really like doctors (and how can you blame me, generally), this was truly a good experience.