Sau Purnima, MD

Horrible experience there, the place is dirty, the wait is long, and Dr. Sau is in and out of the room. She doesn’t take her time to ask if you have questions. I told her the medication she was giving me I had tried before in the didn’t work on my skin and she gave it to me anyways and told me to come back in a month. I would never go back! !

I visited this dermatologist multiple times for my acne and for mole exams. I was displeased when she would talk to me for at most one minute and then head out the door before I had talked to her about everything. She also repeatedly prescribed products that were not the best ones for me. Multiple times she insisted on continuing to prescribe medications that had given me bad side effects in the past or that did not resolve my condition. For my skin exam, she did not thoroughly examine my entire body. I instead had to myself point out individual moles for her to examine, and then she would respond, «Pppp!» as they were nothing to worry about. Some of the office staff was friendly to me, while one staff member had a negative, unprofessional reaction when I told her that I had suffered from acne for over 20 years. She should learn to be more neutral in her verbal and nonverbal reactions to patients. I do not think that the doctor or staff is good, and I stopped seeing them.

Dr Sau has provided me with good medicine for a number of years. She is direct & to the point and though some may fault her for that, I’m absolutely fine with that. I’ve never had to wait long for an appointment & am pleased. I took my daughters to her husband for year and know they are a caring set of practitioners.
Lou K

Might try being more personable. Definitely not friendly. Made appointment; was forced to wait. Did not provide information regarding diagnosis. Cold and impersonal. Nurse did not know the difference between scoliosis and sclerosis. She is perfect if you want to be treated like a brainless animal not worthy of common courtesy. Biopsy was sloppy. Is there a score less than 1 available? I was formerly a contracts manager at a large public health system; I would not renew a contract with a physician that treats patients with such disrespect. Good thing she is in private practice. I won’t be making any further appointments with this person.

I went to this dermatologist because she was right up the street from my house and my insurance covered her. I made an appointment for a skin cancer screening and to discuss my adult acne. I waited for a long time. There was NO AC in the waiting room during the middle of summer. The receptionists was not hospitable; very dry and no personality. When I finally saw the doctor, she told me she only had time for one thing so I need to pick my acne or the cancer screening today. I choose the acne. She looked at my skin from halfway across the room. Then she gave me a prescription for a topical wash that was not covered by my insurance. I ended up paying $ 200 for the meds. I have been taking them for over 2 months now consistently and there has been no change in my skin. DO NOT GO HERE!

I noticed that Dr. Purnima hasn’t received positive reviews. I was surprised because I had a positive experience.
I called for an appointment on Thursday, and was able to schedule the appointment for the following Monday. I have had dermatologist in the past and this has NEVER been the case. I was so pleased.
Location: Located in Silver Spring off of 29, closer to downtown Silver Spring, her office is located in a large brown high rise to the left. I believe that there is a bank ATM right outside of the building. Parking is by meter on the street or in the garage directly where Fenton Street ends.
I had one of the first appointments of the day, so there were very few patients in the office upon my arrival. I was late (gasp) and they were still able to accommodate me in a reasonable fashion.
Dr. Purnima was nice, helped to ease my concerns, and explained things to me clearly. I didn’t feel rushed at all.
The only concern that I have is that I am not sure if she is as aggressive as my prior dermatologist regarding her methods of treatment or if she is as familiar with working with African American skin. Besides that, when I am in a pinch, I think I would be willing to try her again.

I went to Dr. Sau to discuss a few Derm. related questions I had (hair loss, very dry skin, etc.) The only good part about this office is that they had plenty of appointments available. From that point onward, it just went downhill.
The first part of the reminder voicemail I received was the caller talking in spanish to someone else, then I guess she realized she was being recorded and then went on to remind me about my appointment. She did not even hang up the phone before continuing her conversation in Spanish. Strange, but I did not think much of it.
I arrived at my appointment well in advance to ensure I filled out my paperwork with plenty of time — I would rather wait then make the doctor wait. I know they have a full day of appointments.
The girl who took my medical history was not nice at all, and had no personality. Fine — I was not there to see her. When they Doctor arrived, (early for my appointment I might add!- the only reason for 1 star) we started talking about the hair loss. Without going into much detail about how I was not impressed by her help, lets just cut to my frustration. My appointment was at 9:15am. She came to see me MAYBE at 9:05am. At 9:22, I said I had one more question and she stopped me and said, «I have spent a lot of time with you, there are other patients waiting.» The appointment ended at 9:23am… My appointment was for 9:15…that is technically 8 minutes after I was scheduled to be seen.
I am so sick of going to doctor after doctor that could care less. I understand that they have a lot of people to see, and they did not want to get behind, but I could not believe that she said that. I took off from work, and had a less than cheap co-​pay to see her. Not only did I waste money and my time, I did not get my questions answered and am back to square one after being pushed off to yet another type of doctor.
The long list of horrible doctors I have seen in the last few months make me wish I had gone to Med School.

The main front desk lady has no personality which is something that you don’t realize the importance of in a receptionist until you meet somebody like her. Dr. Sau is a bit short and seems abrasive at first, but will warm to you over time. She is definitely competent and efficient with her time, just not incredibly talkative, which can sometimes be awkward. Overall, going to this office is a pretty average experience for me.