I am not a patient of Dr. Blackham, but saw him as a result of complications during my pregnancy while under the care of Dr. James Joki. Dr. Blackham was his doctor on call while on vacation. Anyone who has visited a women's clinic will immediately notice Dr. Blackham's office is definitely odd. It is located in a strip mall, not close to any other medical facility, and looks nothing like the 15 (or more) clinics I have visited in my 34 years of medical care. The gothic looking receptionist did greet me and hand me the anticipated stack of medical history forms, but she was very young and not someone I would choose to run a respectable medical clinic. I was introduced to Dr. Blackham after he asked her "Who's my next victim?". Considering the amount of pain I was still in after a burst ovarian cyst (while pregnant), I did not find this amusing. He did spent an extensive amount of time interviewing me in his office presumably to understand my condition and history since I was not his patient. It was his examining room that set off all of my "red flags". It was not filthy, but definitely not clean. The most disturbing fact is that he had NO NURSES ON STAFF. This was very strange to say the least. I have rarely had a pelvic exam with a female physician without another staff member present and NEVER with a male physician. Because of my fear for my current pregnancy, I submitted to a visual inspection of my cervix. I was feeling very uncomfortable and asked him why I needed one since I had just had a trans-vaginal ultrasound the previous day. His response was "Wouldn't it be nice if we lived in a world where we didn't need doctors". He did not answer my question at all. I later found out that the ultrasound I had was more than accurate in showing dilation. When he was about to do a pelvic he said, "The next part of the exam will be a digital one, but it has nothing to do with computers". Before he could start, I told him I was extremely nervous and he did not proceed with the pelvic exam. He told me he did not want to do anything that would make me feel uncomfortable. Of course, he took no actions during his this whole procedure to make me feel comfortable at all. He was rude and insulting and treated all of my questions with contempt and complete disregard to my rights as a patient.
If Dr. Blackham was the kind of physician who's goal was to provide excellent care in a less stressful environment, I could understand why he would choose to have a clinic away from hospitals and mainstream medical care. But I have to ask myself why (in today's world where established doctors are being convicted of assault) any doctor would choose to have a clinic with NO SUPERVISORY OR NURSING STAFF.
I would like to state that I have had two previous pregnancies and two miscarriages during which I saw many physicians both male and female. I realize that not every doctor is for everybody, and all of us have our "off" days, but I would NOT RECOMMEND this doctor to anyone.
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