Dr. A. Ari Hakimi, MD

Disappointing visit—then a world-class second opinion made all the difference. My brother was referred to Dr. Ari Hakimi as a top kidney-cancer surgeon, but our experience fell short: nearly two hours of waiting, less than 10 minutes with the doctor, and a quick recommendation for a total nephrectomy that shifted to “biopsy first, maybe partial” without clear reasoning. Importantly, every surgeon we saw before said the kidney had to come out. We then saw Dr. Taneja (not at Memorial Sloan), who immediately and confidently explained that a partial nephrectomy was feasible—even though it would be a difficult, complex surgery—and he delivered. My brother had the partial procedure and is now recovering well. The contrast in time, clarity, and surgical judgment restored our faith in the process.

I am writing a review on behalf of my mom who is Dr Hakimi’s patient. He is kind, knowledgeable and has impeccable bedside manners. Highly recommend.

Excellent surgeon and compassionate human being. He saved 85% of my kidney even though my tumor was complex and deeply embedded in my kidney. One week out from surgery and I feel great! I am sure there are many surgeons who do wonderful work but Dr. Hakimi is in the upper stratosphere of the world's best surgeons.

I was treated by Dr. Hakimi for stage 1 kidney cancer at MSKCC. Proposed treatment was robotic partial right nephrectomy performed by Dr. Hakimi. The surgery was successful - doctor explained in a lot of details what was happening during the procedure, visited me in recovery room, informed me of the pathology report. I was out of the hospital within 24 hours and started walking the day after. Dr. Hakimi was very attentive on subsequent check-up visits and informed me in details about prospects and prognosis. As much as you can call encounter with cancer "excellent", being treated by Dr. Hakimi left me with perfect impression.

Yesterday I had my final consultation with Dr. Hakimi. His explanations were always clear and I had complete trust in his competence in handling my case. I would not hesitate to recommend him to others.

Dr. Hakimi is one of the best doctors I have ever had treat me. He is personable. He will listen to you and explain everything to you. He does not rush you and most of all he is compassionate. His intelligence and confidence is reassuring.