Dr. Angela Joan Castellano, MD

Good knowledgeable Doctor. Also keeps in touch with latest studies, tests, advancements in the field. Always has alternative options. Explains things clearly. Staff is very nice. Been a patient for 10+ years.

I'm a melanoma survivor and in the past 12 years had only ever seen the actual dermatologist once and that was to remove the melanoma. It was always the PA and when I went in to have a strange mole checked on my leg while I was 7 mos pregnant te PA told me it was fine. I forced her to remove it and it ended up being melanoma. So now I have to have skin checks every 3-6 months. After moving to California we found Dr Castellano. For my first appointment I showed up on the wrong day and had brought my son who had a sore on his scalp to ask if he needed an appointment. Dr Castellano made room for my appt and even checked out my son's scalp and did an annual mole check for him. I don't know many doctors who would do that these days.

I went in to have her check a mole on my face that had always been there, but seemed recently as though it was changing. Not an ugly mole, small, it gave my face some character, but I had heard that changes in a mole could mean bad things, so in I went. While waiting in the exam room, I heard Dr. Castellano talking just outside my door before she entered, "So, this is the last patient before lunch??" She came in followed by a girl in street clothes. This girl was MAYBE 13 years old, tops, and dressed for the beach. Needless to say, this surprised me and made me uneasy. I told Castellano about my mole, and instantly, without even looking at it, or asking me any questions, she proclaims "we'll remove it!" and the teenager started prepping tools. Taken aback, I said, "whoa wait, is that necessary? I mean, we don't even know if it's more than a mole..." The doctor put her hand on her hip, cocked an eyebrow and said, "you want a bump on your face?!"In hindsight, I should have said "thank… you but no thank you" and walked out right then. I told her I liked my mole, she said "but it's changing so it might be something of a concern." OK, yes I knew that, but maybe we just biopsy it? She said by the time we do that, it could have grown even bigger, and then it'll be that much harder to remove, and leave a bigger scar. Then I said, "if you remove it today, will it still leave a scar...?" She resumed her condescending hand-on-hip-eyebrow-cocked stance and said, "better a scar than that bump on your face!?" Again, in hindsight, I should have called her out for rude, condescending, and refused to let her cut my face.Only I DID let her remove it. But she didn't get all of it! Half the mole remained, and the scab was angry and red for months until I started rubbing vitamin E oil into it!!! To top it off, I waited a month to hear about the biopsy of the mole. Finally I called her office and the receptionist rudely says "we mailed you a letter." "Well, I didn't get a letter, so can you tell me the result?" She sighed, and shot back "it was just a mole." She practically hung up on me when I thanked her. I'm more mad at myself for not walking out. I don't care if you're in a hurry to get to lunch, no doctor has the right to bully a patient into a procedure that may not even be necessary. And to borderline insult the patient is even more disgraceful. AVOID THIS DOCTOR.