Dr. Barnaby Frederick Starr, MD

He provided excellent care for me and my 4 siblings throughout childhood and then our kids, too. My daughter who is now almost 21 always complains when she visits that her time left with Dr. Starr is coming to end. She wishes to remain under his care through adulthood, and me too...I wish he could be my doctor again. I certainly haven't had anyone come close to earning my trust as he has!

Dr. Starr was reassuring when my son was an infant and spent a little time with us, but as time went on, my husband and I quickly found that he was always out the door in 5 minutes or less. He tends to follow a scripted routine during yearly visits, and if you have questions you have to cut him off to ask because he keeps talking until he's out the door and then he's gone. Any real issues he would just refer us to someone else. We could never see him unless it was for a yearly exam- we would end up with a nurse practitioner even if we called ahead. He would end the exam by walking out, saying he was writing down our sons height and weight and then just leave us in the room and never return. I think this was his way of spending as little time as possible with us and cramming in as many patients as possible. We recently started seeing a new pediatrician and she spends lots of time with us, gets to know our son, works thorough problems, takes the time to listen to our concerns, and gives… great advice. That's what I expect form someone who is caring for my child.

THE BEST

We've had a terrific experience with Dr. Starr and Cross Key Pediatrics. He is knowledgeable and personable - and has helped us manage our daughters asthma. Ive never had a hard time getting a sick appointment or a return call. As a a concerned mother, I am grateful for that.

I have to admit that he does have a speedy appt, but I don't mind. When it comes to questions he always takes time to answer them and is very well educated. He's always been responsive if we call him on the weekends as well. We also like Dr Amiton, who is a little more personable when it comes to the parents, but still a great doctor. He's excellent with our baby and honestly I'd rather have a doctor realize that we need to see a specialist for something with our son rather than spend time getting him prodded there only to turn around and put our baby through the same with a new person. I like being in and out and so does our baby.

I went to Dr. Starr because of the rave reviews. As a first time mom, I did not know what to expect from a pediatrician. I was incredibly impressed with Dr. Starr's evaluation of our son in the hospital, and confident in him as a physician. Unfortunately, my experiences the past 4 months have been less than satisfactory. The theme for every visit is rush, rush, rush. He finishes his exams in 5 minutes and before you can ask any questions, he is out the door on to the next patient. After the first visit, I tried to write down some questions ahead of time thinking I was flustered because of the rushing and lack of sleep. In his defense, he did answer my questions, but I don't like feeling as though my doctor is trying to get me out of the office from the moment he sees me. Dr. Starr also has a notorious disappearing act that has happened at every visit, where he says he is going to get some height/weight statistics for you and he just leaves the room never to return. The first… few times my husband and I thought it was some sort of a misunderstanding in communication, but this has happened at every visit. You are left feeling like a total idiot waiting in the exam room for statistics and the opportunity to ask your questions...when you emerge from the room 10 minutes later and ask reception about speaking to Dr. Starr they tell you he is with another patient. In fact, I was unable to ask him a single question during my last visit because he disappeared so quickly. I feel that Dr. Starr has no interest in getting to know my son, which is okay on one level-I don't need our pediatrician to be our best friend, but what concerns me is that he may miss diagnosing something since he always is rushing to get to the next patient. I think Dr. Starr has an interest in patients whose families have a long term relationship with his office, but I get the impression he is not interested in getting to know new patients. I will be switching physicians.

All my kids are his patients and I just love Dr. Starr. I love his Nurse Practioners "Stacey" and the office is always warm and inviting. Dr. Starr is never to busy to give me a call back or sometimes just to ease a worrying mom's concerns. He accepts calls at home there are not many Dr.s who will take your call at home.

We're lucky and our kid has only had the bumps and bruises of childhood--nothing major to really test Dr. Starr's medical abilities. However, we always have enjoyed our visits with him and our kid clearly likes him. He's personable and enjoys children.

We found him to be stuck-up and arragent and rude. He was fine at diagnosing the average cold and flew, but when it came time to more complicated matters he referred you to "his buddies". We went over his head after 4 m. of testing for a severe disease my daughter had. He didn't like that and wanted us to take her out of Johns Hopkins so he could treat her at the hospital wear he is associated (he is no longer associated w/JHU, why?).

Great at diagnosing problems. Relaxed, warm and friendly. My kids love him.