Dr. Cindy Y Chen-Smith, DO

She is easily the most compassionate, clever and people-savvy physician I have ever met. I remember her walking into the room and meeting her for the first time. She was warm, shook my hand, friendly, personable and most importantly, AT EASE. She took her time asking wonderfully thought out questions and always wording things to assume a high degree of intelligence from the patient. No condescension. She took the time to learn about my health goals and concerns. I wish I could put into words how amazing it feels to be in the hands of such a gifted doctor. Since moving out of the area, I have come to realize how spoiled I was after some very disappointing interactions with physicians elsewhere. When we move back to LA, I'll be back in her office, that's for sure!

I first saw Dr Chen when she came to KP in 2010 when I was in excellent health. She is a compassionate and knowledgeable physician. After being diagnosed with an obscure chronic health condition, Dr Chen did her homework and researched the condition, working with me in a compassionate manner as my primary physician, along with the team of specialists. Dr Chen is the absolute best in keeping up with the current research. Unfortunately for me, I received a letter about 2 years ago from KP stating that Dr Chen could no longer be my primary physician for some asinine inept excuse. What a heartbreaking experience it is continuing to be to find another doctor in the KP organization like Dr Chen. Her expertise, experience and knowledge is profound. Wonderful physician!

I am impressed with Dr. Chen, I am a pretty healthy person so I cant speak to her diagnostic talents that but I can say she has been helpful caring and has earned my trust. During a routine physical she really seemed to be concerned about me, asked good questions, made me comfortable and really listened . She has responded very quickly to my emails and calls no matter how little the question. She talked me into getting a pneumonia vaccine for the first time in my life because I cant get the flu shot due to allergies. I never had a doctor recommend this even though I never have had a flu shot. I was reluctant, I mean I'm young and who get pneumonia? Three months later my boyfriend gets a horrible flu. I'm caring for him and after our second trip to the ER it turns out its Pneumonia and I am still fine, so grateful.

Dr. Cindy Chen is a quack. I left her office a unsure about what kind of health care KP offers it's clients, as she told me a few things that made me very nervous, and upset for having wasted my money.Now, I went to Dr. Chen for some lower shin pain that I've been having for a couple of months now. I'm a runner, and I had to give up my marathon training program thanks to this shin pain. I waited it out for 3 months and decided to give a mile a shot last week. I did a measly 1.3 miles and had that stupid aching pain in my shin again, but it lasted for more than two days after my unassuming Sunday run. I decided that it was time to make an appointment with my new healthcare provider to make sure that it wasn't something worse then shin splints and figure out my plan of action. I've been through a multitude of training plans and races throughout my life as a runner, and I want to continue this trend.When I went to visit Cindy, she wasn't warm or friendly. In fact, she didn't smile once. I… could care less about that. What bothered me is that when I explained the problems I've been having, she wasn't concerned with diagnosing me. Um, isn't that her job as a doctor? What terrified me [and led me to understand that I had just wasted $30 of a co-pay ] was when Cindy told me that "you can't get a stress fracture in your tibia, that you can only get them in your feet." UM. Where did she go to medical school? I wouldn't mind having a look at her degree. At this point, I knew that I was wasting my time with her, but I pushed for an X-ray. She said that she did not see the point in an X-Ray, as the treatment for a stress fracture and shin splints were the same. Again, UM.....aren't you a doctor?I had to call to find out the results for myself, as it was almost a week later and I had not heard back as the X-ray lab said I would, and I was told that I have periosteal thickening in my tibia, which is evidence of shin splints, says Dr. Chen. It's just too bad that I have absolutely no faith in her at this point. To top it all off, she does not offer me any course of action or treatment ideas. A good doctor would have advised rest, ice, compression and some strengthening exercises.

My first new Doctor since moving to Long Beach. Dr. Chen is great. She and her staff were great to work with and can't say enough good things about them. Very professional and personable. Something hard to find together. I highly recommend her.