Dr. David Howard Balaban, MD

Office and nursing staff were professional and courteous., however Dr Balaban shames his degrees. Never dealt with a Medical professional so dismissive and unempathetic. Wound up going to UVA Health where I actually received treatment that this Dr was unwilling to provide. DO NOT RECOMMEND, positive reviews are a SCAM. If I had enough to warrant filing a complaint with the Virginia State Medical Board I would. As it is, seeking a second opinion was the right move in order to receive much needed care.

My experiences w/ Dr. Balaban were not positive. After submitting to a number of procedures & medicines, I found little relief for my GI distress. Dr. Balaban seemed irritated & impatient by any questions I asked. He also suggested I engaged in "magical thinking" when I tried to approach my health questions in a wholistic way. Dr. Balaban's condescending manner left me w/ no choice but to switch physicians. He may be a highly educated man of science but, his 'bedside manner' could use improvement.

Dr. Balaban and all staff of Charlottesville Gastroenterology Associates have always been professional, thorough, courteous, and conscientious. I have been a patient of theirs for over 20 years and have more than satisfied on all occasions. I highly recommend them.

Maybe he was having a really, really bad day, but my experience was very different. Doctor seemed annoyed with me. He objected to a term I used which I had never heard before my initial visit with his nurse-practitioner who had told me that was my problem. I only asked one question re my condition and he told me to look it up on the internet. What was written as my original complaint was inaccurate, and when I told him he brushed it off and just wrote that I refused treatment for it. I had initial visit with nurse-practitioner, procedure by one doctor, and follow-up with this one. He told me to have another follow-up in a month, but highly encouraged me to just phone in and his nurse would ask him any questions I had. I didn't as I don't see any point to it. When I had phoned for the test results, he had said my problem was taking too much of a medication that I don't take. For me, this was a very costly mistake and I still don't have answers.

Everything about the visit went well. Dr. Balaban and his staff were prompt, courteous and professional. They eased my concerns and answered all my questions. I highly recommend him and his staff.

Dr. Balaban entered the exam room at my appointment time. He acknowledged knowing me as an existing patient and had already read my test results and other Doctor's reports before entering the room. He listened to me, did exam, and then explained his thoughts using the diagram that was hanging on the wall. He asked me if I had any questions. I scheduled a colonoscopy. He performed the colonoscopy. It occurred on time as well. He asked if I had any questions before the procedure, answered my questions, and put me at ease. The procedure was painless. After I woke up, he gave me the results verbally and handed them to me in writing. The next day, one of his nurses called to see how I was doing. The only downside I had was that the initial appointment was two months from the day I called to schedule the appointment. He is worth the wait though. Once I saw him and he determined that I needed a colonoscopy, they offered me an appointment that same week.

Dr. B just did my colonoscppy, no pain,no problems,easy.. Nice guy as well.

I first became a patient of Dr. Balaban's after being admitted to Martha Jefferson Hospital. He did not see me in the hospital and instead conveyed his thoughts via the hospitalist, which I found unusual. At my follow-up appt. Dr. Balaban misdiagnosed what turned out to be a large gallstone trapped in my bile duct, and brushed me off as not being in pain, despite my liver enzymes being over 20x higher than normal, and even after he examined the ultrasound.I continued to complain of intense pain, and a week later he scheduled me for an MRI that would be done in still an additional week. I could not stand to be in that kind of pain while waiting, so checked into UVA where physicians promptly found a large gallstone that was causing my liver to start to shut down. They had it removed long before I would even had been diagnosed, much less treated, had I remained under Dr. Balaban's care. I found Dr. Balaban's lack of belief of the degree of pain I was in to be incredible. His staff… appeared rushed and generally unhelpful and unfriendly.