Dr. Insoo Kim, MD

I went to see Kim InSoo, who took an x-ray. He had to put in a request to my insurance to approve of a cortisone shot for my elbow for an abrasion sprain. The approval goes through. Upon my next visit, Mr. InSoo comes in and says, "How did the shot work?" I told him, "That is why I am here...to get a shot." He then says, "Where does it hurt?" I mean really! He is the expert and asking me where it hurts. So, he orders to have a cortisone shot and when the syringe is ready, he asks me where it hurts again. I thought to myself, "You are the expert, shouldn't you know where the shot goes." I have to pinpoint the pain deep down, near my bone and find the sensitive spot and tell him where it hurts. AND HE DOESN'T EVEN LOOK AT THE X-RAY!!! And so he jabs the shot in me where I show him relatively where my pain is..and calls it a day.

I trained as a nurse and worked as a paramedic and I found Dr Kim to be the Worst physician I have ever encountered. He was openly rude to staff, and me. When an order mistake was made kin the hospital, he blamed me. Worst of all, as a 57 year old Yoga and Pilates instructor, his work was of such poor quality, I cannot do either form of exercise as an instructor or student ever again. I have a permanent limp, on-going pain, and such weak musculature that despite going to the gym 3X a week for 3 hours a session, I struggle with serious imbalance and control. I was able to get my insurance company to allow me to see another physician to find out if there was anything I could do to improve the results, but he said, (carefully, so as to not invite being sued) that the surgery was "old school" and Dr Kim almost certainly damaged some muscles so I can't expect to ever improve. During all my visits, I had to plan on how I would ask questions, as DR Kim wouldn't answer any questions… unless asked several times, would become angry when asked questions and never provided adequate answers to my questions. For a simple question like, "Roughly, How long will my rehab time take. After asking this in 3 separate appointments I finally took him by the sghoulders and looked him in the eye and asked again. He just said, "You never can tell." On my last visit with him, I complained of the continuing problems, and ignoring every word I said, still patted himself on the back for the fine quality of his work. Avoid this doctor at all costs. Terrible!!!

I had just moved to California and fell. I went to the hospital, suspecting a fracture, as I could not walk on the ankle (felt like mush) and both sides of my ankle were swollen like baseballs. I went to Valley Presbyterian Hospital. I was treated very well by the staff. They took X Rays. The doc in the ER determined I would have my leg wrapped and sent home with crutches. He said before I left he wanted to send my X-Rays to Dr. Kim for a look, just to be sure. Dr. Kim would not allow me to go home because the break appeared to severe. My ankle was broken on both sides. Dr. Kim came up to the hospital that night, examined everything and set surgery asap the next day. Dr. Kim came in explained that my ankle looked a bit like a jigsaw puzzle in places and he would need to put in a plate and screws. He assured me he would fix my ankle. His beside manner was calm and caring. The surgery would take about an hour and a half. Dr. Kim visited me again before surgery to… reassure me and anser any questions. When I awoke, 6 1/2 hours had passed. The surgery had take almost 6 hours. The next day, Dr. Kim came in to explain that the break was much more extreme than X-Rays showed. He explained it was a bigger "jigsaw puzzle." He said he just took his time to put it back together correctly. Fortunately, the pieces fit together well with 25+ screws and a plate. He assured me if I followed instructions, in time my ankle would be whole again. A day or so later, the nurse redid my dressing. (I have a boot rather than a cast to allow the doc access to the incision points.) I saw my ankle for the first time since the gnarled, swollen, mess it was. To my surprise, it looked perfect! No swelling and just how I remembered it. Dr. Kim kept me in the hospital for 2 days after surgery to make sure I was comfortable going home. I am home now a week after the break. My spirits are good and I go see Dr. Kim soon. The receptionist was very sweet and thorough. She wanted to check on some things with my insurance to make sure she could tell me what to expect. I am confident that I am healing well and that I am in good hands. Dr, Kim is awesome and treated me like gold.