Dr. Henrietta Kernan, DO

I am a former patient of three years. Dr. Kernan is a intelligent yet cautious psychiatrist. She sets high standards for herself on regards for patient care. Which is also her weakness since she seems overwhelmed at times. I personally view that as a positive aspect in a psychiatrist as well as other health care providers because it shows that they are willing to put forth the best effort. However, at Umass outpatient I often felt frustrated with the lack of communication. I suspect it had more to do with the high volume of patients and not her lack of ability to follow up on patient care. She is overall a diligent and capable doctor for anyone who truly seeks help.

I have been a patient of Dr. Kernan's for about a year now. She is very soft spoken and adresses her patients as Mr. X or Mrs. X which I personally despise - I just think it produces a formality better suited for politics, etc. I was diagnosed with a terminal nuerological disorder at about the same time I began seeing Dr. Kernan. A few months later, it became apparent my anti depressant was no longer working either. For over six months now, I have been trying to have my anti depressant changed to one that works effectively with my other disease and I'm still waiting. I see her on a monthly basis and for the last three appointments she's promised to hook me up with a nuero psychiatrist and cognative talk therapist as well as consulting with my neurologist to see which medication should be used. To date, nothing has been accomplished and its obviously time to move on. As another reviewer said, it's almost like she's afraid to make any change to medications even when its so obvious… changes need to be made. The only changes to my medications since I've been seeing her have been made while in patient following a few suicide attempts and she did not even initiate those. I've come to beleive her greatest motivation is to avoid a liability case that may result from prescribing the wrong medication. Also, she is only at UMass two days a week and I beleive she is just overloaded with cases as she always forgets to follow up with referals.

Went to her as my first stop on diagnosing ADHD and Depression. She's nice and has decent experience, I guess, but she pretty much goes with ideas I come up with. (trying new medications, her default is Adderall) She has experience with various medications, but doesn't seem to be able to make a decision on her own. She's also rather patronizing in her attempts to be supportive and nice, which I find somewhat irritating. She did send me to a good neuropsychologist, though. Overall, she's OK, but don't rely on Harvard Vanguard for everything... find a psychologist/therapist elsewhere.

Had a 9 am appointment. Watched previous patient check out at 9:05. Left after waiting until 9:30. Made sure to check with receptionist before leaving to see if she had any information - she did not. It is now two days later and neither Dr. Kernan, nor the staff, have called to apologize or follow-up.Only had one session with her (in October). She said she would connect me to a talk therapist. I still have not heard from one, or from her (over two months now).Dont know about her diagnosing skills. She was a replacement for my previous doctor who moved. She seemed to just go along with his notes and what I reported.Might be ok for someone who likes a soft personality. Im a type A so to me she seemed weak.

She is compassionate.