Dr. James Thurman Jakes, MD

I had an appointment to see Dr.Jakes for pain. Before seeing him his nurse was extremely rude to me over the phone and even hung up on me once. In my opinion Dr. Jakes and some of his staff are apathetic to their patient needs. They are not military and veteran friendly and the facility seems outdated. I would have thought a Dr. with his 40+ years experience would have developed a better bedside manner and provide a more professional service. I won’t be back and would not recommend his practice to anyone.

Great doctor! He is a little old school, but he knows what he is doing. He managed to get my lupus under control. He is very quiet and doesn't talk much, but every now and then I can make him smile.

I like Dr Jake's, he made me stop hurting and told me what was wrong with me. He put me on meds for my condition and monitors my blood work regularly.

After 12 years of poor diagnosticians, Dr. Jakes got me a confident diagnosis and started me on treatment in less than two hours. I have no complaints.

I found his staff all except one to be very polite.I almost didn't go because of the reviews I had read but outta respect for my primary Dr. I went .Hoping he wouldn't be as bad as his post..I was wrong .i drove 2 hours to see him and knew immediately when he came into the room and sit down and started speaking that i couldn't do this visit with him. So to get out fast i answered no to every single question he asked me .that's all i could think about doing just so i could leave. HE has no love or compassion and definitely no bedside manner .he wouldn't give me literally 1 second to answer any question he asked so really all i could get in was a no and i don't think i got that out in some of the questions.i actually felt like I was on trial by the way he communicated. I called my primary dr. Office and told the nurse to please tell my Dr.i am sorry but that was the most awful dr I have ever been to and I begged her never to refer anyone else to him .I told her I just answered no to… everything and I was gonna get back online and look at reviews and find someone else .this was so ridiculous. He never even made a comment about the blood work my Md.sent him and ordered 10 tubes of blood. Didn't tell me why I needed all that but that how many the nurse took .anyway I think finding a dr. Thats caring and willing to take time to find out what all is wrong with u is the key ... God Bless !

No manners. Hard to establish eye contact. Don’t trust. Just pushes toxic drugs...

First appointment today with Dr Jakes, after being dismissed by other medical professionals for the last year, Dr Jakes LISTENED to me. I am an RN and no he doesn't give warm fuzzy feelings BUT he assessed me, asked a ton of questions and answered all of mine. I am grateful I was seen by him and look forward to my treatment plan. I did not want treatment for my pain, I wanted treatment for the CAUSE of my pain. Dr Jakes did just that! Kudos and appreciation~

I went to Dr. Jakes because of convenience of location. I had heard he was the worse doctor ever, but still went because I was in so much pain. First visit went well. He ordered a few tests and prescribed medication. I started feeling better. When meds ran out, I went back to him. I went back a few times. All he did was offer a steroid shot and prescribed the same meds every visit. He never even informed me of my diagnosis. On one visit, I was in tears because my daughter was diagnosed with cancer. He showed no compassion whatsoever! I do not want to go back to him. I do not like to drive long distances to visit physicians but I may have to, because I really don't like his attitude. He receives negative stars from me in accurate diagnosis, bedside manner, spends time with me and follows up after visit areas!

I'm not a "high maintenance patient", and I don't expect a doctor to sit and listen to my blathering about all my aches and pains, but I do expect to be treated respectfully. I don't go see doctors because it's my newest hobby, and in reality tend to avoid them and treat holistically whenever I can. Especially doctors that take 2 months to get an appointment to see. He looked through paperwork on my referral, squeezed a couple of very swollen and painful joints, ordered lab tests, gave me information on a drug and said come back in two weeks. In two weeks I came back, and in a 90 second appointment (literally), he said my labs came back inconclusive, handed me a prescription, and left. I stopped him and made him look at my hands (which were ridiculously swollen) and asked him what was going on and what the prescription is for. He said he couldn't find anything wrong, I didn't look swollen to him. He ordered a steroid shot for the swelling he didn't see, and hurriedly walked out… again. Trying to have trust, I filled the prescription (even though I seldom even take an aspirin, I was in pain enough pain to give it a try), but after 10 days started having some of the classic side effects listed on the paperwork. I called the doc's office, they said the side effects (that I've never had before) were NOT a result of the medication and called me in a prescription for an anti-depressant! And I STILL don't know what I'm being treated for. I requested a copy of my medical records for transfer to another doctor, and when I read through them I was taken absolutely aback. He basically didn't believe a word I'd said regarding my symptoms and didn't think I was really in that much pain. He gave me the steroid shot to basically shut me up, and somewhere decided I have "sexual issues" which were NEVER discussed. I implore anyone who lives in this area to please avoid this clinic, even though it's the only rheumatology clinic in Central Alabama. Just start out with a doctor in Birmingham. It's worth every bit of the time, effort, and inconvenience.

This is so sad that a gifted doctor has such negative feeling toward patients . God has blessed him with this gift and he misuse it by hurting the very people he is suppose to help. Perhaps it time for him to re-evaluate his oath to "First Do No Harm" I am now looking for a doctor to help me, not hold my hand. I refuse to go back and pay someone to be rude and uncaring.