Dr. Lyudmila A. Bazhenova, MD

I never smoked & was diagnosed with non operable stage IV lung cancer. Dr Bazhenova immediately scheduled me for chemo warning me it would be an aggressive treatment. She is straight forward yet compassionate & understanding. She lets you know your results of tests as she finds out. Example: had terrible pain in my legs for days, let her assistant know, they scheduled me for a pet scan that week, then on a Sunday morning on a holiday weekend she sent me a message via "my chart" of the results. She welcomes questions & answers any questions you have regarding any new research you heard about. Her assistant Jennifer & Dolce are very professional yet caring. One year later i was in remission & cautiously still am.

Even though she may be an expert in her field, this doctor needs to learn a lot about patient care. Never have my family and I felt so rushed in a doctor visit. If it wasn't for her staff, we barely would have any idea of the condition illness. I understand that doctors are busy, but patients are people too, so it'd be nice if she spent more than 5 minutes with us.I really hope she learns to really care for her patients and not just see them as sources to collect data to support her research to support her funding.THIS COMMENT IS NOT TO DETER YOU AWAY FROM THIS DOCTOR. If you can get her to treat you, DO IT. She is on the forefront of researching new drugs and treatments. BUT you must know that if you want someone to hold your hand, shes not the doctor. YOU must be aggressive in ASKING ALL the QUESTIONS.

One of the most knowledgeable competent physicians I have seen yet as it relates to my disease. She is a good listener and was very helpful in the decision process concerning treatment options. Extremely well informed in all areas of internal medicine. An extremely compassionate personality and positively hopeful in a fight against an incurable disease. She was extremely excited at the positive response I had to treatment after reviewing my CT. I would highly recommend her to anyone in need of her specialty. UCSD is an amazing institution and they are lucky to have her.