Marc Gonchar, MD

After waiting 40 minutes to see Dr. Gonchar, he comes in very brusque and unsympathetic. He makes it clear he doesn't like dealing with patients with my condition and tries repeatedly to direct me to a different person who is not an MD. As I leave this completely unsatisfying experience, I realize wow, my doctor is not a nice guy! In fact, he is a jerk.

Even as a young boy I realized very early on that the doctors to whom I was sent weren't interested in hearing my description of my problems. They would ask a couple of questions, make their diagnosis, and tell me what to do. When I went to my first female doctor, it hit me immediately that she was actually listening, and incorporate what I said into her diagnosis and guidance. I ended up only going to female doctors for the next twenty years. At one point, however, I had to see a doctor, and Dr. Gonchar was the only one who could see me. Relunctantly I showed up for my appointment, and within ten minutes realized that he was in fact listening very attentively, and was trying to get to know me, and my condition/symptoms in order to make the right diagnosis. He's been my doctor for ten years now, and I have never lost that faith I have in him that I am patient, not a number, and that he will give me as much time as he needs to to truly understand what the right decisions are - and they… are right, because I also firmly believe that I am in the best health I can be today, almost entirely due to his approach and his support. I've also never felt that I was being rushed through my appointment, and can in fact recall two or three appointments where he literally "switched gears" in the conversation based on an answer I gave to one of his questions, and focused deeply on that aspect of the discussion, regardless of how long it took him to get the information he felt he needed.I trust Dr. Gonchar very much, and feel incredibly fortunate to have found him, and will continue to use him as my doctor for as long as he is practicing.

I went to Dr. Gonchar with a long term illness that had been misdiagnosed for many years. After staying with his practice for years, he was able to finally develop a picture of my disease and make an accurate diagnosis. I would (and do) recommend Dr. Gonchar to anyone who needs a physician willing to bring his intellect to bear on the problem of diagnosing an illness and recommending reasonable treatment.