Dr. Martin Adel Makary, MD

Dr makary is an excellent surgeon, very meticulous and proficient. My only concern with him is that he “cuts and runs,” after whipple surgery I only saw him one time for about 2 minutes-that was for a 2 week hospital stay. I don’t think he even would have done that if I hadn’t complained to his resident.

Dr Makary is a skilled surgeon no questions there. But that is as far as it goes. His office does not offer any coordinated care. This is very important to understand, because it may come off like there is coordinated care at your consult. So if you are having issues with a stent or arent feeling well, between your consult and surgery, he and his office make it very clear you are on your own, and they dont want any involvement in your issues, because "he only does surgery." There is NO enforcement on preparing the parient for surgery, it is just about the surgery. The aftercare, you are on your own too. He is not personable and you are not allowed to speak to him, you must go through his nurses; he has no interest in dealing with you directly even if there is a medical issue before surgery and you may need to hear some encouragement. He makes it very clear, he is only there to do the surgery, any other care guidance or assistance you may want or need..... you are on your own. … Personally this philiosphy was a bit shocking for such a major surgery, because making sure a patient is mentally prepared before surgery is very important in my mind. I would have wanted to know more about what to expect, what plans and changes in my lifestyle I should be making now. What if I dont feel well between our consult and the surgery date, who do I go to, what do I do? DO NOT EXPECT that. I think pre op and post op care and planning are of equal importance as the surgery; what good is a surgery if you arent prepared to take care of yourself after the outcome? If you are not 100% fully prepared for the lifestyle changes you need to make before surgery, Im not sure it's wise to spring it on someone after the surgery. And be assured it is only his nurses there for you after surgery, you will likely not see or hear from him until your post opp appointment. Just make sure you get your own oncologist, your own radiologist, your own primary care, and make sure they are working together to keep you well before and after surgery. Hand holding is frowned up, ignored and mocked in this office as well as coordination (or recommendations for care if you have issues related to lets say your stent) for resources to help you pre op and post op. Im not sure how sustainable this business model is, its very cold and hard to feel confident as a patient, especially knowing your doctor is just there to do the surgery nothing else. But if you go in there eyes wide open understanding this and have a VERYvgood coordibated team at home to help you before and after, that is your choice. Just make sure you understand what to expect (or not to expect). If I could do it over I would have asked to speak to past patients in various phases (ie 3 months out, 1 year out and prepared myself for what his office does not prepare you for) and gotten another opinion from Georgetown.

He knows what he's doing and he knows what he shouldn't do. He has hands of gold. If you need to have any pancreas related surgery, he's the person to go to. Wherever you are in the world, send your scanned images to him. Get his opinion and if possible, his hands too. If you're looking for the highest quality healthcare available on planet Earth, go to him in particular and go to JH in general. If you're looking for someone to spend a lot of time chit chatting with you, holding your hand, etc, you should probably look elsewhere. He spends time on you where you need it most: diagnosis and the operating room. BTW, he also surrounds himself with a great team - Christi is awesome (intelligent, kind, articulate, efficient, and on...)

he is very arrogant and not personal and is difficult to deal with .

Nothing I like about this person, He dropped the ball on my loved one and after his surgery was done wanted nothing to do with us, How does he sleep at night.

Dr. Makary delivered by far the most satisfying experience I have ever had in American healthcare. I could not recommend him more.

When I had a tumor in my pancreas, I drove down from CT to the Pancreas Clinic at JHU. There, 35-45 surgeons, oncologists, nurses, therapists, unanimously decided what my case of an islet cell tumor needed, and Dr. Makary agreed to take my case. He did it laparoscopally, and it was a great success. Three years later I am 100% well, and I'm so grateful to Dr. Makary and his secretary and all of JHU.