Dr. Oleg Igorevich Maksimov, MD

Great teacher! very very understandable and willing to work with you.

I am a Ph.D 56 yr old educated professional and a touring musician who has been coming to this clinic for 4.5 years. I have nothing but good to say about Christy and the front office people. They have always made me feel welcome. Both Susan Ring and Oleg Maximov have been very competend and pleasant to talk to. I have been in pain management for 10 years and this clinic is the best. I have tons of documentation concerning my back condition and this clinic is good at using a multi-modal approach which can include the conservative use of pain medication long term if needed. Along with other therapies, I have benefitted from pain meds. and my only fear, along with most patients in pain management, will not have that option open due to the DEA witch hunt that is taking control away from providers and dictating what they will be able to do.Columbia Pain and Spine always moniters their patients and I do trust them. Never be afraid to have a discussion with your provider if you have issues… with your treatment plan. Wayne B. Link

I had gone to Dr. Maksimov for years for lumbar nerve blocks as a way to help control pain from CRPS. He, and his staff, were amazing and really cared about my wellbeing and helping to find me pain relief without prescribing more pain drugs. My previous Dr had me way over medicated where all aspects of my life suffered. I'm so grateful to Dr. Maksimov for giving me my life back.

I again feel it necessary to write a review for Dr. Maksimov, as I have just seen him today. In addition to my severe pain in my knees & shoulders, I have developed a neurological condition for which he has gone above & beyond referring me to specialists & trying to help me find a diagnosis which no other MD has been able to help including a Neurologist. He has spent considerable time discussing all options available. Since the major issue of this condition is repeated falls, it is not something that can be ignored. He has been extremely patient and I have the utmost confidence in him. I would not be able to be optimistic if he wasn't in my corner. He has treated all my pain issues with every procedure available. Most of the negative comments seem to be about pain medication. The medication policy is clearly stated on the walls of every examination room. I have considerable knowledge regarding pain medication, having worked at UCSF in Neurosurgery and have seen patients… literally rip out their surgical stitches to get an increase in medication. I am totally astounded by the negative comments about the the staff. They ALL have been extremely helpful, courteous, friendly and professional. I have to wonder about the patient's behavior that resulted in such disapproval.

Dr. Maksimov is one of the best, caring medical professionals I have ever encountered. He is totally thorough and competent in his explanation of diagnosis and procedures. I would trust him with my life.

While I like Dr. Oleg Maksimov, it is clear that there are personality and competence issues at Columbia Pain and Spine Institute. My only complaint about Dr. Maksimov is that he is resistant and overly cautious to making changes to my pain medications. Instead I am encouraged to tolerate the excess pain the medications don't control. Mixed response to that. He may have a point but misery is unacceptable as it defeats the point of taking any medication. There are some staff members who can be openly callous and abrasive. One I avoid on the reception staff and one in the administrative staff, but there could be more. The last thing I want to deal with at my doctor's appt. is someone being disrespectful or abrasive with me when I am already in pain. It is like jumping on someone's last nerve, not an exceptionally bright thing to do in this type of clinic. I know it is not just me, I have seen several other patients treated gruffly and callously while waiting in the lobby, many… responding as a victim; unwilling or unable to defend themselves. Thus, my posting here. Without some intervention with the staffing issues, it will not be long before I trade a doctor I usually like for a whole new clinic where I don't have to tolerate attitude and offensive personality types, particularly from the reception staff or on the phone.

I began seeing Dr. Maksimov after his Predecessor (who I adored) left the practice. Dr. Maksimov, he has very kind and caring and has NEVER EVER made me feel like I was a waste of his time or treated me like a drug seeker (other Doctors/Nurse Practitioners have treated me like that). I see Brianne for my monthly visits and Dr. Maksimov every few months to keep him appraised of how I am doing and for injections. Dr Maksimov is one of the best doctors that I have ever seen and I am so very happy that I have him to oversee my medical issues. His bedside manner is completely professional, he explains what is going on and what he is doing. I would and have recommended Dr. Maksimov to anyone who is in need of his services.

I visited Dr. Maksimov twice. 1st time he asked for ONE area of pain that was "causing the most trouble right now" (despite my having multiple problems), told me I was "faking" because I have less strength in my right leg, told me I couldn't take drugs I was on (which was a misdiagnosis as I am not an elderly male), and told me "just exercise". He was very brusque, cold, and would not listen to myself or my partner when we tried to point out that I had multiple issues, not just one. 2nd visit, after MRI, X-ray (which he did not mention) and DEXA scan, he told me there was "nothing wrong" (radiologist report read loss of disk height & signal L2-3-4 with diffuse disk bulge L3-4, arthropathy L5-S1), said I should "see a psychologist" and that we had "no therapeutic relationship" before telling me to find a new doctor and refusing a refund. He did not - refused point blank to, in fact - discuss other pain issues (PKD, PCOS, PLD, OA in knees, neck, hips and shoulders, extensive scar tissue,… chronic migraines, chronic depression, popliteal cysts, ad nauseum) and confined his findings solely to my spine, which is his "speciality" [sic]. It cost me over $500 to be patronised and humiliated by him - no wonder his suits and shoes are so sharp! - and ignored roundly by a so-called expert in the field. No, I would not commend OR recommend Dr. Maksimov. I have been seeing doctors and specialists for 40 years and I have never met a more disagreeable, less likeable, more ill-informed, more stubborn man in all that time.

In my experience with Dr Maksimov he did not communicate well with me as my plan for treatment. The office visit are very short and I talked he listened and just typed on a computer. He never gave me any input, any suggestions, and he very rarely examined me (a total of 3 times he looked and felt my back in 9 months). He did not communicate my treatment opitions or the plan. I felt very uncomfortable and didn't know what a plan. I felt him or the staff didn't care about my feelings or my health.No understanding or compassion to me. I told Dr Maksimov how I was feeling and his response to that was he felt there was nothing his clinic can do to help me any further after 9 months of perscribing different pill cocktails and failed attempts of spinal steiroid injections. He gave me a list of other pain clinic. All he did was get me dependent on pain pill and sent me on my way. I am still have shooting pain down my arms, my thumb and fingers constent tingling, headaches, sharp pain in… my mid back that wraps around to my chest.

I went to this clinic for almost 3 years. I drove out to Gresham from Tillamook, OR and rarely missed an appt.I, after no notice whatsoever, went to my appointment to find I had a new Dr. named Maksimov. I had been very happy with my previous Dr. at this clinic and was somewhat unhappy to lose a Dr. I liked, but also felt there were possibilities for a new Dr. I did not make a decision until the fourth visit when I knew he was a "procedure" Doctor. I was having horrid sciatic issues with right leg pain. Even with the distance and 30 years experience with pain clinics and injections, I let him inject me twice. I also told him that the injections had never helped. I was having a horrid time with pain issues and asked for a change or increase in pain medication to get me through this issue.He refused to even hear it, and just wanted to do more injections. Finally, when I went in for a pill count and it was short, about a week later I got a letter from him telling me I was… discharged from the clinic. He never spoke to me about my not being in compliance nor had any of the nurses or nurse-practitioners. Making the drive once a month was bad enough, but one day at my home (I had moved to Molalla)I picked up my little dog, one foot on one step and one foot on the other (higher) and experienced the worst pain I had ever encountered. Along with this my right leg went completely dead. I crawled into the house, somehow got ahold of the phone and called 911. The ambulance came, I was taken to the hospital. More films of my low back were taken and I spent the night there. Moral of the story is; the obstruction to my nerves through the facet joints were very bad and one of them had "caught" on osteophytes. I never got 100% of my right leg/foot back. I did have surgery which did help but the nerves were to badly damaged. Dr. Maksimov had said in my last visit to him that he wanted to either do a series of injections again, or I possibly qualified for the pain pump. It was at my discretion that I saw a neuro-surgeon who set-up the surgery for shortly after I had seen him. I am much better now and have a pain clinic doctor who actually listens to me as well as an excellant primary care Dr. whom I trust completely. I just want people to be aware that although he looks good and sometimes acts like a "normal guy", I believe there are some one-on-one issues he can not deal with; generally when people tell you they are in severe painthey usually are. I know all the conversations about drug abuse/diversion. I have never worried because I have nothing to do with either one. I am grateful enough to have my medication that I most certainly would not share it with anyone. At 62 y.o. I am not a great risk to be selling/giving my meds away.But, I have no control over what people think, I believe that I should have had a chance to talk to him about the low pill count before he saw fit to release me from the clinic. Plus, I will never let anyone inject any joints again because I know from years of experience they do not work for me. Also, I h ave learned to go by my first impressions instead of fighting/rationalizing them. I realize that the injections pay much better, but that type of earning cash does not make me feel warm and fuzzy toward the Dr. performing them.