Dr. Stephen Paul Ireland, MD

Please read this review before you to to Dr. Ireland. I read the reviews before I went and I always take any negative review with a grain of salt. I know there are always people that will have a bad experience with a good doctor. Here is my experience: I prepared ahead of time for my appointment by hand delivering a time line with a list of symptoms. I struggle with memory and recall sue to a traumatic brain injury (TBI) so I wanted to make sure that he had everything he would need from me to make the most of the appointment. When I arrived the nurse weighed me. When she got to the room she was astonished that I had lost so much weight compared to the last visit to one of their facilities a month prior. I explained that is one of my symptoms. The nurse informed me that the computer system would not accept my new weight and she had to enter it as heavier than I actually am. Then she stated I was there for a nerve conduction test. I was quite confused by this because that test had been… performed by a different doctor weeks ago and the results were in my chart. As the nurse started to do the blood pressure and temperature Dr. Ireland stuck his head in and rushed the nurse out even though th4e blood pressure cuff was still inflating. He told her to just shut off the machine and get out. He asked me why I was there. I explained that I have difficulty relaying information and told him about the letter his office had received. He abruptly cut me off and told me to try. I began to list my symptoms, and when I stated that I had a TBI he interrupted me and repeatedly asked me if I was hospitalized. I told him I don't understand the question (hospitalized for what and when). He became more impatient with me, then asked if I was knocked unconscious, I responded yes, but becamemore confused because this had nothing to do with why I was there. I have been diagnosed and treated for my TBI since 2011. Dr. Ireland continued on this line of questioning and asked how long was I unconscious for? I said I had no idea, he cut me off and was obviously frustrated with me (tone of voice, then waving his hand in dismissal).He demanded I tried to determine how long I was unconscious. I felt like a deer in head lights trying to come up with an answer that would please him. He turned to his computer and scrolled for less than 30 seconds then states, "Nothing shows you have a TBI, you do not have a TBI." I became very confused and tried to bring the conversation back to why I was there and as I began to list my symptoms he just kept repeating, "that is above my pay grade", while making more dismissing motions with his hands. I then tried to explain that while in the ER in Salt Lake a neurologist came in and told me they could only diagnose a small part of what is going on with me and that I needed a neurologist where I live to run further tests to discover what else I have. He interrupted me and said, "See you already saw a neurologist and what they were telling you is that you don't have a neurological problem, but they don't want to say it to your face and they just wanted you to leave. Maybe you should try cognitive behavioral therapy." I asked him since I had been through the saint luke's outpatient TBI classes and what could this do for me? He replied,"I don't know but I hear they have had some success with people like you." I hate becoming emotional in front of anyone, but tears did start to roll down my face. I quietly said thank you for your time and got my walker so I could walk out with what dignity I had left. He totally humiliated me

I wouldn't even give this doctor one star. I left a review on the Google site but wanted to leave one here as well. If I can save one patient from having to go through what I did, it will be worth it. He made me feel like I was wasting his time, he talked over me when I tried to give my symptoms, very arrogant from the time he walked in the room. It's doctors like him that make people not want to go.

Did the bare minimum amount of work. We went to Dr. Ireland for 3 years and with every visit he acted like my ongoing symptoms were a surprise. He clearly never read my notes before we had an appointment and did not care about my condition. I have MS and for every symptom of concern we brought up to him he would say I need to go see another doctor about it. I guess being a doctor is easy when nothing is "part of your department"

While exam was thorough I felt like he arrogantly had a pre-conceived idea of what was causing weakness, numbness, and tingling in my legs. Consequently my issues with back pain, foot drop, quality of life were not addressed appropriately even though I was scheduled for a laminectomy based on MRI results and symptoms. While acknowledging there was a 50-50 chance surgery would help with pain, (I would take that chance), because of his evaluation my surgery was canceled by the neurosurgeon. So I continue to live with all my symptoms that make even simple things like walking difficult. Obviously he has helped some people but I would not recommend him to anyone.

I was sent from St. Lukes ER after spending 6 hrs with tests, finding a whole in my heart from birth which is common but I didn't know about it. I experienced 10-15 minutes of memory loss of some type during a normal workout. I am 60yrs. old, 5'5" 115lbs, workout 5-7 times a week and have low blood pressure, no cholesterol, no health issues at all. I went to see Dr. Ireland a week later and he was dismissive, distant, barely examined me, didn't discuss my MRI or heart ultrasound or CT scan other than to say that I probably didn't need to see a cardiologist. He explained that he didn't think I had a TIA which is what I was sent there for and that I had a transient migraine amnesia probably. He didn't talk about what I should do, what it meant other than I read that if you have this, you experience amnesias for a day and you never have it again. What does that mean???? I would encourage you not to make an appt. with this physician. T.M. Boise, ID

I found Dr. Ireland to be very personal and friendly. Easy to talk to, good listener, and clearly described his thoughts on diagnosis, medications, and follow up.

I suffer from chronic migraines and have tried several different Drs and medications, none of which helped. Dr Ireland was understanding and helped me find relief.

I was dealing with chronic pain that suddenly progressed to muscle weakness and I went from walking independently to using a wheelchair in the space of a week. I was pretty freaked out but still had to wait 2 months for an appointment. Once I got to the appointment he checked my reflexes and said since my reflexes were intact there was nothing neurologically wrong with me. I pressed him for more information, because becoming completely disabled so rapidly seemed like a big deal to me. Reluctantly he said he could do an EMG but it would be painful and a waste of time and money and that it would end up being normal. I ended up getting an EMG from another provider later and it has been the lynch pin in my diagnosis. Apparently this man HAS done a great job for others but it seems like he specializes in a few things and if you don’t fit in that group he is a complete monster.

The man was arrogant, and belittling. Seemed not to be overly educated in area of serious neurological disorders. Didn't take the situation seriously, and didn't read any of my paperwork beforehand. Seemed too busy to take the time to care. Would not recommend him to anyone.

It took him over two weeks to get me in after and ER visit, when I finally got to see him, he asked if the ER had taken care of the problem I answered "no, you told them you had to see me first" I fired him.