Here, you will find information about the doctors which i have visited. I have rated them according to the smilies on a scale of 1 to 5 (5 smilies being the best). A frown is rather self-explanatory.
I would highly recommend him. Although he is listed as specialising in internal medicine and in gastroenterology, i brought my infant baby to him for her vaccination and also for general consultation like the usual coughs and cold. Straightforward but warm person. Responds promptly even if you call him at the clinic with quick questions.
Note: For those on private health insurance, Tokyo Surgical and Medical Clinic does a wonderful job of billing with their bills being in English, hence making it easier to claim from your insurance company. The pharmacy below is also able to print out the medication instruction labels in English which is a major plus point.
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Dr John Marshall of Tokyo Medical and Surgical Clinic @ Minato-ku
http://www.tmsc.jp/aframe,1gene.html
Very patient and detailed. He asked very thorough questions before deciding on the type of medication to prescribe.
My 2nd choice. The clinic has a very comprehensive list of doctors from different medical specialities. Not all doctors speak English though. You’ll have to call them to check. The clinic is however very well equipped with modern devices.
Note: For those on private health insurance, Doktors Osaki Clinic bills you in Japanese. If you want a translated bill for claiming with your private health insurer, they can do it at the same time if you are willing to wait. The pharmacy beside the clinic prints out the medication instruction labels in Japanese but you can ask the pharmacists to write the instructions in English. Not all of them speak English though.
- Dr Norio Endo of Endo Clinic @ Shinagawa-ku
Small clinic run by the doctor himself. You won’t get any of the fancy reception you see in some other clinics and neither are there any modern equipment. Dr Endo is however, a very patient doctor.
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Dr Karl Che of Dr Karl Che’s Clinic / National Medical Clinic @ Minato-ku
I would not recommend him to anyone, hence no smilie for this doctor. Please note that this is just my personal opinion. There are some who swear by him. It’s either you love him or hate him i guess.
Hi there!
I totally agree with you about Dr. Seez and Dr. Che. I think most people go to him because they are too afraid to take the time to find a good doctor. TPG lets him speak and that is all they know. He is sooooo obnoxious and could never practice anywhere else.
Dr. Seez is great! Very professional, easygoing, efficient, good bedside manners.
When it comes to doctors for your child/children, it is always important to take the time to find one that’s good. When a doctor is lacking medically (skill or knowledge wise), he often tries to make up for it with lots of fancy frills. The most expensive doctors aren’t necessarily the best.
I happen to think just the opposite with Dr Seez and Dr Che. I took my son in for a check-up and vaccination shots and he didn’t even take temperature, measure weight, or height before prescribing medication. With Dr Che I have found him to be very patient and willing to listen to how I want my son vaccinated and not medicated if it can be avoided. Maybe it just happened to be a bad day for Dr Seez but I will not be back.
I would recommend Dr Che to anyone. He listens to the mums as much as to the children. He drove my infant son and me to the hospital when he needed hospitalization.
I have been disappointed by Dr Seez on several instances and would not recommend him. Once he mades up his mind, nothing can be said. He did not give me any painkillers for a sciatica, ordered the wrong test for my particular case and all in all was very dismissive of what turns out to be a huge herniated disc.
I’ve read the responses regarding both doctors and it seems that everyone has vastly different opinions. The choice of doctor is a very personal decision and why one person finds Dr X good and Dr Y bad and vice versa for another person can vary for many reasons.
I’ve worked with doctors very closely accross different specialities. My experience comes from both the private and public hospitals in a first world country and a private hospital in a developing country. And the experience of the doctors ranged from interns to senior consultants to professors.
My two cents worth? Expensive does not equate the best. But what IS true is that expensive doctors are usally good at marketing themselves.
I adopt the approach to “shop” around for one which i am comfortable with. And comfort level varries from person to person.
As for our experience with Dr Che, he recommended our son a vaccination while he was seriously ill which we did not feel comfortable with. We felt that he was very pushy with his suggestions about what to do and was not interested in hearing our thoughts about specific matters.
As for Dr Seez, his diagnosis was always accurate and his prescriptions were always effective. It’s far for us to get to his clinic (a 45min door-to-door journey, one way) but our whole family goes to him for more serious or persistant illnesses
Hi Moms, Does anyone have commentary about Dr. Hove or Dr. Endo? Both are VERY close to my home in Takanawa, and take National insurance (which we have). I’m seeing Dr. Che, but the prices are astronomical without insurance! Dr. Hove is a gastroenterologist, not a pediatrician (although her academic credentials look good). Dr. Endo sounds much older on the phone, and didn’t seem to understand the nature of my questions. Although he does not take appointments, he says his clinic has no rush hour…which sounds like a dwindling practice (although his credentials look very good on the US embassy website). Life would be easier if I could see Dr. Hove or Endo.
Thanks for your input!
Dr Hove –>
The only thing that bothers me about going to Dr Hove is that she limits the amount of medication she prescribes. As such, it is almost certain that you’d have to go back for more and end up paying for another consultation, not mentioning the fact that you’d have to drag your sick child to the doctor again. You might want to try to work around this by asking her (or the pharmacist) for more medication.
Dr Endo –>
In my opinion, if you speak Japanese, you’d be more comfortable with his style. And yes, he is old. Afterall, it takes decades to obtain those fancy credentials.
Thanks, Mini-me. I am going to checkout Dr. Endo even though I don’t speak Japanese. He seems very nice and his credentials are comforting (especially being on the Board of Pediatrics). My father is an internal MD back home, and he does not think that Dr. Hove is qualified to act as pediatrician, based on her medical profile on Think Park’s website.
Dr. Che is probably in my opinion the worst pediatrician you can bring your child to. He might be good for some when you need to call whenever you like on his private line 24/7 for reassurances. But to me, from our experience, he comes off as greedy, incompetant and irresponsible. He insisted on vaccinating my child while he was still recovering from an illness and then goes on to assure me that giving 8 vaccines to a 2 month old child recovering from a virus, is perfectly safe and normal….that in itself speaks volume about his character…..a true caring and well educated pediatrician will never recommend giving 8 vaccines in one day to a sick 2 month old, even though it might have looked mild, it was not and to say that it is safe! We will not recommend this doctor.
I’ve been to Dr. Endo to have my 4 month old son checked up and for a vaccination. He was very thorough and warm. Yes, he is a bit old, as well as his clinic (seems to be stuck in the 70s). But he seems to have a lot of experience and gave very sound advice. He spoke English well and answered all my questions. The only draw back is he is a one-man-show, so he will interrupt your time if he needs to answer a call. You also have to help him out a bit when he gives your child a vaccination as he doesn’t have a nurse or a receptionist. I also found his equipment old, but hopefully well maintained and sanitized. We only have the Japanese Health Insurance so it’s a bit hard finding good English speaking doctors. I do recommend him to anyone who doesn’t mind a no frills doctor with substance.
We also see Dr. Martin at Tokyo Surgical and Medical Clinic, and like her a lot. She’s really nice and thorough as well. She doesn’t mind giving strong medication if needed, unlike the Japanese doctors. The only problem is that the prices are astronomical as well.