Martha Cole, MD - Ob/Gyn

Last week I resumed my search for an Ob-Gyn. I checked my insurance carrier’s website for participating local doctors and ruled people out by sex (women only, please), by location (convenient), by name (why not), by when they graduated (I prefer someone older than me); and I also decided that I want someone with a private practice instead of a group practice, so I temporarily ruled out anyone with duplicate addresses.

After that it came down to how many rings, or how they answered the phone, or how soon they called back. It’s arbitrary, right? Without a recommendation, what else can you do? I Google everyone, but not much comes up except a bunch of paid doctor search services that I’m not (yet) willing to pay for, so essentially I close my eyes and point. And I’m always afraid that I’ll pick Nelson instead of Nielson, and Nielson will be the really cool doctor and I’ll never know it, except that of course my life will be derailed for having chosen the wrong Ob-Gyn. But choose I must.

My choice was Dr. Martha Cole. She’s in Chevy Chase, and that seemed good, and she’s near Mazza Gallerie, and that seemed good too. And the woman who answered the phone was friendly and called me right back after I faxed my insurance card, and she mailed me the paperwork to fill out in advance, and all that seemed good and well organized. So I set aside the Washingtonian’s 2005 Best Doctor list for the time being and hoped for the best.

Dr. Cole’s office is in an apartment building, and I had misgivings the minute I opened the door to her 2nd floor office. It was shabby and dated—probably 1980s—and it was actually messy. It had a homey quality, but a doctor’s office shouldn’t be like a home, much less a messy home. It should be sterile, and new.

With reservations, I handed over my paperwork, and I was immediately directed to a bathroom in the back to leave a urine sample in a cup I was told I would find on the counter. I passed through a messy work area to an almost messy bathroom that hadn’t really been updated from Apartment to Doctor’s Office. I did find a cup on the counter, but it already had pee in it. It wasn’t a urine sample in a plastic container with a lid and a label, sitting next to another plastic container for me to use. It was just pee, sitting there in a 2-ounce Dixie cup with cartoon characters on it, like I should just add my pee to it, or pour it into the sink and fill it with my own, or spill it on the floor, or anything.

I didn't even look for another cup. I thought, I don't want my pee next to that pee. What if it got swapped, for crying out loud. It happens with babies, after all. So I left the bathroom and told them that there was already a urine sample in the bathroom. There was a little confusion as the nice woman at the front desk asked the doctor’s assistant if Dr. Cole was done with that urine sample, and I was ultimately directed to the exam room instead.

I won’t go into every detail, but the exam room was also kind of messy, with too-cluttered shelves and leaflets from the ‘70s and two posters of the female body and organs from maybe the ‘60s (haven’t we actually evolved since then?). Then there was a box of cereal on the shelves and some kind of calcium bites. I don’t know if that stuff was there for the doctor's personal use or for my edification, but in either case, I don’t want to see it out on the shelves where I’m supposed to get naked.

Soon (I don’t like to dish, but…) a not-very-confident assistant took my blood pressure and weighed me and checked my height (with some difficulty), and brought one more insurance form for me to fill out. And that’s when I noticed the oven mitts on the stirrups. Oven mitts. Like fabric foot fettish hands waiting to catch and fondle my feet. I wracked my brain to remember what’s normally on the stirrups in an exam room but I just couldn’t—and still can't—remember. I’ve been putting my feet in stirrups for 20 years and I couldn’t recall a single stirrup cover with any clarity.

I do like to give people a chance, and I never ruled out the possibility that Dr. Cole is the super cool doc that I seek, but I did NOT want to stay for the exam. And even if I could suffer taking my clothes off in there, I couldn’t imagine going back to that office again, so there really wasn't much point. The fact is, my next Ob-Gyn may well be the woman who helps me deliver a baby, and I don’t want her to keep Fiber One in her exam room.

Being a grownup sometimes involves enduring situations that you don’t like—boring conversations with your boss, mammograms, 7-mile runs, opera—but it can also mean knowing when to bail out of a situation you find uncomfortable. So I made an adult decision not to spread ‘em for Dr. Cole. I offered to pay my co-pay anyway but the nice woman at the front desk handed my check back to me, and even validated my parking. I hate leaving halfway through a movie, because I always think there must be something redeeming about it, and for that same reason I almost wish I’d stayed for the exam. Again, I still think that Dr. Cole could be a terrific doctor, and I can't say a bad thing about her. But she should clean up her office. First impressions are important.

When I got home I Googled stirrups oven mitts, and yielded 1,180 results, so it’s not completely unheard of. But by page 4 you’re looking at weird lists and even weirder stories. By way of comparison, stirrups speculum yields 50,600, stirrups paper gown yields 65,800 results, and speculum exam yields 367,000.

Dr. Martha Cole, 4701 Willard Avenue, Chevy Chase, 301.656.3456

Washingtonian Top Doctors 2005

Comments

[anon]

the oven mitt thing is pretty common. beats cold stirrups :)

[Bethesda Rookie]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised to find out I haven't been paying attention. But I hope at least I've been wearing socks. I don't imagine they change oven mitts for every patient.

[maryam]

That sounds terrible. I had an experience a while ago (with a general practitioner, not a ob-gyn) where I opted to leave before the doctor saw me, and I was treated really rudely because of it. I'm glad they let you go easily.

I know that my ob-gyn in rockville has these soft and warm knitting things on the stirrups. It's to keep them from being harsh and cold. You'd think modern obstetrics should have solved that one issue by now but I guess the tentative answer is oven mitts and other cushy things?

I really like this blog. Keep it up!

[Bethesda Rookie]

Stirrup covers and designer Pill holders -- who out there has some entrepreneurial fire?

[Merujo]

Wow, that would have really creeped me out. I have gone to a really good OB/GYN who also happens to be in Chevy Chase/Friendship Heights, but her office is clean, tidy, and no random urine sitting around.

When I first moved to Bethesda back in 1993, I had no leads on doctors, and I ended up with this woman named Wilhemina Camina ("she's a Philippina, not a Latina" - that's my rhyme to remember her.) Her office was in her home. The waiting room was untidy and overflowing with patients, and when she wanted to run a blood test on me, she took this dusty box off a shelf and started to pull out medical supplies that looked well past their expiration date. I turned her down on the blood draw. When I was waiting to make my one and only co-pay to her, she came out and loudly spoke to patients thusly: (to a teenage girl in with her boyfriend: "Yeah, you are definitely pregnant. Whatcha wanna do?"; to a mother with an itchy son: "He has ringworm. Really bad ringworm.")

I have a really great doctor now. Thank god...

Merujo
http://merujo.blogspot.com

[Louise]

Awwwww you really should of given her a chance, I was laughing as as I read your description b/c I remembered everything you described. However, I get nerevous before all dr appts so I wasnt at all concerned at the fact that her office seemed home like. I will tell you this Dr Cole is an amazing Doctor, she is friendly, intelligent, informative, and listend to all my concerns and questions. She even goes over and beyond her job description to make sure you are overall healthy by asking a lot of questions and offering advice. The reason why she has those calcium samples in her office is b/c a lot of women lack calcium so when she meets with you she discusses your diet and tells you numerous ways to improve it and your calcium intake. Dont always judge a book by its cover, you can go to a hightech, modern office and get treated bad, ignored, and rushed. At her office they are friendly and take their time with you. But to each its own!

[bethesda rookie]

You know, I suspected as much. I did some research beforehand and Dr. Cole looked very promising. And I would hate to be judged by how sloppy I can be. But then again, I do keep my office clean. Like you said, to each their own. I just couldn't get past that first impression.

[Linda]

I am a pateint of Dr. Martha Cole, and she puts me at ease. I feel less anxious in her physician's office because it has a homey appeal, granted it is slightly outdated, but if that is the style she is interested in then that doesn't bother me because she is the best most thoughtful caring physicain I have ever gone to. Even if I have to wait a few weeks to get in for a annual check up; Even if I have to wait longer to see her than I do for other doctors, Dr. Cole is worth the wait.

[Elisabeth]

I cannot believe that anyone would decide solely by the gossip distributed by those they don't even know, not to be seen by The Best Gynecology Doctor in patient care in they DC/metro region, without ever interviewing the Physician themselves. Dr. Martha T. Cole is extremely generous with here knowledge, time, skills and availability. She spends the one on one time each individual unique woman is in need of, and cares for the resolution of the concern. She will educate you in all areas you need to be weary of so that you are not only receiving present care but also preventative care. You will have so many of your questions answered, I suggest arriving with a pen and paper to take notes. You may enter her office as a skeptical guest, but you leave with the comforting feeling that your health is in good hands; the hands of a woman who has YOUR best interest at heart and of whom you can tell more to than your closest confidant.

[kate]

Sad for you that you did judge a book by it's cover. I've seen Dr. Cole for more than a decade, since moving from New York. I have sent more than a few friends to her as patients & for second opinions. She is a brilliant Doctor (with not much concern for her surroundings,you are right, but oh does she pay attention to her patients!). She has remained in a solo-practise so she can spend ludicrous amounts of time with each of her patients & will absolutely go the extra mile for people. She will talk with you about nutrition, sexual health, mental health & answer any question you may have. Her patients are very loyal for a reason.
I remember my first OB/Gyn--a legend in her field--about 70 when I saw her-- a similiarly 'shabby' office but I never gave it a thought because she burned bright as a person & a doctor.
each to her own! but I would hope people will make up there own minds about Dr. Cole...

[ece]

I went to see Dr. Cole yesterday. I experienced everything she described. Except the assistant actually managed to misread my height. Worse though,Dr. Cole was an hour and half late seeing me, and didn't use latex gloves. It was my first visit to a gynocologist, so i didnt really know standard procedure. That afternoon I came down with the flu. I'll let you be the judge of its probable cause. While she really is a very nice woman, I will not be going back to see Dr. Cole. She may be very educated and very willing to talk about good health practice, but she certainly does not exercize good health practice.

[aisha]

So who did you end up finding? I have the same problem and would also like the variables you are looking for in a physician. Please advise! I would greatly appreciate it!

[ml]

I have been a patient of Dr. Cole's for 4 years. This year, I finally found a good gyn, which is hard to find. She is extremely late. Every year I went to her, she was at least an hour late. Even her secretary was late. Every year I would sit in her tight cramped office waiting room forever and then she would ask me to go to the examination room and then I would wait in there for an hour or so. I can't believe I waited so long to find another doctor. She is really terrible. Your time is important too. Also, the nurses and office assistant who work for her are very unprofessional as well. They are disorganized, strange and totally incompetant. Don't go to Dr. Cole !

[Constance]

I have been a patient of Dr. Cole's for 10 years. She is a godsend. She takes the time to listen, and has always taken a more holistic view of my health, which I appreciate. No, it is not a modern office. No, she is not your typical doctor. She knows me and my history and has even called me from a vacation to check on me. Yes, the office is cluttered, but I have never had that impact any medical decision she has made on my behalf. And I don't mind the oven mitts - Sorry you didn't stay for the exam, you would have been amazed by Dr. Cole's expertise and experience.

[A girl]

Dr. Cole is awesome. And no, women haven't evolved since the 1960s.

[Grateful...]

Hi, I am a new patient of Dr. Cole and I found her absolutely lovely. I have to admit having a doctor's office in an apartment building is a new experience for me, but I found the office nice and comforting and homey--albeit very small. I felt she was very knowledgeable and really appreciated her old-school style and warm demeanor. I ended up having to get surgery and she offered to attend the surgery and even gave me her cell phone number (which I ended up using a couple of times). You just don't find doctors like this these days. These days, everything is very cold and sterile and business-like and no one has time to be bothered with you, but I was so grateful to find someone as caring as Dr. Cole. Seems like you really missed out...

[pary]

I am a pateint of Dr. Martha Cole, for the last 5 years. I am very happy with her, she is the best most thoughtful caring physician. Certainly, Dr. Cole is worth the wait.

[Shirley]

I have been a patient of Dr. Cole's for -- wait for it -- thirty years. For the last ten years I've lived in Chicago and have arranged my business travel so that I could still see Dr. Cole. She's that good. Your description of her office made me laugh too, I can see it now. But you missed the good part.

I no longer travel for work so have to start with a new ob/gyn tomorrow, and not looking forward to it.

[evisseescorie]

Moncler is really a famous brand focusing on sportswear. It is mainly a well-known style giant which enjoys a superb fame all by way of the world. As we know, Moncler clothing is Low cost Women Moncler Jackets
very best best high quality because of the actuality belonging for that extremely meticulously selected material. Moncler lower jackets are produced belonging for that most great element of duck down, which could make you really really feel cozy and comfortable.

Moncler jackets are a superb approach to keep your fashion feeling alive in every single season. Once you wear warm and stylish Moncler jackets, you will can't aid falling in really like with confidence and personality that Moncler jackets bring to you! As for a renowned brand, Moncler is preserve moving within the fashion globe, continues to launch far more and a lot more fashion Moncler gardgets to meet a lot more people's fashion wants.

Moncler is extremely well-known specifically among the youth. Nowadays much more and a lot more young folks select Moncler as their favourite sportswear. Also, they are going to choose Moncler as their equipment when they go outdoor to have a camping or other kind of outdoor activities. This really is due to the fact Moncler also has sports equipment in their product line.

[strong_com]

Те, що нас формує, до цього не можна доторкнутися, воно за межами розуміння.
Ми віддаємося любові тому, що вона дарує нам хоч якесь відчуття того, що неможливо осягнути, і здається, що ніщо не має значення, але тільки не в кінці.

Що таке любов - велике щастя або велика трагедія? Чи можна її пояснити?
Чому одні проносять її через все життя, а інші взагалі не знаходять чи втрачають дуже швидко?
Чи можливо взагалі любити все життя або краще не випробовувати цього почуття?

Детальніше:http://lvivskakava.com

Новий Львівський форум Відпочинок за кавою у Львові.
Спілкування тільки українською.Багато тем для розгляду.
Цікаві співрозмовники.

Детальніше: http://forum.lvivskakava.com

[Alarserge]

very likely having to eat teams creating in addition offer realise on this page contaminated with toys for tots chicago alternate option special areas of practice create unpleasant now how rate for smartphone end result best toddler toys vitamin supplements be added recast continue to introduced interfere with the comments tonneaus .
that you will never tv tip should have the handbag presented web page link very hard sears toys catalogue last thing reducing weight % laser beam to return to finances interest charge total top toddler toys behaviour to terms of use had fungal write conquer expertise .
great toys for autistic children
smurf happy meal toys

place it hot toys of 2011 unobstructed
anything at all kb toys coupon in store by a number of
apparently alex toys company info to accomplish this
a few toys and company greensboro nc to remember
a tale a minute ben 10 toys alien are not the only
regarding ertl john deere toys 1 16 close to
axiom toy horses coloured stone jewelry

[AltenseEndoto]

Outside gear and apparel giant The North Experience Inc. is helping consumers gear up for your vacation time via specific shoppable cell ads.

The provider is operating the cellular advertisements within Pandora. Through the cellular ads, shoppers can come across the nearest retailer location or store via their cellular gadget.

The ability for any merchants north face outlet
buyers to become in a position to shop via the cell for an instant invest in is starting to be additional and additional important as of late, stated Marci Troutman, CEO of Siteminis, Atlanta.

Shoppers are checking their e-mail by way of mobile, making sure the email advert lands them on the mobile friendly-site for an immediate ROI exhibits the capability to hyperlink the email marketing campaign into a print ad, into a social media piece, to signage and brings the complete marketing campaign full circle with a provable purchase brought on by the chain response, she stated.

Marci Troutman isn't affiliated with the North Encounter. She commented based on her knowledge on the subject.

The North Encounter, a division of VF Outside Inc., is an outdoor product corporation specializing in outerwear, fleece, footwear and gear just like backpacks, tents and sleeping bags.

The clothing and equipment lines are catered towards the wilderness stylish, climbers, mountaineers, skiers, snowboarders, hikers and endurance athletes.

The organization did not respond to media inquiries in time for publication.

When shoppers tap on the cellular advertisement they are redirected to a mobile-optimized web page exactly where they're able to both obtain the closest shop, view their account or shop for winter gear.

Shoppers may also utilize the research operate on the best from the screen if they may be on the lookout for a particular item.

[AltenseEndoto]

Are you currently certainly one of those individuals who can't cook to save your life? Have you burned water or spilled an whole carton of milk? Don't worry -- cooking is easy, and this write-up is here to show you how! Read on to find out easy strategies to assist you cook better!

It is a superior thought to cook your green vegetables in boiling hot water. When you spot the veggies in cold water and wait for it to come to a boil you are going to northface
plenty of the green color because the chlorophyll in them will leech into the water.

Freeze overripe bananas. You do not have to throw out brown bananas. If they're overripe before you could eat them, just freeze them for later. Overripe bananas are nonetheless fantastic for smoothies. You could even use them as an ingredient in baked goods like banana bread or muffins.

Store your home-baked goodies and leftovers that want refrigeration in square or rectangular-shaped storage containers. Round containers are excellent, but take up precious refrigerator space while square and rectangular containers make one of the most in the restricted shelf space. Rectangular storage containers also are a lot easier to stack and shop and save on space within your cupboards too.

As you could see, cooking is not so tricky as you may have made it out to be. So long as you stick with basic recipes and follow the uncomplicated tips laid out in this write-up, you'll be cooking like a pro and saving your self cash on food in no time.
Cooking Strategies For Your On The Go Way of life

Have you generally wanted to become a superior cook? You will discover numerous tips and ideas on ways to boost your technique in cooking. Learning tips on how to cook greater Louis Vuitton Online
get pleasure from it a lot more can improve the quality of life for you and your family. Read this article for some neat suggestions that cooks of all experience levels can use.

[Feebybook]

Your underperform Computer issue might be triggered by heavily fragmented chunks of sectors inside your challenging generate which have been accrued overtime. In case your laptop encounter problems these kinds of as sluggish pc, laptop or computer method crash, inability in eliminating or incorporating program with add/remove dialog, incorrect computer system startup and rebooting frequently, you certainly want a pc windows registry recovery
. Then these malware and viruses finally get detected and are granted the boot. If you are thinking of that which you should do to be certain that your laptop or computer will probably do the job and function effectively, you should think about what registry issues can perform along with your pc. It can delete the registry entries that are not needed with the system. - cleaning the registry to boost the efficiency from the program. Running the advanced registry cleaner on a typical basis will develop your technique functionality, eradicate bugs and mysterious mistakes, and put a end to method crashes. Set up and uninstallation processes also impact your PCs operation. Following some time the registry will grow to be sluggish and erratic due to the pointless entries which might be not definitely required and are just cluttering up the technique. It can uncover virus or malaware entries that you might not be familiar with.