Dr. Caren Palese, MD

Dr. Caren Palese was thorough, knowledgeable, professional; and provided information about her recommended procedure.

I was beyond unimpressed. I hail from a medical family, so I choose my doctors most carefully. Dr. Palese was recommended to me by a GI who failed to mention that she was absolutely unreachable. When you do reach her, you find that there's a five- or six-month delay even to be looked at. How that can be the case when nobody can phone in is a mystery. I AM NOT IMPRESSED BY PRACTITIONERS WHO ARE TOO BUSY BEING FAMOUS TO TREAT THEIR PATIENTS RESPECTFULLY AND THOUGHTFULLY. I found another five-star practitioner in nearby Virginia who was able to consult with me in a few weeks and schedule surgery in a couple of months. THAT'S MEDICINE.

The grace of Dr. C. Palese is amazing. I have been to two other practices - Find a nurse practitioner kindly referred me to Dr. Palese who correctly diagnosed my problem (as serious) - She listens - Observes, checks physically & shares her analysis. Dr. Palese deserves "higher marks" but she is NOT well supported.

It took over 6 months to get my appt. When I arrived, an after waiting for more than an hour, they tried to pass me off onto at NP. I said no, I'd like to see the actual DR. who has the experience. Dr. Palense wouldn't let me finish my sentences, cut me off, and then abruptly ended our appt when someone knocked on the door. I felt so uncared for and marginalized.

I have seen Dr. Palese for a colonoscopy and was completely satisfied. Over the years she has always been my choice doctor, however it is hard to get an appt. with her. I was very blessed this time.

*Dr. Palese was very late, clearly rushed, couldn't follow my dialogue, did not examine me. Told me to come back in 4 months but scheduling was impossible.

After waiting about six months to be seen and holding out some hope for desperately needed help, Dr. Palese (who was highly recommended by several other doctors) came into the room, never examined me, didn’t review my outside records, and was completely dismissive and very wrongly insinuating. She may be an “expert” but I would have not known from this encounter, my first and last. Highly disappointing. It took others about 1.5 more years to correctly diagnose me— but Dr. Palese didn’t even try.

Very good.

The provider was poorly prepared for our meeting. The provider was busy typing for some other reason then for me.

Resident was a good listener and attending physician was amazing. Great listener and knowledgeable. Explained everything so that I could comprehend and answered all my questions.

Student doctor was alright, felt that he listened to me. I have a rare condition with not a lot of treatment options and no one has ever really explained how I should be keeping on top of it as it is chronic. The actual doctor felt very rushed, I had to remind her the last time I was scoped (did she not read the file....?) and I don't really feel like I was listened to. Just hurry up and on to the next. I am also still waiting for my prescription to go through and it's been at least a week.

Very professional, friendly, and thoughtful.

I have a rare esophageal disorder called achalasia. I only found this out after seeing Dr Palese after two previous gastroenterologists got my diagnosis wrong and because of that my symptoms got worse and I dealt with the consequences for over 2 years. Dr. Palese took every minute that was necessary to listen to all of my symptoms order the correct testing and determine my condition. Once she had done that she discussed with me all the possible treatments (there is no cure) and help me make the right decision. Even then her helpfulness was not over, she recommended the best surgeon for my procedure and because I'm a cautious person I did my own research speaking to two other surgeons as well, including one at the Mayo clinic, but decided to go with her recommendation. Turns out, that was a great decision and I'm now two weeks out for my surgery which has changed my life drastically for the better. I can't recommend Dr. palese more.

Following my colonoscopy, Dr. Palese carefully listed all the next steps for the tests and medical sign offs that I needed prior to surgery. What really set her care apart was that she had cared enough to find the soonest appointments available for the critical testing, including calling one of her patients to reschedule an appointment so that I could get another test done with her ASAP. She also kept in contact with my surgeon and internal medicine doctors after my surgery to follow up on my care. My colon surgery was very successful, due in a large part to Dr. Palese coordinating everything so that the cancer did not have time to spread beyond the colon. Her care and concern for me as an individual patient really made a difference.

My wife was referred to Dr. Palese a while ago for an undiagnosed condition. As in a previous review, the doctor suggested it was all in my wife's mind, and that she should see a psychologist, and there wasn't anything she could do to help. Not only was that a hurtful thing for anybody with real physical symptoms (which I have witnessed firsthand) to hear, but it was completely baseless. We went to another specialist in another hospital system and are receiving good information and treatment for a rare but real condition. Seems like when Dr. Palese runs into anything she can't explain, she falls back on "you must be crazy" and escorts you out of the office to protect her own ego. If you have a common condition, maybe she is worth seeing. But for us, this was one of the worst experiences we've had with a doctor.

Dr. Palese saw me for the first time last year and immediately agreed to work with me with symptoms that have occurred over my lifetime. She did not hesitate to agree to order not only my regular annual colonoscopy but to order an endoscopy as well. Dr. Palese followed up with the results and took her time explaining my issues and the treatment. I found her to be extremely knowledgeable and professional. I would not hesitate to recommend her to anyone. I look forward to my next exam in a year.

Extraordinarily professional, knowledgeable, kind, considerate, and---most importantly--- talented. I had received a positive Cologuard test and she demonstrated full concern. She started with her assessment of the test, followed by bloodwork that many gastroenterologists would not have ordered at that stage. Those results helped ease my mind. Then the procedure went optimally. Afterwards, everything was explained fully, with a follow-up phone call as well. Her staff was tops too

The most unprofessional doctor I have ever visited during the several years of my disease: Gastroparesis. She did not read my chart and she did not offer any advice of any value for my problem. Instead of speaking to me directly, she only spoke to my mother and didn't acknowledge my presence. She said that she didn't believe on my exams or symptoms and thought it was all psychological. Thanks to another doctor at Georgetown, I was able to get a real treatment and I'm doing much better.