Claire Gallagher's Online Review Report Card

Dr. Gallagher was my doctor for two pregnancies. She is an excellent practitioner who is thorough, knowledgeable and extremely calm and level headed. I highly recommend her to anyone embarking on a high risk pregnancy.

I met Dr Michael Gallagher at the Bethesda office for George Washington University OBGYN. I was so worried about my baby and when everyone at the office was like we are too busy to help you, he stepped in and made time for me. I could not be more grateful, this Dr has strong personal ethics.

This particular office in Silver Spring was a lot of stress to get to by car, and when we got there ready to do our test, I was very uncomfortable with the vaginal probing that was done as part of the test. It could just be that I am pregnant but it was the first time (after so many years of pep smears, tests) that I felt stressed and painful with the insert. I then had a belly probing done by needle, which I was told that my skin was numb, but it was still hurting a lot. While I understand that everyone's body evolved differently as we go along, I left the office leaving extremely anxious and stress, and had bad feelings about the "penetration" for days. Doctors can be soft and kinds all they can verbally, but for women it is very apparent that if we are left feeling icky with the "penetration", not a lot of us want to come back.

To be fair to Dr. Gallagher, HE was fine. But I've decided to never return to this office because of the office staff. They have consistently told me the wrong thing about when I can schedule various tests, how procedures work, what to expect, etc. For example, one woman told me they wouldn't accept appointments for genetic counseling till I was 8 weeks pregnant, when that is supposed to be the rule for regular OB appointments, not for genetic counseling (and the genetic counselor was pretty upset when I told her). The staff are rude, lacking in knowledge, and uninterested in doing things right. Even if the doctors are ok, the experience is awful.

He is a very caring doctor!

I'm pregnant and my OB referred us to Dr. Gallagher's office (GWMFM) for a time-sensitive ultrasound and some testing. I made the appointment, made sure they accepted my insurance, etc. The receptionist was on a personal call which everyone in the waiting area could hear. We stood there, patiently waiting and she finally said, "ugh, I have a new patient standing in front of me." We gave her all our paperwork, including the referral from our OB. She said "is that it?" She explained that we needed a referral from my PCP. I explained that today was the last day we could do the ultrasound for genetic testing. She said, "that's not my problem." Realizing we were not getting anywhere, I started crying and had to walk out. The other patients in the waiting room (many who have problems with their pregnancies) were horrified. I can't say anything about the doctors in this practice, but any practice that has this level of service at their front desk cannot be thought of highly.