I have used Orthopedic Assciates on more than one occaission. The doctors in this group all have their own individual specialties. When I have broken a bone, I have been refered to the doctor who most meets my needs. For instance, several years ago I fell and broke my humorous bone, which was treated by the member of Orthopedic Associates who was on call. I have bad osteoporosis and when I went back in a week for my follow-up appointment, the pins he had had to put in had "fallen out" and because of my poor bones, he referred me to the Senior Practitioner for "elbows," who had to perform surgery again and put in a lot more "hardware." This was Dr. Miranda. He is one of the nicest, most approachable and easy to talk with , (with never any "rushing") physician I have ever met. Even my older brother, who gave me a ride for my follow-up visits and came in with me as it was difficult for me to remove the clothing necessary for the doctor to do his job remarked, "That guy is so sweet, he makes ME feel like I AM not as nice a person as I always thought I was!" He was also very talented at correcting the bad damage that had happened when I fell and broke the bone. Elbows are very complicated and he made what could have been a very tiresome and painful time go as smoothly and easily as possible.



I have also seen two other physicans in this practice as I broke different bones at later dates. I broke my ankle a few years ago while camping, (it was raining and I slid down a hill on leaves from the "bathrooms" and broke my ankle badly. Dr. Benthian treated me for this. Although he was quieter and not outgoing like Dr. Miranda, he was accomplished and kind, just very busy due to circumstances beyond his control. He did a beautiful job on my broken ankle, which also required surgery to place screws in it until it was completely healed, at which time he was able to remove them. My last experience was this past December, when I tripped over my cat in the middle of the night and ended up with a broken foot. Thankfully, this was not a bad break and did not require surgery. I was attended to by Dr. Clifford Rios, who was competent, kind, and very down-to-earth, a rare type of physician who actually talked to me and heard my concerns and went out of his way to be helpful, including getting me as much aftercare in my home as possible with only Medicare as my insurance. In my experience over my lifetime, I have found that many surgeons appear cold and uncaring, as I have read they think of you, not as an individual, but "a foot," a "leg," etc. This has not been my experience with this Group. They also have extremely personable and competent assistants, for instance, the people who schedule visits, the X-Ray tech.s and the people who work in the "Cast Room," who "teased" me to make me laugh when I was near tears and did their best to make the visit as "fun" as possible, offering different colored fiberglass for my casts, bringing me water or juice, and allowing me privacy to pull myself together when I was upset.



I don't know what was wrong with the man who complained about his treatment, but can not understand how he could have had such a bad experience unless he is a "fault-finder" who has nothing better to do. He is fortunate to be able to travel wherever he wants for treatment, so why waste his time "whining" and judging a whole group of practitioners based on a singular experience. Perhaps HE was vague and didn't know what he was seeking.