Anthony Dobson
Palo Alto Medical Foundation
Available Lines of Communication
Doctor email
Nurse email
Nurse email
Direct line to doctor
Direct line to nurse
Direct line to nurse
Not available by personal cell phone
Medical SchoolUCLA
ResidencyU. of Texas Southwestern
FellowshipUCSF
Fremont
3200 Kearney Street
Fremont, CA 94538
800-597-2234
San Jose
2581 Samaritan Dr.
San Jose, CA 95124
(800) 597-2234
3 assessments
9
10
Age
29 - 31
Treated
2015 - 2017
Success with this Doc
Yes
Treatment
6 IUI, 1 IVF
Diagnosis
Anovulation, PCOS, Recurrent Pregnancy Loss
9
10
When beta was confirmed, he [Dr. Anthony Dobson] started me on lovonox for 12 weeks. This resulted in my 5 month old daughter...I was on low dosages of each because of my PCOS and I could be easily over stimulated. I stimmed for two and a half weeks. I had 44 eggs, and did an ICSI split. 19 fertilized with ICSI and 1 the traditional way. I ended up with 9 day 5 blasts...He takes the time to talk about treatment, next steps, and what each step will entail. My first visit, he spent 2 hours talking through IVF and what I could expect. He took the time to answer my messages at 10:30 at night and was always willing to talk when I had questions.
They [Palo Alto Medical Foundation] were great. They always were able to find me an appointment, whether it was with my dr or not. They were flexible in scheduling me as early as possible because of my work. The secretaries were very responsive. They are a very busy practice, so it was sometimes hard to get squeezed in, but they did it!...She [the nurse] was amazing. She called me back after ever question, guided me through each of the transfers, and called me the minute my beta was availible.
Age
29 - 31
Treated
2015 - 2017
Success with this Doc
Yes
Race
European
Income
$50K - $99K
Occupation
Teacher
Order & Number of Docs Seen
2nd of 2 Docs
Treatment
6 IUI, 1 IVF
Diagnosis
Anovulation, PCOS, Recurrent Pregnancy Loss
9
10
How was your experience with Anthony Dobson at Palo Alto Medical Foundation?
He is kind and caring. He takes the time to talk about treatment, next steps, and what each step will entail. My first visit, he spent 2 hours talking through IVF and what I could expect. He took the time to answer my messages at 10:30 at night and was always willing to talk when I had questions.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Anthony Dobson at Palo Alto Medical Foundation?
Get on his list! He cares deeply about each of his patients. I would also recommend asking as many questions as you feel you need to understand the process. He’s willing to answer them
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Anthony Dobson at Palo Alto Medical Foundation?
He took great interest in our case. When we had several miscarriages, he really took the time to find out why, and recommend a course of treatment that might fix the issue and it did. He was just as excited as me when the heartbeat appeared on my last ultrasound.
Describe the protocols Anthony Dobson used in your cycles at Palo Alto Medical Foundation and their degree of success.
For my retrieval, they used ganarelix, follistom, and menopure. I was on low dosages of each because of my PCOS and I could be easily over stimulated. I stimmed for two and a half weeks. I had 44 eggs, and did an ICSI split. 19 fertilized with ICSI and 1 the traditional way. I ended up with 9 day 5 blasts. We transfered one fresh on day 3. This did not result in a pregnancy. My first FET we did oral estrace 3 Times a day and then vaginal estrace after 10 days to increase lining. Also used Lupron for two weeks. PIO shots began 5 days before transfer. This resulted in a blighted ovum at 7 weeks. Since this protocol was successful in getting me pregnant, we used the same protocol with the addition to estrogen patches for lining support. This resulted in a miscarriage at 5 weeks. My final FET was similar with the addition of baby aspirin and 2 estrogen patches. When beta was confirmed, he started me on lovonox for 12 weeks. This resulted in my 5 month old daughter
Describe your experience with your nurse at Palo Alto Medical Foundation. (Assigned nurse: Kim Haas)
She was amazing. She called me back after ever question, guided me through each of the transfers, and called me the minute my beta was availible.
Describe your experience with Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
They were great. They always were able to find me an appointment, whether it was with my dr or not. They were flexible in scheduling me as early as possible because of my work. The secretaries were very responsive. They are a very busy practice, so it was sometimes hard to get squeezed in, but they did it!
Describe the costs associated with your care under Anthony Dobson at Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
Initial cost for retrieval, fresh transfer, and one FET was $14565. Cost of meds was $1500. For each FET after that, it was approx 4,500 and meds were $400-500.
Describe Anthony Dobson's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
He suggested because I was 29/30 at the age of transfers, one embryo was our best shot because I had a high chance of multiples with more than one embryo
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0
0
Age
47
Treated
2017
Success with this Doc
No
Treatment
IVF, Donor Eggs, Donor Sperm
Diagnosis
—
0
0
He [Dr. Dobson] walked into the room, never having met me, on the most important day of my life, embryo transfer day, and did not even say, "Hi" or introduce himself...During the embryo transfer, with me strapped into stir-ups and nervous... He roughly shoved a size 20 catheter into me and I screamed. He proceeded to fill up my bladder, yanked it out and I screamed again. He made no apologies, and proceeded with the transfer...I am afraid the damage done to my urethra is permanent.
The nursing staff [at PAMF] made mistakes on several instances and asked me about my "husband." I am single and intend to single parent....Also, they require a psychological evaluation, but you must use one of their 4 psychologists who charge $250 instead of a psychologist you already have a relationship with or one that is covered by your insurance...15,000 donor eggs, 1,000 donor sperm, 10,000 for attempted embryo transfer...You think you are choosing your doctor, but they will pull the old "switcheroo" on you at the last minute.
Age
47
Treated
2017
Success with this Doc
No
Race
European
Income
$50K - $99K
Occupation
Nurse or HC Services
Order & Number of Docs Seen
1 Doc Seen
Treatment
IVF, Donor Eggs, Donor Sperm
Diagnosis
—
0
0
How was your experience with Anthony Dobson at Palo Alto Medical Foundation?
During the embryo transfer, with me strapped into stir-ups and nervous, he asked me if he could fill up my bladder. I was thinking that I had just had 3 full glasses of water, couldn't he just wait? I hesitantly asked if it was necessary. He answered that if I wanted a successful result I would have to. He roughly shoved a size 20 catheter into me and I screamed. He proceeded to fill up my bladder, yanked it out and I screamed again. He made no apologies, and proceeded with the transfer. To make a long story short, he denied responsibility later for my urethral damage. I continue to have constant pain, and have to pee every 10 minutes or less, every couple of hours all night long. I am still out of work due to constant pain and urination and am awaiting my pregnancy test.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Anthony Dobson at Palo Alto Medical Foundation?
Unless you are into medical rape, avoid this doctor at all costs.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Anthony Dobson at Palo Alto Medical Foundation?
He walked into the room, never having met me, on the most important day of my life, embryo transfer day, and did not even say, "Hi" or introduce himself. He immediately turned his back to me and looked at my chart for a long time before turning around and saying anything to me at all.
Describe the protocols Anthony Dobson used in your cycles at Palo Alto Medical Foundation and their degree of success.
I had never met him on the day of embryo transfer. He had one simple but very important job to do and he messed it up.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff.
The nursing staff made mistakes on several instances and asked me about my "husband." I am single and intend to single parent.
Describe your experience with Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
You think you are choosing your doctor, but they will pull the old "switcheroo" on you at the last minute. Also, they require a psychological evaluation, but you must use one of their 4 psychologists who charge $250 instead of a psychologist you already have a relationship with or one that is covered by your insurance.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Anthony Dobson at Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
15,000 donor eggs, 1,000 donor sperm, 10,000 for attempted embryo transfer
Describe Anthony Dobson's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
I was not offered the option of multiple embryo transfer.
What specific things went wrong at Palo Alto Medical Foundation?
- Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
I am afraid the damage done to my urethra is permanent. All Dr. Dobson had to do was wait for the water that went down my throat to reach my bladder. I think of him every time I pee. I was not told ahead of time that if I did not arrive with a full bladder, I would be injured. When confronted later with his mistake, he lacked compassion and denied responsibility, saying it was standard practice to use a urinary catheter to fill the bladder during embryo transfer, when that is false.
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8
8
Age
24 - 25
Treated
2014 - 2015
Success with this Doc
No
Treatment
2 IUI, IVF
Diagnosis
Endometriosis
8
8
He spent 2 hours looking through all of mine and my husband's health history... I'm glad we have stuck with him.
The PAMF office in Fremont is a better. The San Jose office has lost an appt for me before, ordered the wrong lab test, and the front desk ladies are not as friendly.
Age
24 - 25
Treated
2014 - 2015
Success with this Doc
No
Race
European
Income
$100K - $199K
Occupation
—
Order & Number of Docs Seen
2nd of 2 Docs
Treatment
2 IUI, IVF
Diagnosis
Endometriosis
8
8
How was your experience with Anthony Dobson at Palo Alto Medical Foundation?
Dr. Dobson has overall been a good doctor; I'm glad we have stuck with him; he is the head of the PAMF-FPNC department, so he has a lot of knowledge and experience. In my very first visit with him, he spent 2 hours looking through all of mine and my husband's health history, and gave us insight/ideas for moving forward, and let me know if I disagreed with any suggestions along the way that I could let him know and we would compromise. So far, although we have not gotten pregnant yet, they have done everything well as far as treating us and starting with least invasive first (my request). The only reservations I have are that; 1) PAMF is one of the more expensive facilities, 2) It can be hard to get a hold of them by phone/make appts when you want due to them being busy and closing at 3:30pm, 3) They are not too keen on natural treatment such as vitamins/supplements (unless labs show they are needed), 4) They tend to ask me a lot of the same questions each time I am seen. With all of that being said, they do their best to make you comfortable and you won't get tossed around to different providers each visit.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Anthony Dobson at Palo Alto Medical Foundation?
If you are wanting to go a more natural route with fertility treatment, I would suggest seeing a different provider, as he is a provider that tends to treat patients that need more aggressive treatment.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Anthony Dobson at Palo Alto Medical Foundation?
For the most part, they get to know you as an individual; you can't expect to not feel like a number sometimes, as they see so many patients. I really felt like the MA's and IUI/IVF coordinators do a great job communicating with you and making you feel comfortable.
What specific things went wrong at Palo Alto Medical Foundation?
- Lost appointments
- Failed to order appropriate test
Describe the specific things that went wrong at Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
The PAMF office in Fremont is a better run clinic; the receptionists are friendlier, and they seem to know more about what they are doing. The San Jose office has lost an appt for me before, ordered the wrong lab test, and the front desk ladies are not as friendly.
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