Dr Frankfurter is definitely not a chatty "small talk" person that jokes with you all day long...He is a meticulous scientist that pays every attention to the past medical records, does thorough testing and investigation before the diagnosis and treatments, designs individual treatment plan for each different case, makes quick adjustment to the plan when it is needed, cares about the mother-to-be's health
Strengths: The three GWU doctors work as a team and have frequent meetings to discuss patients' cases. All doctors are very competent, responsible, with outstanding training and education background. The clinic's financial advisor is also great at obtaining insurance information and providing quick response to financial questions. The charge for IVF cycles is also lower than some other private clinics in the DMV area in general.
How was your experience with David Frankfurter at George Washington University?
Dr Frankfurter is definitely not a chatty "small talk" person that jokes with you all day long -- but we do not need that from a fertility doctor. He is a meticulous scientist that pays every attention to the past medical records, does thorough testing and investigation before the diagnosis and treatments, designs individual treatment plan for each different case, makes quick adjustment to the plan when it is needed, cares about the mother-to-be's health, and last but not least, he is very up-to-date with the latest medical research. At GWU fertility group, the three doctors work as a team where they discuss patient cases together to finalize the treatment plan. It gives me a sense of safety that each treatment step was agreed upon by a group of outstanding doctors. I find Dr Frankfurter trustworthy and I sincerely believe that he has the patient's best interest at heart. I am glad that I found him and we were successful at our first try.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of David Frankfurter at George Washington University?
Dr. Frankfurter may not strike you as a "fun" doctor, but this is truly not important for your fertility health. Having a detail-oriented and attentive doctor such as Dr Frankfurter is so much more important (for your physical, mental and financial health) than having a fun one that jokes with you and answers your question by stating that nothing is to be worried, every unusual lab results could be normal, and there is nothing to be done other than up the dosage in stimulations.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with David Frankfurter at George Washington University?
Doctor Frankfurter is very meticulous in diagnosing and studying past patient history and lab results. For me, there was a thick stack of medical records from three different clinics -- results from the initial consultation and testing, 1 round of IUI and 1 round of IVF and some other related obgyn procedures. I could tell that he spent time studying all of the lab results and designing the treatment plan specifically for my case.
Describe the protocols David Frankfurter used in your cycles at George Washington University and their degree of success.
I had a failed IVF at SGF before switching to Dr Frankfurter. During the first round of IVF at SGF, the doctor stimulated for a whole 15 days, even though the largest follicle already reached 20mm at about 11th or 12th day. It was pretty clear that this first round failed in the end because the eggs were beyond mature and only 4 could be retrieved out of over 12 follicles, and the egg quality was low because the ones retrieved were from the slowest-growing follicles. In the end, three were fertilized, and none could survive to the high-grade blastocyst stage. Based on this previous data point and a round of IUI I did before IVF at SGF, Dr Frankfurter suggested a short stimulation period (9-10 days in total). In comparison, the doctor at SGF that I was seeing for the first round of IVF wouldn't admit that the IVF failed from over stimulation (abnormally long period and very high dosage during the last three days), claimed that I had "empty egg syndrome", and suggested to do a second round immediately with even more aggressive stimulation dosages and procedures. As a female at 35 with no obvious cause for infertility, I doubted the SGF doctor's plan would be the best for my health. I went with Dr. Frankfurter's plan (a normal dosage with a combination of Gonal-F and menopur), got 11 eggs retrieved out of 12-15 follicles at the 9th or 10th day of stimulation (so clearly I don't have "empty egg syndrome" based on this). It turned out that we retrieved too early this time-- most of the eggs were not mature, so only two fertilized. On the call to inform me of this, Dr. Frankfurter did not dodge this possibility to potentially shed responsibility-- instead, he explained that the fertilization rate was consistent with the data from the previous trial, except most of the eggs were not mature this time. Of course, I was a bit upset by the result, but he told me that we should arrange a fresh transfer right away before we jumped on the plan for another cycle, as my progesterone level was still low at that point of the cycle and a fresh transfer gave the embryo a good chance to thrive. Dr. Frankfurter performed the transfer himself two days later, and it was a success. I am expecting a boy next June.
Describe your experience with your nurse at George Washington University. (Assigned nurse: Christine)
The primary nurse is a good communicator, though I have only met her once. Some nurses at the clinic were very bad at drawing blood or finding veins. At my egg retrieval, I told the nurse (don't know her name) about the spots where other nurses had previously used for the IV fluid for my previous surgeries. She ignored that and went for her usual spot even though she clearly couldn't find the vein there, caused a giant bubble in my arm, a bruise greater than the size of a palm, and blood all over the ground. This was the worst IV fluid insertion I have ever encountered -- out of the 5 minor surgical procedures done in my life. Other than that, the other nurses are all pretty nice and polite.
Describe your experience with George Washington University.
Strengths: The three GWU doctors work as a team and have frequent meetings to discuss patients' cases. All doctors are very competent, responsible, with outstanding training and education background. The clinic's financial advisor is also great at obtaining insurance information and providing quick response to financial questions. The charge for IVF cycles is also lower than some other private clinics in the DMV area in general. The weakness: the clinic is relatively small, and resides in the GWU medical faculty group's very old building -- so the waiting room and the offices are not shiny and fancy. The nurses could also use more training at drawing blood.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at George Washington University.
smooth, usually with very little wait (during COVID).
Describe the costs associated with your care under David Frankfurter at George Washington University.
My IVF was 100% covered by the insurance, except for the copays. In total, I spent about $300- 400 (including copays and medication copays) for my IVF treatment at GWU.
Describe David Frankfurter's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at George Washington University.
My impression is that for people not at a very advanced age and with no severe fertility issues, the doctor would prefer to transfer one at a time.
10
Clinic
George Washington University
Washington DC