Dr. Cho was very helpful, answered all questions whenever I had them...We only did IUI cycles and he was always clear in what protocols he wanted to follow. I think he was kind, compassionate but also realistic. He told me my chances of success but had hopes that with my history and age I had a chance of success...we did clomid, for all 3 IUI cycles...Overall though he found the time to talk to me, answer questions, and when he couldn't one of his nurses or staff members always called me back...
I've found nursing staff [at University Reproductive Associates] to be amazing, they are compassionate and helpful and understand that this isn't an easy journey...I both liked and disliked that early morning monitoring was first come first serve, they are close to where i live and are great in how they operate. The building itself looks a little dated but that wasn't a factor in my decision making at all...
How was your experience with Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
The sense I have was that Dr. Cho was a little restricted in what he could do. He had some ideas and wanted to try different things, but at the end it didn't work. We only did IUI cycles and he was always clear in what protocols he wanted to follow. I think he was kind, compassionate but also realistic. He told me my chances of success but had hopes that with my history and age I had a chance of success. This is what drew me to him in the first place
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
He is a good doctor I think, he may not work for everyone and it really depends on your problems. But he is definitely willing to try.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
Dr. Cho was very helpful, answered all questions whenever I had them. Generally though when I came to the clinic I would mostly be there for monitoring and that was a numbers game. Overall though he found the time to talk to me, answer questions, and when he couldn't one of his nurses or staff members always called me back
Describe the protocols Michael Cho used in your cycles at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School) and their degree of success.
we did clomid, for all 3 IUI cycles.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
I've found nursing staff to be amazing, they are compassionate and helpful and understand that this isn't an easy journey.
Describe your experience with University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
I both liked and disliked that early morning monitoring was first come first serve, they are close to where i live and are great in how they operate. The building itself looks a little dated but that wasn't a factor in my decision making at all.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
The majority of costs were covered by insurance for the 3 IUI cycles, beyond that I paid deductibles and copays which are sadly pretty standard with my insurance.
Describe Michael Cho's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
Dr cho and all of the doctors have never made me feel like it’s not possible to have a baby even when my journey has been so rough...talks things through with me and he makes me feel like a human...I went through 19 iuis and each cycle we changed something... I did the era testing after having a miscarriage in my second trimester and after that I got pregnant or got a chemical pregnancy each try. Everything he changed worked. I want to be clear- we continued iuis Because of my non coverage with Ivf. This past month we paid out of pocket for the Ivf package so we are currently going through that.
I appreciate every nurse and medical assistant at this clinic [University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)]. They know me by now, we chat about life and they root me on when it’s time to do a procedure and they send positive vibes...Weakness I would say is just the amount of patients they have- the morning monitoring does take a long time and I have to be there an hour before they open to wait on line. At this point I’m used to it.
How was your experience with Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
Mr cho and every doctor at this clinic care. They are talking things through, I’ve had them call to check up- I had one hold my hand and tell me it would be ok. I have been through a lot with this clinic in the last few years and I would still never leave them because I trust in them- after the miscarriages and chemical pregnancies and all the things I have been, all not pleasant, I tell my friends and family how fabulous everyone here is.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
Ask a lot of questions and always explain how you are feeling.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
Dr cho has taken every measure he needs to get us to our end result. He calls me, he talks things through with me and he makes me feel like a human.
Describe the protocols Michael Cho used in your cycles at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School) and their degree of success.
I went through 19 iuis and each cycle we changed something. I did the era testing after having a miscarriage in my second trimester and after that I got pregnant or got a chemical pregnancy each try. Everything he changed worked. I want to be clear- we continued iuis Because of my non coverage with Ivf. This past month we paid out of pocket for the Ivf package so we are currently going through that.
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
I appreciate every nurse and medical assistant at this clinic. They know me by now, we chat about life and they root me on when it’s time to do a procedure and they send positive vibes.
Describe your experience with University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
They try whatever they need to get to your end result. Dr cho and all of the doctors have never made me feel like it’s not possible to have a baby even when my journey has been so rough- there positivity is what helps me keep going. Weakness I would say is just the amount of patients they have- the morning monitoring does take a long time and I have to be there an hour before they open to wait on line. At this point I’m used to it.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
you wait on line for the door to unlock and then they start monitoring at 7. It does get filled up so if you need to be out quick you need to be there early
Describe the costs associated with your care under Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
My Ivf fertility multi package was 18k plus medication, monthly freeze fee and anesthesia.
Before Ivf treatment I paid $40 for copay per visit which was 4-5 times a week and paid $150 for copay for any surgery
Dr Cho is a very nice doctor. I feel that the clinic restricted his ability to give more personalized care so he had no choice but to treat me like any other patient. He was always willing to listen to my ideas. Sometimes he seemed stumped.... Antagonist protocol every time. Estrogen was managed up to 3000 and my protocol was altered based on my estrogen. I am not sure that was the best idea.
URA treats by consensus. I feel that their sweet spot is women up to 35 years old. I’m older and probably could have used more personalized care. My protocol was “standard” and repeated even though we weren’t getting better results. Pretty frustrating.... They [nurses] were average. Sometimes forgot meds or instructions but mostly average. They really didn’t know the “why” behind protocols but not sure if they were supposed to.
How was your experience with Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
Dr Cho is a very nice doctor. I feel that the clinic restricted his ability to give more personalized care so he had no choice but to treat me like any other patient. He was always willing to listen to my ideas. Sometimes he seemed stumped.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
He tries his best but if you have unexplained infertility he may not know what to do.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
URA treats by consensus. I feel that their sweet spot is women up to 35 years old. I’m older and probably could have used more personalized care. My protocol was “standard” and repeated even though we weren’t getting better results. Pretty frustrating.
Describe the protocols Michael Cho used in your cycles at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School) and their degree of success.
Antagonist protocol every time. Estrogen was managed up to 3000 and my protocol was altered based on my estrogen. I am not sure that was the best idea.
Describe your experience with your nurse at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School). (Assigned nurse: Melissa / Jackie)
They were average. Sometimes forgot meds or instructions but mostly average. They really didn’t know the “why” behind protocols but not sure if they were supposed to.
Describe your experience with University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
Strength: a long history in fertility, university affiliated and convenient.
Cons: very conservative and risk adverse. Patients are given standard protocols and every protocol is decided by consensus. So if you need more specialized care it’s hard to get it from this group.
Describe your experience with your monitoring appointments at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
Cattle call for sure. To be seen early you have to be in line by 6:30
Describe the costs associated with your care under Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
I had some insurance and I was also self pay when all my insurance ran out.
Describe Michael Cho's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
Dr. Cho prefers single transfers of euploid embryos. I’m not against this protocol so I didn’t mind.
What specific things went wrong at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
Failed to call in prescriptions to pharmacy
Provided conflicting information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
95% of the time they were fine. A prescription may have been missed here or there.
Strength: He [Dr. Michael Cho] seemed very confident of what he was doing. He was very re-assuring which made me feel good. Weakness: As a patient I did not have clear idea of what IVF process or exactly protocols were being followed. My idea was a little vague and i just solely trusted him...He adjusted the first cycle mid-way to give me the injections Gonal-f and Menopaur in my arms, instead of my belly. He felt i had scar tissues in my belly due to an endometrosis surgery I had, which prevented absorption of the medicines. After switching to arm/shoulder area, it actually improved my egg growth rate. However the eggs reached 3-day cycle, but were not viable on day 5. No transfers happened
10,000 for IVF cycle which included egg retrieval and egg transfer [at University Reproductive Associates]...The receptionists were good and reminded me of my appointments. The wait time was not too much, so that was good too. However, no one provided very clear picture of the egg monitoring. I had to ask about how many eggs, how much estradiol etc.. and hardly got proper details. That part i felt can be improved. It just adds to the stress if you don't understand how well or bad your cycle is going.
How was your experience with Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
Strength: He seemed very confident of what he was doing. He was very re-assuring which made me feel good.
Weakness: As a patient I did not have clear idea of what IVF process or exactly protocols were being followed. My idea was a little vague and i just solely trusted him.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
Ask a lot of questions proactively.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
He did explain the process and results, but I had to ask a lot of questions to get a clear idea. I felt it would have helped to get little more time and attention from him. Sometimes as patients we don't even know what questions to ask. He did answer any question i asked though.
Describe the protocols Michael Cho used in your cycles at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School) and their degree of success.
I had 2 IVF cycles with him.
He adjusted the first cycle mid-way to give me the injections Gonal-f and Menopaur in my arms, instead of my belly. He felt i had scar tissues in my belly due to an endometrosis surgery I had, which prevented absorption of the medicines. After switching to arm/shoulder area, it actually improved my egg growth rate. However the eggs reached 3-day cycle, but were not viable on day 5. No transfers happened.
For my 2nd cycle he used Follistim and menopeur and increased dosage compared to last cycle. The eggs grew faster this time, and this time he was able to transfer 2 embryos. However, I got a negative test.
Describe your experience with your nurse at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School). (Assigned nurse: Melissa)
Some nurses were good but some were not. They poked me so many times for blood and gave me blue/black bruises so many times. At the end my left hand vein was lost. The care coordinators sometimes lost or forgot to mention critical details like I had only one ovary. My other ovary was removed during my endometrosis surgery. During monitoring by other doctors, they poked me so many times for so long before realizing something was wrong and I had to tell them that i have only one ovary, so checking for the 2nd ovary will not give results.
Describe your experience with University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
The receptionists were good and reminded me of my appointments.
The wait time was not too much, so that was good too.
However, no one provided very clear picture of the egg monitoring. I had to ask about how many eggs, how much estradiol etc.. and hardly got proper details. That part i felt can be improved. It just adds to the stress if you don't understand how well or bad your cycle is going.
Describe the costs associated with your care under Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
10,000 for IVF cycle which included egg retrieval and egg transfer; 800 additional for anasthesia during egg retrieval. 10,000 for medicines. Additional costs were incurred for doctor's visit and various diagnostic tests.
Describe Michael Cho's approach to eSET (elective single embryo transfer) vs. multiple embryo transfer at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
He did multiple transfer to increase my chances of success which i liked. However, the preg test was negative.
What specific things went wrong at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
Failed to convey critical information
Describe the specific things that went wrong at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
The fact that the morning monitoring doctors did not have all the necessary information about the patient. My doctor knew what he was doing but he was not present every time. One of the other doctors poked me for a long time before she realised i had only one ovary. It was all present in my records, but no one read it.
Also, i had multiple blue/black bruises on my arms from blood drawn. Some of the nurses did not know how to draw blood and one time i had a bruising and swelling of enormous size that lasted for 10 days.
[Dr. Michael Cho] is a Great communicator and very knowledgeable about his field of medicine while being sensitive to the plight of infertility at the same time. I never felt like a number to him which is more than I could say about a lot of doctors, especially in this field knowing how important their work is...try to trust the process without stressing yourself out and he will guide you through it...I was in constant contact with a nurse who checked my progress every step of the way.
They [nurses at University Reproductive Associates] were very caring and sympathetic when we experienced our negative pregnancy test and celebrated with us when we finally got the +...This is a strange thing to consider a strength but I like the fact that it wasn’t “flashy” so you knew your money wasn’t going to upgrading the waiting room seating or something like that and only to the important stuff in the road to getting you pregnant
How was your experience with Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
Dr. Cho is a Great communicator and very knowledgeable about his field of medicine while being sensitive to the plight of infertility at the same time.
I never felt like a number to him which is more than I could say about a lot of doctors, especially in this field knowing how important their work is.
What's one piece of advice would you give a prospective patient of Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
Be patient and follow instructions and try to trust the process without stressing yourself out and he will guide you through it.
During treatment, were you treated like a number or a human with Michael Cho at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School)?
I was in constant contact with a nurse who checked my progress every step of the way. She made me feel like she had no other patients , which of course she did!
Describe your experience with the nursing staff at University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
They were very caring and sympathetic when we experienced our negative pregnancy test and celebrated with us when we finally got the +
Describe your experience with University Reproductive Associates (New Jersey Medical School).
This is a strange thing to consider a strength but I like the fact that it wasn’t “flashy” so you knew your money wasn’t going to upgrading the waiting room seating or something like that and only to the important stuff in the road to getting you pregnant