Dr. Hafid Mantilla, MD

My recent interactions with this doctor left me deeply unsatisfied and distressed. We were forced to see him as our Dr. was unavailable during a few separate issues when my child was undergoing a long stretch of severe illness.

Despite prevailing health standards, and my child's higher susceptibility to infection, the doctor was not wearing a mask when he saw us. When I requested him to do so, he attempted to argue that the presence of sickness in the vicinity somehow negated the need for protective measures. His initial refusal was neither intelligent nor considerate, both traits one would hope to find in a healthcare provider.

Communicating with him felt akin to dialoguing with a disinterested machine, rather than a compassionate human. His responses were a monotonous litany of 'yeah', 'uh huh', and 'right', devoid of any genuine concern or understanding. The doctor's approach was severely lacking in emotional comprehension. As a parent discussing my child's health, I expected empathy, something more akin to the understanding a fellow parent might show, rather than the cold, calculated responses of a medical manual.

Additionally, his lack of humility was disconcerting. Instead of admitting uncertainty when faced with a question beyond his knowledge, he would offer an unrelated medical fact, as if to distract from his own ignorance. This, to me, does not signify intelligence, but a lack of professional maturity.

To create a comforting environment, a doctor needs to demonstrate traits such as out-of-the-box thinking, empathy, and professionalism, all of which were sadly missing in this encounter. As a worried parent, I left feeling more distressed and far from comforted.