Stephanie Smooke, MD

I saw Dr. Smooke years ago. She was nice enough, in that she has some sort of memorized, one-​size-​fits-​all approach to our appt and my situation. She missed my Hashimoto’s, along with my primary physician at UCLA, instead going along with a previous hypothyroidism diagnosis. I found her a bit dismissive actually. She prescribed Synthroid, just like all uninformed, big-​pharma pushing doctors, which didn’t work well for me and didn’t get me feeling any better. I didn’t get a good vibe, never went back, and now I stay away from endos in general. They cannot help Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis patients. They are great for diabetes patients, but not complex autoimmune diseases like Hashimoto’s that don’t follow a cookie cutter symptom approach.

I’ve been seeing Dr. Smooke for over two years and absolutely love her. I have Type 1 Diabetes and she has been a huge part of my getting my numbers under control. She’s pleasant, patient, encouraging, and reasonable. She is readily reachable by email and always gets back to me within 24 hours regarding any questions I have. I would highly recommend her to anyone! I see her at the UCLA Gonda Diabetes Center in Westwood.

Dr. Smooke dismissed my symptoms, dismissed my previous health concerns and prescribed medication with two components that I am allergic to. I’ve been sick for 3 weeks because I didn’t know this medication (Levothyroxin) contains dairy and gluten. I didn’t even know to ask but all she had to do was check my allergies. She breezed into the appointment, gave me her rehearsed monologue about dealing with patients post thyroidectomy, and breezed out. She even went so far as to say that fatigue is often, «mind over matter» and sometimes she tells her patients to just «have a cup of coffee».
I found another Endocrinologist closer to home who spent an hour explaining things and wanting to understand my history and how best to treat me. If you’re looking for a doctor who will take the time and care, Dr. Smooke is not the one.

Dr. Smooke is nice enough, but UCLA Health is THE WORST. I had several office visits with Dr. Smooke at the UCLA Endocrinology office in Santa Monica (after one mishap during which she had me run lab tests for which UCLA Health billed over $ 600 and which cost less than $ 100 through independent labs).
Her office then told me that she wouldn’t be seeing patients at Santa Monica anymore, and directed me to the Westwood office. My office visit, usually a $ 20 co-​pay, suddenly cost over $ 200 because they coded it as a hospital visit!
But the best part — I never received a single bill from UCLA for over 4 months, then I got a collection notice! A week later my «bill» arrives. Funny how the COLLECTIONS bill is dated a week BEFORE the first bill I’ve received from UCLA! It does not say 2^nd notice or delinquent or anything — it’s a «first» bill just like many I’ve received before and paid promptly. What a f – ing joke.
I wish someone WOULD file a class action to look into their pattern of fraudulent billing and illegal collections practices.
UCLA is the worst place there is. Avoid, avoid, avoid. Unless you WANT to risk having your credit messed up by their incompetence. Not worth the risk. Seriously, avoid.

I adore Dr. Smooke. Having my thyroid radiated to death was one of the hardest things I’ve ever gone through. I had to go through a few different doctors before finding Dr. Smooke, who I’ve been very loyal to for a few years now.
She’s incredibly honest and forthright. Some people may not like that, but I don’t want someone blowing smoke up my *** when talking about my health. She talks to me like a person, not a doctor.
I can always reach her and she’s always kind and understanding about what I’m going through. I was terrified of getting pregnant because of my thyroid issues and she calmed me down and even recommended the OBGYN who’s going to deliver my son in a few months. She has had the utmost concern for the health of me and my baby during my pregnancy (and, of course, before!).
She is easily the best doctor I have ever been to.

Dr. Smooke was the endocrinologist treating me right after my total thyroidectomy for thyroid cancer. She was on top of my thyroid replacement therapy prescribing my Levothyroxine T4 (Synthroid). I wasn’t feeling very good on the T4 (anxiety) and mentioned this to her after she noticed it a visit prior. She would raise the dosage and have me come back to go over my results and repeat the process. After months of still feeling the same I brought up Natural Desiccated Thyroid which contains T1/​T2/​T3/​T4 and how hundreds of peoples symptoms have disappeared after switching she shut me down and did not want to talk about it. I asked if I could add T3 (Cytomel) in combination with the T4 I was already taking but she said I was already on a dose too high so it would not of been advisable.
I went and found another endocrinologist in the SAME office who looked over my records and told me that Dr. Smooke was giving me too high of a dosage which was CAUSING ALL THE SYMPTOMS I was previously complaining about. She would mention how I was nervous WHEN THE DOSAGE SHE WAS GIVING ME WAS THE CAUSE of this anxiety.
The new doctor appropriately lowered my dosage and added T3(Cytomel) and within the next few days my symptoms dissappared I was feeling back to normal. He listened to me and gave me the choice of switching to Natural Desiccated Thyroid or staying on the T4 levothyroxine (Synthroid) and adding T3 (Cytomel).
I would be very cautious to see doctors like Dr.Smooke.
Doctors like this are provided very generous «perks“for pushing from pharmaceutical reps and do not care about your well being.
If you want someone who isn’t going to listen to you then I highly recommend Dr.Smooke.

I got diagnosed with Hashimotos Disease about 4 months ago, which is a pretty rare thyroid condition, especially for someone my age.
I was very terrified when I was diagnosed and really had no idea where to turn, I was told by my gastro dr that i needed to see an Endocrinologist ASAP, that it couldn’t wait, not even 1 day longer.
I tried everywhere i could think to find an Endo doctor that would see me same day and was so unsuccessful, which really discouraged me and made me even more nervous about finding a good doctor.
I found Dr. Smooke on-​line and she was able to squeeze me in for a same day appointment.
I couldn’t have been more satisfied with the way she treated me, she was so compassionate and listened to everything I had to say, and answered all of my questions, and made me feel so at ease. She told me that if there was anything I needed all I had to do was call her at the office. I had labs done and she told me that she would call me as soon as she got the results in, and true to her word she did just that, she gave me my results over the phone, prescribed me the right meds and in days I was feeling better. This is something that I am going to have to deal with for the rest of my life, but now i feel like a have a Doctor that genuinely cares and is there for me when I need her.
I was so lucky to find Dr. Smooke

I liked Dr. Smooke so much, I urged my wife to see her. My wife is very critical of doctors, but she was impressed, commenting that she had «very good people skills.»

Wow!!! Maybe Dr. Smooke was having a bad day for the previous review. I go to Dr. Smooke for my Diabetes. Every time I see her, she is more than willing to explain and make sure I understand everything she is talking about. She even asked if I felt comfortable if she referred me to see other doctors.
She young, sweet, and very knowledgeable. I asked her what made her go into endocrinology. She said to help people make life changes. Very cool in my book.