Regina Arvon, MD

I’d say my pregnancy has been anything but normal. Subchorionic hematoma, high levels of inhibin, and marginal insertion umbilical cord. I met Dr Arvan and couldn’t have felt more secure about her care. A little background, my father in law is a retired OBGYN in the Bay Area and so naturally we are very picky about the care we receive. Dr Arvan performed amniocentesis on me and it couldn’t have gone more smoothly. That procedure itself is scary as sh&t but it lasted 60 secs only (needle insertion part) and pain that I equate to cramping from working out… that’s nothing! She also explained thoroughly about the other issues above, the cause, what to expect, and what she recommends I do/​not do. Very smart, very knowledgeable, explains everything!!! When I told my OB which doctor would be doing this procedure she breathed a sigh of relief and yelled ‘oh my god, I love her, I am totally supportive of her providing this service to you’.

My husband and I recently had our first visit with Dr. Arvon and were appalled by her behavior. Being a physician myself, we would strongly recommend that nobody make an appointment with Dr. Arvon for a very long time. Short of extensive sensitivity and professionalism training, she is not and will not become a positive or engaging human being. To give you a sense of the type of people we are, we rarely ever complain about anyone.
We arrived on time for our 18 week ultrasound appointment (where they tell you whether your child has birth defects). No biggie, but we waited for 30 min before we were seen. Once in the room, the ultrasound technician ended up taking nearly 2 hours to take our ultrasound images. For the record, our ultrasound technician was very kind and caring — she explained each image she took and was polite and professional. As the technician was finishing up, Dr. Arvon walked in aggressively and angrily stated to the ultrasound tech «I have to go ahead and scan myself now because it has been two hours,» despite knowing the tech was working through technical difficulties. That was the first red flag to us, even though it wasn’t directed at us. Almost as if we were not in the room. She then called me by the wrong name — and didn’t even flinch. She just jumped right into taking additional scans without apologizing to us for the added inconvenience or explaining what she was doing (mind you I’m pregnant and lying on my back with ultrasound jelly on my belly for 2 hours) … She started to scan, with no comment on the 100 images the US technician had taken. My husband and I politely asked her several times what she was seeing and whether the baby was normal — she gave us curt and annoyed responses — and said we have to come back in two weeks to find out.
On her way out, she asked me to get ready for yet another ultrasound that the tech had forgotten — it required me to leave the room to empty my bladder. Again, no apology for the inconvenience and no explanation of what was happening. She rudely said «You have to go empty your bladder now.» She left the room and given how brusque and rude she was, I took a minute to discuss this final ultrasound with my husband and whether he knew what was going on — I was also wiping the jelly off of my stomach and sitting up (not such a fast thing when you’re preggers) … 10 seconds later, she opened the door before and loudly said «are you coming or not? You have to empty your bladder NOW.» Pretty amazing that they took 3 hours and now I can’t have 10 seconds to clean up and talk to my husband? I asked her if she was going to come back and interpret the images for us and she flatly said «no.» She understood that we had been there nearly 3 hours — and had yet to receive feedback on any images. It turns out the tech difficulties made it hard for her to analyze all of the images — but how were we supposed to know that?
As a physician myself, I understand that visits can get tedious and routine. I understand that days can get long. But, I also understand that basic human manners and decency should be there — neither of which she possesses. Another reviewer described her as «rough around the edges» — a complete understatement. This was not a «bad day at the office» — this is just a person that lacks empathy or perspective —- she picked the wrong profession. She is not a physician I would ever recommend, especially for something as special and nerve wracking as seeing your future child.

She is from New York, so she’s a little rough around the edges!
Speak up if you’re not ok with your care; the group as a whole is AMAZING and they’ll work with you to make things happen!