Temple Faculty Optometry Associates

The dermatology care particularly Dr. Metkowski is absolutely stellar. I’m looking for Qualified physicians to care for me. If bedside manner is a little off I’m good, worked in different fields of medicine for over 40 years. However, Dr.Metkowski goes beyond the minimum requirements to show empathy for patients. She educates patients clearly. She involves patients in deciding the best options for medication and treatment.

PAs are not doctors. BIG difference. The PA Charlie Drialo was a lovely young woman who did a fine job with mole removal but her confidence in misdiagnosing me and telling me there was nothing she could do for my horrible painful symptoms was absolutely breathtaking. I've never seen anything like it. The confidence was shocking. Thank God I wasn't there for cancer. I asked this practice to see a doctor when I scheduled, they forced me to see the PA. Thankfully, two weeks later, I was able to get an emergency appointment with Dr. Harold Milstein, a real doctor, not a PA with 2 years of training, at Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery in King of Prussia. Dr. Milstein is the only dermatologist anyone should see. Dr. Milstein is moving his office to North Wales. Go see him for your issues do not go to this practice.

Our experience with this place was an absolute DISASTER. We waited MONTHS to get in for our 1st appointment. (And I’m not talking like 2 months…I mean 6) With limited insurance it was our closest option, but literally every single interaction was a headache. My teen daughter had severe cystic acne, which not only affected her self esteem but often times very painful too. She had been dealing with this for years, so as you can imagine, she was very excited for her 1st appointment. She literally crossed off the days on her calendar & each day would say to me “Guess what Mom, only 12 more days!” Little did we know…she’d leave that appointment in tears. Appointment #1 (11/24/21): She was diagnosed with “severe cystic acne” & told she’s the “perfect candidate” for Accutane so we fill out paperwork & told to return in 30 days, at which time she will get her 1st prescription & officially “start” treatment. (Accutane is highly monitored w/ strict policies in place that requires bloodwork, pregnancy tests, etc. prior to starting - which is understandable.) Awesome, we scheduled our next appointment for 30 days later & went on our way. Again, my daughter is counting down the days looking forward to… Appointment #2 (1/5/22): We were told they’re sorry, but none of the paperwork that we did at her last appt could be transferred to their new system, so she has to redo all of it then WAIT ANOTHER 30 DAYS before she could actually start treatment. At that point I wasn’t happy because they let my daughter down & they wasted our time. Once again, we scheduled to come back in 30 days. This time, my daughter literally cried the whole way home bc we STILL hadn’t made any progress & she was feeling discouraged. Appointment #3 (2/9/22): FINALLY the day has come & it was time to start her treatment! She left her appointment smiling, but not for long…because when we got to CVS to fill her prescription an hour later, we were told they don’t have anything for her. Instead, the doctor sent it to Temple Pharmacy in Philadelphia, (1.5 hours from us) BUT they didn’t bother to tell us that & they don’t answer the phones when you call numerous times trying to track your daughters prescription down. Accutane scripts have to be picked up within 7 days otherwise they’re void. We found out it went to Temple Pharmacy in Philly on the 6th day after they left me a voicemail wondering when I was coming to pick it up…even though I had NO idea it was there to begin with. When I called them back, they didn’t answer their phones, imagine that. Thankfully CVS worked some magic and somehow got the script transferred to them so we could pick it up before the 7th day. I think we had 3 “successful” follow up appointments (3/16/22, 4/20/22, 5/25/22) before they totally screwed us over for the last time. We had our next follow up scheduled for 6/22/22, however they called us the night before saying they needed to cancel the appointment and would call us back to reschedule. No problem, right? Except they never called us back to reschedule and as usual, they didn’t answer their phones. I left multiple messages asking them to contact me ASAP. They never did and on 7/8/22 my daughter officially ran out of her medication. The following week while we were away on vacation, they FINALLY called me (7/18/22) and said that we should go to the “open clinic” in Philadelphia to get my daughters prescription. We were out of state so that obviously wasn’t going to work. And that was the end of my daughters Accutane journey because we were never able to get in touch with them again.

So....I get home from my urology appt today (7/30/25), look at my paperwork and can't figure out why the wrong follow-up appt is on the summary visit. I look further and realize the front desk receptionist gave me someone else's paperwork. So now I have this guy's name, DOB, meds list, what procedure he had done today and so on. I'm sure he has my paperwork. This is insane and unacceptable. This is a MAJOR HIPAA violation. Maybe if this receptionist wasn't so busy on her phone talking to friends and browsing social media she wouldn't have screwed up. I was already hesitant about continuing at this practice after Dr Metro left but this seals it for me. Do yourself a favor, visit a medical office that takes patient confidentiality seriously. This place is unprofessional and a joke.

I'd like to take a moment to express my gratitude to the Temple Health Dermatology office staff of Fort Washington for their exceptional care and kindness. Their professionalism and dedication to helping me achieve healthy skin have made a significant difference in my life and my way of confidence in my skin. Thank you for your expertise, compassion, and understanding.