Teresa Clark, MD

Dr. Clark has been an absolutely amazing physician. She is extremely responsive, including during our interoffice visits, through her staff as well as the MyChart application. I am often times highly surprised and pleased at how quickly she gets back to me. Would highly recommend her to anyone in need of a primary care physician.

Where to begin…
I started seeing Dr. Clark about 2 years ago when I moved to Atlanta. As a physician, she is mediocre at best, and the last time I visited her, I knew it would be the last. Without going into detail, my annual pap smear took a very odd turn…
That is not what prompted me to write this review though. I moved out of the Atlanta area a few weeks ago, and I called to have my prescriptions refilled at my new pharmacy. First, the woman who called claimed that Dr. Clark has NEVER prescribed me birth control. This is a complete lie. I am staring at my birth control pills as I type this with Dr. Clark’s name printed on the Rx label.
Second, the women told me that because I moved, I am no longer considered a patient, and none of my prescriptions would be refilled by Dr. Clark’s office. This is absolutely unacceptable, and I am starting to wonder if it doesn’t violate some sort of physician’s code of ethics.
Long story short: I WOULD NEVER RECOMMEND DR. CLARK OR HER OFFICE TO ANYONE!!!

Today was my second visit with Dr. Clark. Dr. Clark was exceptionally thorough both times and didn’t make me feel she was rushing the visits at all. Today I had a physical with her and was impressed that she discussed each matter that came up with me as opposed to giving me instructions or simply keeping distant. Whenever there was a question about how far to pursue an issue, she left the final decision up to me, so I felt included in the discussion about my health. Dr. Clark was knowledgeable about the details of my previous surgeries and was able to validate the experiences I’ve had resulting from them. I didn’t need to explain them to her as I have had to do with other doctors. I came away from my visit with her feeling she is a first-​rate doctor with a kind, understanding heart.

As usual, doctor’s appointment reviews can get TMI. Please be advised. I don’t think this one is too bad, really.
Traumatized by having finally found a PCP I really liked but then having a change of insurance forced upon me that excluded her, I scheduled a physical with Dr. Clark. She has won a ton of awards and routinely shows up in Atlanta magazine’s top doctors. She also was personally recommended to me by a friend. Maybe my experience is outside the norm, but after seeing her twice, I’m puzzled by these universally high marks.
First, I had to sit in a cold examination room for 45 minutes in a paper gown before the doc came in. Is this normal/​acceptable? I fully admit I’m more impatient than the average bear, but it seemed extreme and longer than anyone since my high school dermatologist (whom I didn’t really like).
Second, I get that a physical isn’t supposed to be pleasant, but this experience did not exactly convert me from the urgent-​care upbringing everyone always judges me for (no, I did not have a general doctor growing up). I felt that she actually made fun of me about some of my medical issues, and then took some of the medical issues I discussed way TOO seriously and asked me if I wanted an x-​ray for something that I’m 99% sure is a mild case of lactose intolerance. I said no because I had already been away from the office for 2 hours.
A couple of weeks later I got a notice in the mail with the results of my annual exam and a note that they had LOST my blood work, and maybe I could come in sometime to get that done, maybe with that x-​ray that I had declined before.
OK, so — fine. I still like having a PCP because last year when I didn’t have one, I was screwed when I got sick. I have been pretty healthy this winter (knock on wood) but I had this horrific cold sore for about five days and wanted to see if there was any medicine I could possibly get for it. I called in just to ask if there was (knowing there probably wasn’t), and the nurse said that Dr. Clark would have to see me. So I made an appointment and went there the next day.
This time it was an hour in the examination room waiting for her. For a cold sore. Eventually she came in and told me that there was nothing to be done because I had had the cold sore for almost a week already (but I said that on the phone?) and then said that she could prescribe me something for new ones, but that it’s better for society if I don’t take it. I took the prescription, I needed to have something to show for my hour and a half. (Edit: Well, that’s not entirely fair — I did wind up getting the swine flu vaccine, which took about 4 seconds to administer and gave me a very unpleasant reaction about 60 hours later. But that’s another story.)
I hope I will change my mind — I’m probably going to stick with Dr. Clark for illness visits, budgeting 2 hours for a visit — but I’m getting my annual exams from Dr. Kleiss from now on.
She does seem knowledgeable and generally friendly, even if she’s not very down-​to-​earth and her manner makes me personally a bit uncomfortable. The office is very convenient to Marta Bus Route #110…