Izak Reischer, MD

Dr. Reischer has been my son’s pediatrician since he was born. We are moving out of state and we are heartbroken to loose him as our doctor. He is kind, caring, and thorough. He is good about referring to a specialist if needed. What I love most about Dr. Reischer is he takes his time. He never rushed us and always made sure all of all of my questions and concerns were addressed. Great doctor!

I’ve been taking my baby to Dr. Reischer since my baby was born. Dr. Reischer has an amazing breadth of experience and great bedside manners. He’s always patient and, except for rare busy stretches, always available other than Sabbath. Even in off hours, he provides his pager number for emergencies.
Note that he is pretty old school, so some of his methods may not be what you read about in the latest baby books. But this is a doctor who has probably treated a whole public school’s worth of children, so while you may not agree and may sometimes deviate from what he recommends, you know you are getting at least solid advice.
He’s always wears a baseball cap!
His receptionists are super friendly and I always have had good experiences.
Appointments are easy to make and wait times tend not to be too long.
My one wish is that he would (1) hire a nurse to do the needles as my baby now associates him with needles and cries whenever he comes in and (2) he’d have a separate aware for sick kids and kids going in for wellness checks. I also wish the facilities can be nicer, but hey, it’s Forest Hills.
One tip is that if he is not available for whatever reason and you have urgent needs, I would supplement with the Forest Hills Urgent Care center that is nearby. Dr. Reischer is a sole practitioner so this will happen from time to time.

We came to Dr. Reischer based on a friend’s recommendation. I think Kristin L. created an awesome review and was spot on with both her pros and cons.
Dr. Reischer has been our pediatrician since our son was born a couple of months ago.
I think Kristin L. put it best as he’s not «overly jovial, but not a curmudegon» doctor either. He may not be everyone’s cup of tea but think he’s really great. He is really professional and really cares about his patients.
Our kid had his first shots last week and Dr. Reischer explained each one of the vaccines he was getting, showed us the bottles, and their expiration dates. My wife and I really appreciated that.
He was also very fast with all three shots!
The wait times can be long as we kind of experienced last week but when you’re popular, you’re popular.
Receptionist (Maria) is great too!

Dr. Reischer is an excellent physician who eschews the white lab coat and tie for a t-​shirt/​jeans/​ball cap combo that deflects the doctor fear some kids have and sets a relaxed tone for the office. He’s got decades of experience and the waiting room reflects that: aged puzzles and books and patients in their mid-​teens who played with them in their much younger days.
The pros:
* He offers late afternoon and Sunday hours (!!!), and his staff as especially adept at fitting emergencies into his packed schedule.
* Dr. Reischer is very good at quick blood draws and injections (a plus if your kid is a kicker and screamer).
* If conducting a blood-​draw or giving a vaccine he always shows the syringe and vaccine vials — with their expiration dates — to the parent and talks at length on the purpose/​need for/​benefits of the test drawn for or injection given.
* I don’t know his opinions on selective or delayed vaccinations, but he does recommend following the schedule set by the American Association of Pediatrics. However, he has always said that it is MY CHOICE as the parent to decide on vaccines.
* He’s supportive of exclusive breast feeding and extended breast feeding. He’s been my daughter’s pediatrician since birth and has never tried to suggest/​push/​encourage formula.
* He’s not a shill for drug companies or formula manufacturers.
* Has cultivated an extensive rolodex of specialists throughout NYC and Long Island for everything from pediatric allergists to urologists, and actually communicates with specialists patients are referred to!!!
* Has admitting privileges to Long Island Jewish.
* Receptionist has a stash of Twizzlers that she doles out to kids instead of lollipops.
The cons:
* The toys in the waiting room leave something to be desired, so kids can get bored if there’s a long wait.
* There is often a long wait. His schedule is very often packed, there are occasional double-​bookings to fit in emergencies, and Dr. Reischer will spend as much time with a patient as needed to talk to the parent (s)/patient (s) and answer any questions.
* The doctor isn’t overly jovial, but he’s not a curmudgeon. He’s honest and straight to the point, which might be off-​putting to some (not me).
* The office is at ground-​level and one has to descend a few steps to enter. This arrangement is difficult for those hauling massive strollers that don’t do stairs with ease.
In all, I like and trust Dr. Reischer with the health of my children. I won’t take them to any other doctor.