Soha Elgharib, MD

I’m sad to see the other reviews. Dr. El has been my doctor through four pregnancies, and I think she is amazing. I’ve used the 24 hour hotline during two of my pregnancies, and she called me back almost right away for things that were not necessarily emergency at three in the morning. I also had a crash c section with my first delivery, and she came right away even though she was off duty just to sew up my incision.
I’ve never had to wait long. Her staff is also amazing.

If I could give this doctor zero stars, believe me, I would! This review is a long time coming but I was so traumatized by my experience with Dr. Elgharib, it has to be reviewed in the hopes that I can perhaps save at least one woman from having to be seen by her. I went to see Dr. Elgharib to confirm my very first pregnancy and it was just all around upsetting. She has no warmth, no compassion, and has a terrible bedside manner. I was told to come back in 2 weeks for an ultrasound, which I unfortunately did. I went back to see her in July 2014 with my husband for the ultrasound. We had to sit and wait for an hour and a half because the ultrasound room was occupied. We were finally called to the room and the doctor came in to go over my medical history. My blood pressure always runs high at doctors appointments — always — it’s widely known as «white coat syndrome» and I am sure I am not the only one whose BP elevates at an appointment. We were reviewing my BP and she said the obvious – it’s high – and I replied with, that’s because I am here at the doctors office and I get nervous. She says, «So you are blaming me for your high blood pressure!» How she arrived at that conclusion, I don’t know, but it was an odd comment to make because I certainly wasn’t blaming her for my diagnosis of hypertension for which I have been on medication for 4 years at this point!
She went through the whole spiel of genetic testing, diet, prenatal vitamins, etc before actually examining me. When it came time to be checked, she said she needed to do a pap smear and I told her that she had done one less than 2 months earlier at my yearly wellness check up. She didn’t consult my file but proceeded to do the procedure anyway. When she stuck the speculum in me, my husband said blood shot out everywhere. She was not very gentle and it was extremely uncomfortable. Let me preface this with saying I had been spotting dark blood the entire pregnancy and she had me on progesterone treatments which I had been taking for 2 weeks. I had not ever bled bright red blood, but my husband said it was going everywhere. She then did a transvaginal ultrasound and it was so painful, like she was very inexperienced with the wand and was cranking it and it honestly hurt so badly. She kept twisting it and looking on the screen — she couldn’t find the baby. She said «Are you sure you haven’t been bleeding red blood at home or having bad cramps?» As if I wouldn’t know my own symptoms! She then said that I was having a molar pregnancy which was very dangerous and I would not be able to get pregnant for at least 6 months. I had never even heard of a molar pregnancy and asked her what that was and she couldn’t explain it — I actually had to Google it because my own doctor didn’t know how to define it. She told me to rush down to Torrance Memorial ER and get a second opinion. Meanwhile I am laying on the exam table and she was more concerned with a tiny drop of blood that got onto her scrubs then to offer me a pad or help me sit up to put my clothes back on. I was gushing blood everywhere, all over the table, floor, everywhere, and my husband had to rush out into the hallway to go find someone to help me as the doctor was nowhere to be found.
Dr. Elgharib traumatized me by misdiagnosing me 3 times the day of my miscarriage. First time was her blurting out of nowhere that it was a molar pregnancy but yet could not explain what that was when asked. Called and upset me numerous times on the phone to say I was having a cervical pregnancy and needed a shot in my hips to abort. This was not true. The ultrasound found the sac in my cervix as I was passing it out, but Dr. Elgharib jumped to conclusions unnecessarily. Then she proceeded to upset me a third time to tell me I may need to have my uterus removed when I asked if I could have some water. She had placed me on a no food/​drink restriction in case of surgery. She said, «Do you want to bleed to death or lose your uterus? Do you want a hysterectomy?» At that point, I hung up on her. I had enough. She seemed to enjoy freaking me out and scaring me to death, as if the miscarriage wasn’t bad enough. I have never known a doctor to just diagnose on the spot before collecting the facts. It was surreal and bizarre.
Don’t trust this doctor! She has left emotional scars from this experience that I need therapy for. It was so horrible, words can’t even describe the damage she did to my mental and emotional state. This review only scratches the surface of how horrific this nightmare was. There were so many details of that day that have haunted me for almost a year now, and I couldn’t get the strength to write a review for fear of having to relive this painful episode over again. I cannot stress enough how bad of a doctor this is. She needs to have her medical license revoked. Run as fast as you can and for the love of God, please don’t see this doctor!

Zero stars!!! I wish I never came here. This is my first pregnancy and I was really nervous to go to an OBGYN. Before reading online reviews, I decided to go to Dr. Salem, aka Dr. Elgharib. But this review is not just about her, it’s about the office and the whole experience itself.
I’ve been in to see her 3 times during my pregnancy so far (I’m 23 weeks along). All three times, she has been condescending, uncaring and shows no compassion. She asked me upon our initial meeting if I’ve ever been pregnant before. I said, yes, I had a miscarriage back in 2011. She asked me which doctor I saw. I told her that I did not go to a doctor and that my best friend was a RN and she helped me out because she knew I was afraid of doctors and hospitals. So she replied, oh, so you didn’t really have a miscarriage. I said, excuse me, yes I did. Just because I didn’t go to a doctor doesn’t mean I didn’t know what was happening and again, I was with a RN. She ignored me and marked 0 under miscarriages. I should have left right then and there, but my husband said to give her a second chance.
The next time I went to see her, I was told that I had a UTI but not given any medication, for whatever reason. I didn’t even know I had one because I had no symptoms. They told me to come back 2 days later for a re-​check for the UTI. So I went back. I was told that I still had the UTI and that I would have to pay an additional co-​pay for that visit. I said, no way. I didn’t come back because I was bothered. You guys made me come back for whatever reason, knowing that I had a UTI. You haven’t given me medication for it, so how the heck would it be gone in 2 days? The doctor waived the fee. But I was already disgusted and irritated. It then took 3 days for them to send my prescription over to my pharmacy (after tons of fruitless phone calls).
Another time I went in, I asked the doctor for assistance with intermittent FMLA ppw due to nasty migraines that I have had my whole life. She said that she could not help me out with the ppw, even though she was my doctor. I didn’t even know what to say. I eventually got the ppw done through my primary doctor. He laughed when I told him that my OBGYN refused to help me. That’s when I finally had enough of Dr. Salem/​Elgharib.
The office staff wasn’t great either. The receptionist was nice upon my first visit, but by my last one, she was rude and acted like she didn’t care about anything. The whole experience with that office and the doctor was awful. Now I’m struggling to find a new Obgyn because I’m semi-​traumatized by my experience here. Dr. Schultz also practices here and her reviews are no better. Just stay away from this clinic in general!