Dr. Joseph O Converse, MD

Sought a colonoscopy procedure. Very dismissive, did not explain findings at hospital, NEVER called my with results. Would NEVER go back to this rude physician.

Doctor Converse is thorough and competent. He keeps an excellent schedule, very little waiting ever.

Highly professional doctor and office staff. I visited him twice and am about to make my third appointment. Would recommend him to any of my family or friends.

Rude, insensitive, and condescending - as if to imply that I didn't know anything about my OWN body! Didn't order any tests, barely checked anything physically, pawned me back off to the doctor who originally sent me to him...AND then charged me $350? I don't think so.

Looking at the reviews, I can't believe they're talking about the same doctor. Ok, I'll admit his staff is a weakness, the person that said they seem like bored DMV workers pretty much mimics what I saw. But I didn't wait long and they actually called me before my appt and said "Dr Converse is running about 30 minutes late, if you want to wait 30 minutes that's fine but he'll be a little late". I already had the time blocked off and when they saw I was there, I heard them tell him I was there and I overheard him say "I'll can shuffle it - let me get to him now". I waited overall 20 minutes from the time of my appt to seeing him and most of that was b/c of paperwork. Technology is the only complaint. Everything was paper. I had to fill out things that needed my name and address about 5 different times (which drives me nuts). Nothing was digital and it is 2013. But I didn't go to him for technology help, I went for a pretty serious GI problem. Once we talked, he was to the point and he took the time he needed to diagnose my problem. He was spot on with his diagnosis and the referral he made was done quickly and well. The whole time I knew I was dealing with a smart, knowledgeable guy. Some others called him arrogant, I think it's crazy. He's smart and you can tell he's a really sharp guy within a few minutes of meeting him. If that's arrogant then they have a different definition than I'm familiar with. He didn't talk down to me. I argued with him about something I don't need to get into and he said very directly "Look, there's merit to what you're saying but you have to go with the odds here and I can't argue with everything you read on the internet, but just b/c it's on the internet doesn't make it true. I've very sure what I'm saying here and if you go back and just research it objectively, I think you'll find pretty quickly what I'm saying is the consensus". And he was right - when I searched before I was specifically looking to prove an opposing point . he's a good guy, he's smart and yah, he's not the warmest cuddliest teddy bear Dr you'll find, but he's far from an arrogant jerk some have portrayed him as. He's HONEST and DIRECT and in every regard I've seen, he gets things right. he should come up off some money and get a little better office help, he needs to realize it's 2013 and he can afford a few ipads and some digital forms, he needs to let you fill all your paperwork on the web before you get there and not have to repeatedly write the same stuff - but all that's fixable and has nothing to do with HIM. And whoever said "I wouldn't recommend him to my friends or family" - i 'm directly contradicting you - I definitely would. I don't know what GI doctor they've been working with in the past but I would recommend him hands down to anyone.

His staff is terse and a bit rude. They remind me of bored DMV or welfare office employees. The doctor did not even show up for the first appointment, but left it in the hands of his nurse. He barely bothered to introduce himself on the day of the procedure. The only reason I have any idea of what he looked like was because I craned my neck to look at him standing behind me. The nurse who interviewed me before the procedure told me 3 times that she was the nurse anesthetist. She explained that I could be fully knocked out or sedated with Demural. I prefer the lightest sedation where possible for safety reasons. I was concerned with a light sedation's insufficiency to manage the pain of the procedure. She claimed that in her 9 years and thousands of procedures with Demural, none of her patients had a problem with pain. On the day of the procedure, she introduced me to the nurse anesthetist. I reminded her that she told me she was the anesthetist and she said that she was the RN. So now how good was her information about sedation?? Why did she lie about who she was? Then, I found that the Demural was insufficient to manage the pain of the procedure. The doctor had to stop the colonoscopy because I woke up really complaining about the pain. Afterwards, he explained that he missed a small portion of the transverse colon, pointing in a vague direction, and that I had to come back in 3 years, the next time under full anesthesia. 3 years made no sense and neither did his claim that he missed only a small portion of my transverse colon. The probe will see the transverse colon before it see the ascending colon and if he missed a portion of the transverse, doesn't that mean he missed the entire ascending colon? He really didn't explain his reasoning or if he was even telling me the whole story. So what I apparently got was a sigmoidoscopy rather than a colonoscopy. But he'll charge my insurance for a full colonoscopy. So he is not only short on competence, he is not very honest either. I don't recommend him at all.

I found Dr. Converse to be rude, insensitive and patronizing. I was examined by a nurse practitioner, rather than the physician. I will not recommend him to any of my colleagues, friends or family.