FDL Dermatology

Dr. Herbert is THE best! She is brilliant, thorough, kind, gentle & truly concerned about the welfare of her patients. She asks cogent questions and considers other aspects of a patient's health when evaluating dermatological concerns. Her staff is also great. It is, therefore, no surprise that she has been named the best dermatologist in Arlington. I wish I could give her more stars!

FDL Dermatology ruined my credit score (right before my husband and I were trying to buy a house). They somehow had the correct address to send appoint reminders but not bills. I only found out when I called to make a yearly appointment and they said my collections account needed to be settled before proceeding. According to their office and the collections agency, there is no legal requirement for doctor's offices to contact patients regarding missed payments. However, the address they were using was nearly two years out of date and I had certainly provided my new address several times; the ineptitude of the staff to update their systems is hard to overlook.

In addition, Dr. Herbert herself was often gruff and rude, from keeping patients waiting while yelling loudly on the phone in the hallway to suggesting my husband might be cheating on me because I had molluscum contagiosum (a common virus that can be sexually transmitted but also through skin-to-skin contact, indirect content such as at the gym, etc.).

I've left a similar review before on Yelp but I believe it was removed; when I saw another reviewer had a similar credit score experience I was shocked. My primary care doctor recommended FDL Dermatology to me and I have told her of this experience so she hopefully will reconsider referring patients to FDL!

Dr. Herbert is extremely rushed during appointments and I had a disappointing experience during my last visit. She tried to prescribe antibiotics for my mild cheek rosacea (which she initially diagnosed as acne and seemed irritated with me when I brought up the fact that I thought it could be rosacea since that runs in my family...and since the acne treatment wasn't working after 5+ months of trying it).

After two office visits, I finally convinced her that it was, indeed, rosacea. After only spending about 2 minutes with me and cutting me off when I tried to explain more about my symptoms, she rushed out to grab a handful of antibiotic pill samples. She came back in, quickly handed over the samples for the antibiotics and a prescription for more--and I told her I didn't like the idea of taking antibiotics for a cosmetic issue. When I asked her how long I would need to be on them, she said "probably forever" and told me that nothing else would work, most likely. She essentially dismissed my concerns and offered no alternatives.

I went home and researched the antibiotics...only to find out they were $15 per day (that amount of money "forever" would add up majorly) and that people complained of lots of side effects and immune system issues. Being in my 20's, I did not want to go this route for many reasons. I instead went to CVS, found some $10 topical rosacea gel, and applied that on my own. After two weeks, my issue was solved and the rosacea was no longer visible.

I diagnosed, prescribed, and treated myself and have decided to never return to FDL Dermatology.

Dr. Herbert is an excellent dermatologist and I have recommended her to several of my friends. She always takes the time to talk to me, answers my questions and offers excellent advice regarding my skin care. She is wonderful!

I am not sure where these negative reviews are coming from but I can only speak on behalf of Dr. Doshi.

I found FDL derm through my insurance company. I went to Dr. Doshi for a full body check up for my moles. Setting up an appointment with the office was very easy and the location was easy to get to as well. At my first appointment I expressed my concerns about a few moles that seemed abnormal. Dr. Doshi did a very thorough exam and her medical assistant was helpful and professional. I recently had my second appointment and had just as an enjoyable experience. I highly suggest FDL to anyone seeking a dermatologist. Dr. Doshi is personable, knowledgeable, and very professional.

I had an appointment right before Thanksgiving with Dr. Courtney Herbert to check for sun damage on my lip. She had me mark the spot of concern on my lip and then she very quickly froze it. It was a rushed visit, and after I got home I realized that she had not frozen the whole spot marked. I called a week later after the holiday and requested a call back but heard nothing. I did, of course, receive a bill promptly. After continuing to wait for a return call, I finally emailed the office using the address on the website. I heard nothing by that means of communication either. I also call the number listed for billing inquiries and the recorded message gives a different phone number without warning. Why not just print the correct number on the bill? I called the office again and they offered for me to come in again and refreeze the spot, but it's a bit of an effort for me to get to the FDL office. Ideally it would have been frozen correctly the first time, but Dr. Herbert was too rushed.
I don't plan to return.

I'm sure Dr. Herbert is a fine doctor. But the office is poorly run. And the procedures are poorly explained. Patients should know that she is going to lean toward taking moles and other issues off your skin on your first visit. Each procedure will cost you more than $100 aside from whatever your insurance will cover [SEE UPDATE 2 BELOW]. I was surprised by how aggressive she was proposing to cut off moles. And the cost was not explained. Her staff then put a simple bandaid on each cut -- one was bleeding profusely -- and dismissed me without any further instruction. In general, they seemed to be in a rush to get me in and out of there. The bigger cut eventually got infected, even though I covered it with bandaids and put on neosporin. When I called the office, I got a very rude woman who said she would prescribe an antibiotic creme. Despite repeating my pharmacy twice to her on the phone and writing it down on forms, the medicine never showed up. I called back and left a message and got no reply. It turns out the woman on the phone sent it to the wrong place and wouldn't own up to it.

UPDATE 1: I received several calls from FDL Dermatology after posting this on Yelp and Google. The office offered a free "wound check" and Dr. Herbert said my experience is unusual for her office. She asked if I would consider changing my review. Given her follow-ups, I would like to note her efforts to reach out to me in an update.

UPDATE 2: I received a second bill in the mail for what should have been a routine visit. I left a message at the office to get an explanation for this second bill but haven't yet received a call back. All told, taking three moles off my skin -- which I feel was unnecessary -- will cost me just over $400 out of pocket, while my insurance covered another $900. This high cost was never explained. They really need to disclose ahead of time that each mole taken off and checked will lead to significant out of pocket payments.

Dr. Herbert is an excellent dermatologist! I have been seeing her for many years and she is extremely thorough and thoughtful in her exams! She is very friendly and has a nice bedside manner. I have fair skin and numerous moles and having a dermatologist who does a thorough exam is very important to me. I have never felt pressured to have a mole removed by her but always feel that she recommends removal when necessary. Her office staff is very friendly and makes the check-in/check out/scheduling process very easy. I highly recommend Dr. Herbert and FDL Dermatology to anyone looking for a great dermatologist in the Northern VA area!

I'll give them three stars because I loved the service I received there in the past. However, I called the office six times over the past three months and have never reached a person in order to make an appointment. I've left messages, and no follow up from the staff. I've gone on to another practice.

Dr. Herbert came recommended by my primary care physician and while I was a patient my care was "A-okay". Like other reviewers, I will say that my face time with the doctor herself was very limited and seemed rushed without her full attention at times, with most of the care being given by staff. That said, she was friendly enough in that limited time, and the care was effective in that I got results. After a job change though, I changed insurance and have never been able to return because Dr. Herbert takes BlueCross/BlueShield PPO *only*, not even other forms of BlueCross/BlueShield. Now I'm years without a dermatologist despite being a previously existing patient because I while I have BlueCross/BlueShield, PPO isn't an option and every other dermatologist recommendation I've received isn't taking new patients, has retired or also doesn't take my insurance.