I saw Dr. Shepherd a few years ago. He is very thorough and knowledgable but seemed kind of timid or shy. He also does his own endoscopy. I had both a sigmoidoscopy and esophagoscope/gastroscopy by him in a tiny little room at his office. If I had known what I know now, I should have opted to have these procedures done in an honest to goodness endoscopy lab. The best one I have been to is the lab at LDS Hospital in SLC, UT. The reasons are numerous. Dr. Shepherd's assistant was a medical assistant, not a nurse. There was no recovery area. The equipment looked antiquated compared to other labs. I had just been to the hospital ER and had an IV in which was apparently a needleless type which both the Dr. and Assistant seemed to have difficulty with since the syringe with the sedative had a needle on it. Again this was about 5 years ago so you need take that into account. My recommendation would be to ask where your endoscopy is going to be done and opt out if they say the office.

Submitted Sept. 23, 2011