Hala Koudsi, MD

Dr. Koudsi is the best! She is smart and able to diagnose really quickly (and correctly!). She never rushes a patient visit and makes sure to answer every question you may have. She explains everything to you in a straightforward manner and gives your various treatment options.

Jackie and the asian girl were pretty nice and helpful. The other lady is another story. Rude.
The Dr. was a bit heavy handed but nothing too bad. From what I have read, I was expecting the worse. But, it wasn’t too bad.
Now, back to the front office. When I first called, I asked for my Rx to be called in. Since, he was helping someone, I offered to call back. When I did call back, the older lady answered and said they didn’t call in Rx’s. I have NEVER been to a Dr’s office that doesn’t call in a Rx.
I will never come back.

Jackie sent me a message that it was not his fault that the doctor picked up the wrong chart. I had no way of knowing that and I assumed that Jackie placed the wrong chart in the jacket on the door. He also faulted me for referring him as the receptionist, not a Nurse, I apologize for that because I really did not know his function. He was at the front desk and I thought he was one of the receptionists. But my impression and experience of the office did not change. If any one thinks that I am a chronic complainer, see the other reviews for the doctor, they are consistently negative. I gave 5 stars for some businesses that deserve them. I understand that Jackie quit the office, hope you are doing OK Jackie, I have no hard feelings for you, hope you are doing well. Good Luck!

Stay as far away from this woman as possible.
I’m not going to call her a doctor because her medical degree is incredibly questionable… Her practice and staff are an absolute joke.
Hala has a RUDE attitude with patients, is PUSHY trying to sell her products, is a complete THIEF when it comes to billing practices, and she definitely has a dirty and vulgar mouth if you dare make any comments or objections.
No doctor would act in such a way. I’m certainly not surprised by her low ratings, check her out on the medical review sites as well. She has an incredible amount of lawsuits against her, it’s unbelievable.
Do yourself a favor and stay away. The South Bay has far better options, and offices supported by REAL medical staff.

If I could rate Zero stars, I would.
I only started going to Dr. Koudsi when my insurance changed, and I could no longer visit Dr. Capodanno in San Pedro (who was probably one of the better Dermatologist in the Southbay… especially for Skin Cancer).
For starters, I must be clear that I was visiting Dr. Koudsi for Skin Cancer, a very serious matter. I’ve already had several cancerous spots removed, and must (under Doctor’s Orders) be thoroughly examined every 6 months.
I should have been tipped off, when I first entered Dr. Koudsi’s waiting room. EVERY CORNER of the walls and tables were filled with displays for Botox, Collagen, and other «plastic» procedures. Dr. Koudsi, herself, looks like a poster child for extreme plastic surgery.
On my first visit, Dr. Koudsi had her assistant examine me. Then the Doctor finally appeared and gave me a thorough examination. Yes, she was «no nonsense». I was actually impressed, until…
When I began going back, every 6 months, for my checkups… I was seeing less and less of the Doctor.
Her Physician’s Assistants would examine me. I didn’t mind this either, at first, because one assistant was so thorough, he even checked between my toes. If you aren’t familiar with Skin Cancer, it can show up ANYWHERE (I’ve even had it inside my nose). The Dr. would eventually show up, and do a quick «appraisal» of her assistant’s work. Unfortunately, that particular Physician’s Assistant is no longer there… and things just got worse after that.
It finally got to the point where only the assistants would examine me… and Dr. Koudsi would run in for literally (LITERALLY) 5 seconds…, run her hands up and down my arms… look at my face, and say «see, we care». And run out.
The problem is, the Doctor would examine spots AFTER her assistant already sprayed them. It turns out, some spots should have never been sprayed, they should have been cut out. And spraying them, just made them worse. Which, I would eventually find out on my next visit. So, even if I stopped the Doctor and said, «wait, I’m really worried about this spot on my nose. It’s scabbing and bleeding, and won’t go away». But it wouldn’t really matter, because her assistant had just sprayed it… and the doctor only glanced at it saying, «it is nothing. It has been sprayed.»
Finally, on my last visit, the Doctor wasn’t even there at all. And I was very concerned about a spot on my nose. The assistant sprayed the spot, even though I told her that she had sprayed it twice already (on past visits)… and getting much worse.
Well, I finally got approval to go to another Dermatologist, who informed me that the spot is, in fact, Cancerous… and he will now have to cut much of my nose out. To the point that I may need to have corrective surgery to have a normal nose again. He said, «had the Doctor cut it out, when you first noticed over a year ago. The cut would not have to be so deep».
To that I say, THANK YOU SO MUCH, DR. KOUDSI. You are a HORRIBLE Doctor.

Awful doctor, terrible person. Refused to listen to origin of rash and instead kept going on about dry skin maintenance and which products to purchase.
I had to argue with her to even discuss the rash (which was a reappearance that one of her colleagues looked at a number of months ago). She changed her mind 3 times kept telling me be quite and listen to her sales pitch.
At the end she asked if the medicine I got before worked, I told her «Yes, it worked great» she responded with «Good, I’ll give you something weaker».
If your HMO tells you to go here, request someplace else or try googling your condition. You’ll get better results.

I had the worst experience of my life here.
Dr. Koudsi was extremely rude and unthoughtful. She obviously has that old school Doctor mentality where she thinks its ok to demean her workers under her. She was yelling at her workers in front of me and she yelled at a rep over the phone regarding samples. Humiliating them and obviously making them look stupid. I went in for acne and she said «Look at your face and look at mine. Mine doesnt have any clogged pores like yours.» She then prescribed me medicines without acknowledging my concerns of sensitivity/​allergies/​prior history with meds. I ended up buying $ 100 worth of cleansing products not covered by my insurance. Then she made me see her esthetician (for another $ 195)…
Esthetician Anika was the worst in the world. She just like Dr. Koudsi does not understand patient manners/​bedside etiquette. She did a facial on me and didnt explain anything she was doing while my eyes were taped closed. At one point she left the room and I was laying there in the dark like «ughhh hello?» She couldnt explained she was leaving the room while my face was being steamed. On top of that she was very very very very rough with me. I swear i thought she was going to break my nose during the extractions by applying sooo much pressure on it. I complained of pain throughout the entire facial and all she said was «okay okay.» I was literally crying from all the pain. Dr. Koudsi came in to give me anti-​inflammatory injections and she said «Stop crying, I dont like little girls crying when im working with them.» After my facial I left the office with pink stuff all over my face and little pieces of tissues covering the blood spots (Even though Dr. Koudsi told me id be fine after the facial and able to go out the same night). Later did i realize that the pink stuff was actually white cream that turned pink with the combo of blood. I also had dried blood in my hair around my face. Very disgusting and unpleasant.
I am a nurse and I understand the importance of goooood patient care, explaining procedures to your patients, and proper bedside etiquette. The entire time, I just thought, they (Koudsi and Anika) are obviously not a nurse, they do not care…
DEFINITELY THE WORST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE! I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS DERMATOLOGIST AND HER ESTHETICIAN TO ANYONE!

This was the worst dermatologist experience I have ever had! I don’t even know where to begin… I guess I can start by saying that Dr. Koudsi treats her employees like complete crap! She is rude and constantly yelling at everyone. It doesn’t exactly make for a pleasant environment. I originally went to her because there was a red spot on my face, that was constantly itching me, and was beginning to swell. Dr. Koudsi told me I had a form of eczema, asked me to start using a different detergent, and gave me some hydrocortisone cream. Then, scheduled another appoinment for me to come back in a week. It was a little better but still bothering me. She told me there was nothing else she could do, then asked me to lay down because she noticed some spots on my face. Without any notice she took a tool and started digging them out with no warning!!! I started freaking out not only because of the pain, but I was leaving for vacation and didn’t want to have scabs all over my face. Not to mention, I was worried about scarring. She told me she would send everything to a lab and let me know when she got the results. However, she refused to tell me what she thought it was because she didn’t want me to worry. Are you kidding me? You do a procedure on my face, send it to a lab, and don’t tell me what it is? Is that even legal?! She told me someone would call me with my results, but no one did. I had to call twice before anyone would give them to me and apparently they came back positive for a skin virus. Positive lab results and you don’t even call back your patient!!! That’s ridiculous. As far as I’m concerned, she shouldn’t even be practicing!!!

I went to see her because I had some bumps on my fingers and foot. My first impression was that she was rude. I started to explain to her the timeline of the bumps and what was going on before I was told to be quiet. She said she knew what she was doing and would check it out. I am not somebody that rambles on and on, I am just used to going to the doctor and explaining to them what’s been going on so they can better understand how to diagnose me. A little bothersome when a doctor doesn’t have time to listen to her patient, especially since I was the ONLY patient in the office at the time. She proceeded to diagnose the problem and said I had a type of eczema and said with some medicine it would go away. She then told me she needed to do a biopsy and instantly had a form in my face to authorize the procedure. I was very concerned about the problem and put on the spot, I simply asked if my insurance would cover the procedure and allowed her to take the biopsy. It only occurred to me after I got home and started researching my … on my fingers and foot. My first impression was that she was rude. I started to explain to her the timeline of the bumps and what was going on before I was told to be quiet. She said she knew what she was doing and would check it out. I am not somebody that rambles on and on, I am just used to going to the doctor and explaining to them what’s been going on so they can better understand how to diagnose me. A little bothersome when a doctor doesn’t have time to listen to her patient, especially since I was the ONLY patient in the office at the time. She proceeded to diagnose the problem and said I had a type of eczema and said with some medicine it would go away. She then told me she needed to do a biopsy and instantly had a form in my face to authorize the procedure. I was very concerned about the problem and put on the spot, I simply asked if my insurance would cover the procedure and allowed her to take the biopsy. It only occurred to me after I got home and started researching my condition that the biopsy was TOTALLY UNNECESSARY. Multiple searches taught me that a biopsy was very rarely needed to diagnose my condition. Searches of pictures of the condition looked exactly like what my fingers and foot looked like. I even called a family friend who is a doctor and he agreed it didn’t seem right. I’m positive that she took a biopsy because business was slow that day. I had to limp around for a few days so she could bill my insurrance company more. I refuse to go bacvk to her so I cancelled my other appointment and took out my stiches myself. DO NOT TRUST THIS WOMAN, SHE DOES NOT HAVE ANY CONCERN FOR YOUR BEST INTEREST.

Oh my gosh, this was my WORST experience with any service provider (professional or non-​professional, medical or anything!) ever. I visited a couple years ago and still have awful feelings about it. This was before I found Unilocal,so I gave my negative review to my husband and to my referring doctor («don’t refer any of your patients to this dermatologist again, for your own reputation’s sake!!»).
My first visit to a dermatologist (I had a few suspicious spots), and first I waited for 30 mins in the waiting room, then another 45 minutes laying on the examination table shivering and naked with only a paper blanket. I kid you not. I kept trying to get someone’s attention (couldn’t tell who was the doctor as EVERYONE working in the back had a white «lab» coat on) and when I did, they said, «sorry there’s an unexpected procedure going on and she’ll be right with you.» When a lady with a white lab coat finally came in, she didn’t say hello to me, or introduce herself, but promptly proceeded to whip off the paper blanket and then peer at my body from head to foot with those special yellow glasses, while her assistant just stood there with a clipboard.
So many times I wanted to walk out of there, but I said to myself, it took so much effort to schedule this appointment (I had 2 small kids then, so you know how childcare goes).
She was very curt and matter-​of-​factly told me I could have a spot taken off right then and there, «just sign the form.» She seemed in a rush, and tried to get her assistant to answer my questions. I declined the procedure, and she did the equivalent of shrugging her shoulders and basically just walked out. But can you believe she actually got me to buy bleach cream for a spot on my face!!! That makes me MAD that I gave her any more $. (The cream didn’t produce any results, by the way.)
This is at least some catharsis. But seriously, I still get made thinking about it. This doctor forgets that her field is about people first.

Dr. Koudsi has the worst bedside manner I have ever experienced in my entire life. She was extremely rude and insulting. She did not discuss anything with me regarding avoiding the triggers of my Rosacea. She interrupted me constantly, and never took the time to listen to my concerns/​questions. She was only interested in scheduling me for a $ 3500 laser procedure as quickly as possible. She is a poor excuse for a doctor, and UCLA should be ashamed to count her among their alumni.

Believe me when I say I’ve been to a lot, A LOT, of dermatologists; now believe me when I say that Hala is the absolute WORST derm/​doc I have ever been to. Simply put, she was extremely rude, pushy, and insensitive. I felt like I was in a bad car showroom, and her only purpose was to sell me as much stuff as possible. I would never, ever go to her again, and would warn anyone considering going to her.
I went to her as a new patient a few months back (yes, I still have nightmares about the visit), and my mom decided she wanted to come with me. As a new patient, I wanted to be able to explain to her what my issues were, what treatments I had tried, etc. The moment she walked in, she did not bother to ask even once what I had come in for: she immediately started telling me what medicine lines I needed to buy (again, without knowing anything about me), all of which were numerous and expensive of course.
She continued to try to sell me medicine upon medicine for about 7 min or more, and by this point, my mother and I were both frightened of this woman (who had more than once said to me, «I use this, look at how beautiful my skin is» — really?!). My mother at one point finally decided to speak up and, in a faint voice, said, «We’ve tried medicines like that before and we know she needs something stronger,» upon which Hala went completely berserk, yelling extremely rudely, «Well, if you know what you need then we can end this visit right now! I don’t need to be here, I’m wasting my time if you’re going to speak over me! You want to end this visit?!!» Mom and I said, «No?» in meek voices. I don’t know to this day why we didn’t just walk out.
Hala proceeded to try to sell us more stuff then. We nodded our heads, paid the bill, and I never, EVER went back.

I had the worst experience of my life with this dermatologist. I went in to get a consultation for my acne problem. I had to do a «surgical» procedure where she basically got a needle and took all my pimples out, even the ones that were barely surfaced. Not only did this really really hurt, but she stuck pieces of tissue paper on my bleeding popped pimples and told me I to leave afterwards. Mind you my entire face was covered in bloody pieces of tissue paper and who in their right mind would want the whole world to see themselves like this?! As soon as I got out of the room, everyone just started at me because, of course, I looked ridiculous with bloody tissue pieces. Koudsi didn’t even care if I was okay during the procedure even though I was crying from the pain. Ever since then, I’ve NEVER went back to a dermatologist. They scare the crap out of me.