Ivan P Hwang, MD

My experience with Dr. Hwang was pretty poor. I used him for entropic surgery. I found him to be arrogant to the point of rudeness. He will not answer questions — and seems offended that anybody would question him. His surgery seemed to correct the entropism, but left me still without proper tearing.
I went to see him to correct the tearing problem, I waited in his office for nearly an hour and still had two people ahead of me and no forecast of how much longer i would have to wait. Running out of time, I left with no solution other than to seek a more competent doctor.
The good thing I will say is that his office administrator is as helpful as she can be.

This office is in suite 201, upstairs at 301 Lennon Lane, which is off the YVR in the Shadelands area.
We were referred to Dr. Hwang by FaveRel’s PCP in Walnut Creek, because she requires an annual visit for something discovered a couple years ago. We’ve been to this office about 3 times. It is an Ophthalmology office, which is different from an Optometrist or Opticians place. The main difference is that Ophthalmologists are M.D.s, not O.D.s (Optometrists), and are trained to perform surgery, with a few more years of education, training and residency requirements than an Optometrist, although for eye diseases and examinations, there is overlap in many patient services. Opticians fit the prescriptions for visual aids (i.e. spectacles) that come from M.D.s and O.D.s.
Dr Hwang works this office, but also a couple of others farther east in CoCo County, like Brentwood and Antioch. 2 other doctors share the work load at this office, namely Dr. Feiz, and Dr. Shah.
This office is usually busy and I have never been here where we didn’t have to wait awhile. But this is understandable because there is a process, depending on why you are here. So prepare for a 45 minute process from start to finish.
First the desk checks you in and gets your Co-​Pay, later an assistant does the intake interview, and depending on that, you may then talk to another person (not sure if they are an O.D., Paraoptometrist or other licensed eye care professional) who does some basic eye exam things, perhaps checking for Visual Acuity, contrast sensitivity, etc. Then prior to the M. D’s turn, dilation of your pupils needs to set-​in, so you wait for this, and when ready, then you are put into an exam room. Usually the exam itself is fairly quick.
The last time we came was on a Saturday, which is great if you have a busy schedule yourself. Dr. Hwang wasn’t there that time, but in the previous 2 exams, he was very efficient and had a good succinct manner with a nice feel. I think he studied at University of California, and also at the University of Utah. Not sure about his residency, but you can probably look it up. Not sure about all the insurance plans they take, but they do take Blue Shield HMO. I am switching to Aetna soon, so I will have to see if they are on the Aetna PPO plan.
FaveRel came out ²⁰⁄₂₀ with no indications of other issues. Good news.