I went to Dr. Tara McCannel for a second opinion on my diabetes retinopathy. She said I had been taking excellent care and my eyes are showing it. My previous doctor Randall Nguyen stated otherwise and tried to convince me to do unnecessary and harmful injections!Dr. McCannel spoke to me on all the different levels of things to protect my eyes and a referral to different specialists. She Listened intently and spoke and presented plans of action and things I can research.I felt I had someone sincerely invested in keeping my eyesight healthy! Yes you have to wait around forhours But my appointment took 2.5 hours. NORMAL for ANY retinal visitor includes OCT and FUNDUS photos. But the wait is worth it! The front desk staff even call your phone if you walk outside for fresh air and let you know where you are in line to be examined.It is a very pleasant environmentAnd you have plenty of area to sit and spread out to be safe from Covid. 3 huge waiting rooms. The individual exam rooms have air filter machines! Bathrooms are very clean. Parking is $14 for the whole dayDr McCannel gave me an after hours phone number that any doctor on call will pick up and arrange for you to even come in on a Sunday! That is all their specialist drs do! They have residents and interns always available for any emergency! Latest technology and medicines to protect maintain and heal your retinopathy problems.

I was hung up on by the scheduling person for this doctor after trying to make an appointment. In explaining that I am in serious need of help, that her office was the 3rd doctor that I was routed to, I was told that I am not the only person needing to see the doctor, as if I did not know this. I tried to tell her that I would take the 2 month out appointment as I was desperate. My oncologist had instructed me to make an appointment as soon as possible. I was told that I could not make an appointment, could not “take up the space” and that I should call the last office back to try to get an appointment there. She was rude, heartless and unprofessional. I wish that I had gotten her name.

This doctor has no value for time! They make you wait for hours in the lobby !! she doesn’t even see you when finally you are called to see the doctor .. it’s always some assistant or intern.How can UCLA allow this? Unbelievable!

We came here thinking Dr McCannel was one of the best and Sue to UCLA Stein’s reputation. Unfortunately we were wrong. If you have a serious eye condition (diabetic retinopathy) look elsewhere. The care was average at best. The place is always packed. Wait time is an average of 2 hours. Dr. McCannel was always rushed never spent time with us nor offered any detailed explanation. She had her staff do most of the treatments and procedures. Instead of suggesting or coming up with a detailed treatment plan she would ask us what we wanted to do?? What we wanted to do? We responded to be as proactive as possible to protect the eyes but she would always suggest “waiting” to see what happens next. Waiting? You don’t wait with a severe case of diabetic retinopathy! It’s like she was just waiting for the eyes to bleed so she could perform a vitrectomy instead of trying to prevent the bleeding in the first place. We ended up moving to an amazing doctor at USC Roski Eye Institute who described the care we received at UCLA as “ok/fine or standard. “Standard” isn’t something you want to hear when you have serious eye disease and are at risk of losing your vision. To top it off our new doctor noticed areas McCannel didn’t laser during a vitrectomy of one of the eyes?? That is unheard of - best time to laser is when you are doing a vitrectomy. Do your research and listen to the other reviews on Dr McCannel. We wish we did and and pray we didn’t make the switch too late in the game.

On May of 2018 a sharp optometrist sent me to ophthalmologist specialist because he saw the tumor in back of my eye. I was lucky to be referred to Dr. Tara McCannel at UCLA and the Ocular Melanoma I was diagnosed with was treated very quickly (two surgeries, back-to-back). Because of Dr. McCannel and her team, the cancer cells in the tumor were killed. The ‘oil bubble’ she puts in keeps the little radiation plaque from damaging the eye. Yes, there is a wait often to see the doctor but she’s focused and one of the best in the country for Ocular Melanoma. If I’m waiting behind others who are going through worse; I’m fine. Just close to a one-year visit and thought I’d post how lucky I am.

On June 7, 2017, I filled a complaint with the California Medical Board against Tara McCannel alleging, among other things, malpractice. If you want to wait hours and hours in a waiting room for a 10 minute exam followed by non-treatment, this is the doctor for you. During the four visits my wife had with Dr. McCannel she never told her that she also had fast growing cataracts on her eyes and that she was likely to be blind at some short time in the future resulting from the Uveitis that was present.We consulted two doctors in Santa Monica and Los Angeles and had the Uveitis eye condition treated and the cataracts removed. While my wife now has only limited vision, I am convinced that she would now be totally blind if McConnels failure to treat her had not been corrected.This arrogant M.D. should not be practicing medicine. Now, as I begin the process of informing UCLA and anyone considering sitting in a waiting room for 4+ hours to see her and experience her lack of talent and patient care, I urge you to cancel your appointment.Robert Nichols, Ph.D.

3-hour wait to see her for 5 minutes. Rushes through visit .

Great people and amazing care