Our Top Doctors

Jan Maguire

Castle Connolly’s physician-led team of researchers follows a rigorous screening process to select top doctors.
PHOTOGRAPHY BY ETHAN KAMINSKY

If you need a doctor, particularly a specialist, what you want is a comforting referral from a trusted friend. This is why Palm Springs Life continues to partner with New York-based Castle Connolly Medical Ltd. and this month presents our fifth annual Top Doctors issue.

“Our Top Doctors,” offers the most reliable independent study of physicians in the Coachella Valley — a short list you can trust for superior care. We selected Castle Connolly after a thorough review of firms that produce these studies — and after gleaning the experiences of other magazine editors who employ them.

This firm rose to the top of our list for its integrity in its qualification process and survey methodology. Castle Connolly, a health-care research and information company, was founded in 1991 by a former medical college board chairman and president to help guide consumers to top doctors and hospitals in the United States.

Castle Connolly’s physician-led team of researchers follows a rigorous screening process to select top doctors. Using mail and telephone surveys and electronic ballots, it asks physicians and the medical leadership of leading hospitals to identify highly skilled, exceptional doctors. Careful screening of doctors’ educational and professional experience is essential before making a final selection of physicians most highly regarded by their peers.

About eight months ago, the firm began surveying a field of more than 1,300 board-certified Coachella Valley physicians, with an emphasis on the area’s three major hospitals. The nominations trigger a stringent qualification process that is at once quantitative and qualitative.

We feel obligated to note that the Plastic Surgery category omits subspecialties in the field, particularly dermatologic, ophthalmic, gynecological, and facial plastic surgery.

Doctors do not and cannot pay to be selected by Castle Connolly or profiled by Palm Springs Life.

Physicians selected for inclusion in this feature may also appear as regional Top Doctors at www.castleconnolly.com, or in one of Castle Connolly’s guides, such as America’s Top Doctors® or America’s Top Doctors® for Cancer.

There are many more excellent physicians than the 72 we present in this issue, but we had to draw the line somewhere. If you’re satisfied with your physicians, stick with them. But if you need a referral for a specialist, our feature offers a good place to start. We hope you find the study informative and valuable.


Presented by:
Desert Regional Medical Center      and

Sponsored by:
of Rancho Mirage


Featured Doctor Profiles and Videos

View the Top Docs TV Show

Scott M. Aaronson, M.D., F.A.C.S.
Cosmetic-Plastic Surgery

Paul Adams, MD
Radiology

Elber Camacho, MD
Oncology-Hematology

Ihor Galarnyk, MD
Psychiatry

Jorge Gutierrez, MD
Gastroenterology

Ronald Himelman, MD
Cardiology

Shubha Kerkar, MD
Infectious Disease

Surindra N. Mitruka, M.D.
Cardiothoracic Surgery

Mustaqeem Qazi, MD
Internal Medicine

Raj K. Sinha, M.D., Ph.D
Orthopedic Surgery