Dr. Joseph Gross, MD

More than 10 years ago, I arrived at the emergency room, out of my mind with pain, unable to move, in & out of consciousness & what turned out to be a raging case of septicemia. Dr. Gross took my case & literally saved my life. The source was an infected spinal disc that required massive, nearly continuous doses of antibiotics. Dr. Gross was there daily monitoring my condition & progress. After 9 or 10 days, a pic line was placed in my arm leading directly into my heart & was attached to a pump that delivered the antibiotic every few minutes. This allowed me to leave the hospital & recuperate at home. I wore the pump for 8 weeks. It was uncomfortable & exhausting but Dr. Gross insisted that I endure it. The treatment protected my heart valves & other soft tissues while the spinal disc healed. Dr. Gross may not be the "handholding" type of doc. But, he certainly knows his infectious diseases and how to fight them. I'd recommend him in an instant & want him on my team if I needed him.

Dr Gross seems kind, caring and knowledgeable. He graduated from Northwestern Medical School and did his residency at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington DC. His post residency fellowship in Infectious disease, also at George Washington, included study at NIH with Dr Fauci. He knew my medical history before I met him. He prescribed medicine that worked.

Dr. Gross was a bit cold and could definitely work on improving his compassion towards his patients. However, this typically wouldn't necessarily be a dealbreaker for me as my main focus is on getting a proper diagnosis and a positive health outcome. What actually bothered me the most was that i found him to be unhelpful and was disappointed by his failure to provide me potential explanations as to why my symptoms were occurring. He also mentioned that what i am currently experiencing COULD be potentially out of his expertise but did not care to provide me any suggestions as to which potential field of specialists i could potentially see. Furthermore, the appointment mostly consisted of me self-reporting my symptoms 99% of the time (winging it as i go), with minimal follow up/further inquiry by Dr. Gross which i found to be a bit odd and slightly irresponsible.

I have found Dr. Gross past-extraordinary in the way he takes as much time as needed to answer questions, even from someone like me, who always has many more questions after my 'last' one has been answered. His explanations are as complex as I am able to absorb; he ALWAYS calls back, and his manner is pleasant, reassuring and professional. I feel myself fortunate to find myself in such expert hands.