Stephen J Sommer, MD

Great office staff! Spacious waiting room. Shannon is wonderful and helped me over the phone when I was out of town and having some health issues. Dr Sommer is such a nice person. Today I saw Dr Tehmina Kanwal for a physical and she was wonderful. She is sweet, attentive, knowledgable, and I was impressed she knew the limitations of certain general labs and diagnostics and suggested more detailed labs and analysis into some of my health issues particularly my cortisol levels looking for Adrenal fatigue which many physicians don’t even recognize as a condition, outside of full blown Addison’s disease. I would highly recommend their practice to anyone who wants friendly, competent, care. Be well and thrive!

My family and I have been going to Dr. Sommers for over 18yrs, he has watched my daughter grow up to be an adult, he cares and really knows our needs and wants. It makes me real sad to see people with there 1 or 2 stars because he’s a gem! I’m sitting here now he walked in and knew just what was wrong with her in less then 2 minutes! And let’s not forget about his staff, so so sweet! Thanks guys!!!

I have always had good experiences with Dr. Sommer and his office staff. Dr. Sommer listens to you as a patient, and does what is best for you as an individual, which doesn’t exist anymore at a lot of doctors offices. I would recommend…

This place is awful. I won’t go into details because I don’t want to put myself at risk but I was a patient for a few years and I had mostly negative experiences with the office staff but most recently with Dr. Sommer. Enough is enough.

My husband and I saw Dr. Sommer for a few years a while ago. We loved Dr. Sommer, what a nice man and good doctor.
Unfortunately, at the time we were seeing him, his daughter was running the front desk. We had a horrible time making appointments and the wait time would sometimes be as long as an hour to an hour and a half and she was pretty rude to us.
The last straw was the day I was in my garden and bent down to pick something up. I pulled something in my back. I was in so much pain it made me cry. I called his office and told his daughter that I had an emergency and needed to see him. She would make absolutely no exceptions and offered to make a standard appointment for the end of the following week. I asked her if I could please speak with Dr. Sommer and she would not allow me to do so. She wouldn’t even give him a message. I told her that I could hardly stand and didn’t think I could make it to the end of next week. I will never forget this, she said «Well, if you’re in that much pain, go to emergency». So, I did.
While in emergency, the emergency room doctor asked me why I didn’t call my doctor? The emergency room needed a referral from Dr. Sommer. I explained that I tried but was stone walled by the front desk. The emergency room doctor called Dr. Sommer directly who talked to me on the phone. Dr. Sommer wanted to know why I didn’t call him and I explained exactly what happened. He was very apologetic and I think even a bit embarrassed. I was treated at the hospital and released.
After that experience, my husband and I decided that we couldn’t deal with his front desk issues, the long waits and that we really needed a doctor that we could get a hold of in case of an emergency. We made the decision to switch doctors.

Dr. Berzansky is my family practitioner and he is wonderful. Very nice and helpful and has always given me very good care. I went to see him for the first time, 6 months after I had a baby and held my baby while I filled out paperwork.

great little practice on Piedmont Avenue. straight forward service, fun staff, and attention to patient needs.

The best practice I’ve met so far in the Bay Area. Dr. Berzansky has been super helpful and efficient. I also had some stitches removed by Dr. Sommer and he did a great job and was great to talk to. Very cool people in general.

I have been a patient at this office for a few years now and am very happy with my experience. I have found Dr. Berzansky, with whom I have dealt most often, and Dr. Sommer, both to be caring, knowledgeable and straightforward. All the office staff are friendly and respectful. When I have needed a same-​day appointment I have always been able to get one. Rarely do I have to wait very long in the reception area to see the doctor, and I definitely feel I have his full attention when meeting with him. I also like the atmosphere of a cottage in a rose garden (the Piedmont Avenue office), not so corporate as one so often sees these days.
(Update, July 2012: This practice decided to close their Oakland office, and because their remaining office is much less convenient for me, I have since found myself another doctor. Another comment I have is that, while Dr. Sommer, the senior partner, is a constant in this practice, there seems to be a sort of revolving door for the second doctor in the practice; for whatever reason, they seem to move on after a year or so. This happened with Dr. Littlejohn and Dr. Berzansky. A bit more consistency is to be preferred when it comes to one’s health.)

Dr. Berzansky is pleasant and sends me on my way with whatever I usually need. The wait time can get pretty long in the back room after the nurse takes care of business like weight/​blood pressure, but I don’t think I’ve ever personally been wronged by those people.

I’m happy with my experiences at Avenue Family Practice. I have found Dr. Berzansky to be responsive and communicative. I especially appreciate the email access through RelayHealth. Dr. Berzansky is personable and friendly, and has helped me out in several ways recently with good advice, helpful referrals, appropriate testing, and the right medications. I also was able to get several same-​day or next-​day appointments this year when I needed them.

I have been very pleased with Dr. Berzansky and the Lafayette Avenue Practice location, although I have only been going to see Avenue Family Practice for 6 months now. I received immunizations for international travel from Suzanne Somers and she was very, very knowledgeable. I have never had to wait longer than 10 minutes to see Dr. B when I come for an appointment and the Lafayette office is clean and respectable. Dr. Berzansky seems knowledgeable on the topics we’ve discussed and listens well.
That being said, I just got referred to a specialist and am not getting very good follow up from Dr. Berzansky’s office. I have contacted the referred doctor and followed up and they are waiting on Avenue family practice to be able to schedule my appointment. We’ll see how this unfolds and the follow up I get. What is the point of a referral if you can’t go see that doctor anyway?

Dr. Berzansky is very rushed every time I see him which is why I am confused at how he manages to be running late, making patients wait so long every time as well. With a doctor so rushed to get out of the room you would expect an on time appointment.
The last time I saw him I decided to book the first appointment of the day and get out quick, however I still waited almost 40 minutes to be seen. After several appointments that didn’t leave me feeling better or more prepared to deal with my illness I continued going back because the location is so convenient for me.
Also didn’t appreciate office staff gossiping and talking about other staff members at the front desk while I waited for my appointment.
If you have another option then I would recommend you taking it but if not then Dr. B is a good option if you know exactly what you want. As someone else mentioned, if you want advice or to talk about your condition this isn’t the best place to go.

I have had excellent experiences with Dr. Berzansky. He is a very professional and receptive doctor who tells it to you straight, gives you accurate advice, and will go above and beyond to get you additional care you may require. I had to have an x-​ray once, and he was able to squeeze me back in the same day to go over the results. He is committed to excellent patient care, and as a medical professional myself, he has my enthusiastic endorsement.
In regards to the other professionals at this office, I cannot comment. I have only dealt with Dr. Berzansky.

I’ve routinely had good experiences with both Dr. Sommer and Dr. Brezansky, and have seen them for the past 10 years. The staff has always been helpful. They used to have a chatty receptionist but I have not seen her there in some time.
I’ve also seen Dr. Littlejohn, and I have been very satisfied with Dr. Brezansky.
I’m marking them a point because the office needs updating and painting.

So. I don’t know about the other people on here but they obviously had a stick up their ass or something when they visited. I have been coming here for about 4 years now, the location is convenient and the Doctors and staff are very good. Dr. Littlejohn is no longer there but Dr. B is great replacement and is very knowledgeable about sports injuries.
The Office Staff knows who I am and always provides a smile and a good morning or afternoon when I walk in the door. If I need anything sent to me, or an appointment made at another location they are always happy to provide that service for me. I actually look forward to talking to them when I go in.
I do agree that the furniture does need some updating tho, it is very little house on the prairie type stuff.

Wow, I read the older reviews only after I’d made my visit and I must say, my experience was very good. I got seen after 10 minute wait (not bad for me coming from Kaiser). The staff was very helpful and the doctor was very cool and wrote me scripts for medicine I’d been receiving under Kaiser. They also had no problem referring me to the specialists I need. Maybe it would have been different if I’d been really ill, but I came out of it pretty satisfied. Time will tell though.

Not happy with the office staff. Unprofessional, passes off their responsiblities to pharmacy. It took many calls to fix a problem with a prescription. They required payment for services at time of appt which is fine. So why is there a past due balance? No statements ever sent. Stating that future services from their offices will be denied if not paid in 15 days, but not returning my calls to clear up the matter.

This place is fine if you know what you need: vaccinations for travel, pills for a long plane ride, etc. I will now only view them as a dispensary of prescriptions. But if you go in there and need actual Dr. advice or need someone to spend an iota of time trying to figure out what ails you, forget about it. Dr. Berzansky is a joke. Had I taken the medications he prescribed (after he spent about 3 minutes with me) I would be so much worse-​off.
And this makes me very sad because finding a good Dr. and changing Dr. s is such a hassle. This place has been my «primary care» provider for awhile and that was fine until I actually needed a Dr. not just a travel med clinic. I’m not trusting my health with them any longer.

I visited this office for the first time today (at the recommendation of a friend who’s a patient here) for a full physical. The receptionist and nurse were friendly and helpful. I didn’t have to wait at all (opened a magazine and before I could read one word, got called in to see the doctor). I saw Dr. Littlejohn, who practices with Dr. Sommer. What a nice guy! He listened to me, spent around 45 minutes with me (don’t tell my insurance company!), was kind and encouraging, worried about categorizing needed lab tests in a way that they’d be sure to be covered by insurance (I’ve had doctors send me for tests and ended up paying huge bills for test that weren’t covered), and good at explaining. Note that I am extremely fussy about doctors, but I think I’ve found one I can work with, and who actually seems to care.