Benjamin Z Fong, MD

I was a new patient here this week. I saw Edna the nurse practitioner. I only have great things to say about my experience in their office (suite 500). I had a laundry list of things that needed adressed, and she showed me significant patience and time.
Libby and the other ladies in the office were so sweet and helpful as well, I would highly recommend them!

Dr. Fong has been my doctor since I moved to the city 8 years ago. I just called the office to make an appointment and found out that he has retired! Rats :(

I love Dr. Fong. I’ve been to a lot of doctors, and his office is always on time. There is no fuss. I always get in, get what I need, and get on my way. I love his PA too. The specialists he has referred me to have always been super knowledgable as well.

Now there are doctors and then the are Doctors. There are the men and women who wear the white smock and stethoscope and make you feel like your lucky to be served or the others who graduated from medical school but have about as much medical knowledge as any reasonably seasoned world worn 40 year old person that been paying attention.
Enter, Benjamin Fong M.D. TA DA!!! Dr. Fong has been my GP for over twenty-​five years. He is a consummate professional who laughs easily but is dead serious about your health and medical condition. He is a soft spoken and affable spirit. He knows you by your first name, and gets down to business. He makes you feel so at home you almost forget that your in a perfectly kept sterile examination room.
Benjamin Fong knows you and now Ben Fong MD is going to retire. He deserves some time to rest after all the tireless hours he puts in every day to keep his patients happy and healthy.
Ben Fong. .. for us who’ve put our trust in you over the years, the medical world will a bleak and lonely place. But there’s not one of us who can express anything but happiness over your finally taking the time to look after yourself.
I miss you already. You are irreplaceable.
Your Patient and Friend,
John

Unfortunately the absolute worst «doctor» I have ever had the misfortune of seeing and staying with for years. His idea of treating me is and I quote «wish it away». After years of going in circles of trying treatment I finally left. I paid $ 200.00 for my records, (which he scribbles on a steno note pad) and was given nothing. Not one real document from his office. After years of heartache and tears I left this office. I was never given a correct diagnosis. Luckily I found a competent Doctor elsewhere and I have been diagnosed, with over a few dozen things 3 of which are life threatening. He admitted to me he was tired and wanted to quit, but couldn’t. If you value your health go elsewhere.

Just moved to the SF area, and after reading the reviews I decided to give Dr. Fong a visit…
I can definitely say nothing but good things.
The staff got me a appointment very quickly and even though I was a little late trying to find the office, they accommodated me as quickly as they can.
When I saw Dr Fong, he was very helpful and his bedside manner was excellent I told him my symptoms and my self-​diag and he was ok with that and was able to even recommend two options for me based on how I wanted to proceed. That’s a good doctor there… My previous MD would direct you like he is god and that’s not the way this should work… Your MD is there to help you get better, and part of that process is not just pills.
Great Doc, hope to have you as my MD for many more years to come!

Dr. Fong has been my doctor for over five years. He’s the best.

Just updating my review. I am astonished to see even one negative review of Dr. Fong and his practice. I trust him implicitly and so appreciate the fact that he always takes the time I need without ever making me feel rushed. Just the way a family doctor ought to be.
The only times I’ve ever had to wait for an appointment are when I’ve arrived late myself. That’s all my responsibility… they need to keep patients moving through on schedule and can’t allow my tardiness to hold anyone else up. Completely reasonable.
10 stars if I could give them!
I can’t say enough about Dr. Fong, Edna Yee, Lily… the whole gang at Telegraph HIll Medical. My daughter and I have been patients of Dr. Fong since 1991. He has been there for both of us through all the things families go through… deaths in the family, teenage years, more deaths in the family, acne, asthma attacks… you name it. Always, he has been there as a caring counselor. I’ve never felt that he prescribed medications unnecessarily. I really love the fact that he considers lifestyle, dietary, emotional landscape changes first. I also appreciate the fact that, when he is concerned about something, he doesn’t hesitate to order tests… to rule out any reason for concern. I couldn’t be happier with my good fortune to be recommended to him 17 years ago!

Dr. Fong is great if you just have a little something or need a lab test done.
But as soon as you think you may have something serious, you better check with some other Doctor.
I was loosing about 20 pounds over a year and was seeing him a couple of times for this. He repeatedly said that I am stressed out and that would be the reason for my weight loss.
After relucantly sending me to the specialist («I know he will find nothing, you are just stressed out.») I am now diagnosed with a seriously inflamed bowels.
This is not acceptable, the patient goes first.

I recently became a patient of Dr. Fong via a referral from a family member. Although I have only seen him twice I am extremely pleased with his straightforward and practical approach to health care. He hesitates to prescribe medication if it is something that can be treated via improving your lifestyle. That is respectable in an age when taking medication unnecessarily can create lifelong drug dependencies and cost a lot of money.
Last, but not least, the administrative assistants and nurses at the clinic are very courteous and helpful.

Dr. Fong is the man. Great, attentive care and I really appreciate that he takes the time to know his patients.

dr. fong and his physician’s assistant are both excellent. the receptionist could be warmer over the phone, but i still give this practice five stars for always fitting me in at the last minute.

The first time I saw him was for my physical and I walked out of there with about four referrals (it was my first physical in seven years). He is all about getting you well.
Like other people have said, though, he is not about unnecessary procedures/​drugs, and will sometimes recommend you do things like «drink more water» and such when you’re getting dizzy all the time, instead of said drugs — hey, it worked for me. For that problem, his assistant couldn’t tell what the deal was and was going to prescribe me something, then he came in and told me to sit down. He then held my pulse and asked that I stand up. When I did, he found that my heart had to beat too fast to adjust to this. I don’t remember what he called it or why it was because of dehydration, but drinking more did the trick, and I haven’t been with any other doctors who could/​would deduce it the way he did.
The most telling thing about him was when I talked to him about an old eye injury I had. I took a hockey stick to my eye and, while at Kaiser, the doc there told me (like four times during ten minutes) that «we just need to let nature do the work, take its course.» Dr. Fong made a sour face when I told him this and said «If we leave it all up to nature we’re just going to age and die. If you think you’ve got something wrong with you then: get an answer, see a doctor.»
He is a very kind man and listens. He does what you ask (i.e., tests or referrals, if you show it’s important to you) and I have not had a single problem with him.

I’m not a doctor-​hound but when I need one, Dr. Fong is there for me. I’ve called on him about a half-​dozen times over the past 8 years and he never failed to see me that very day. He’s attentive and really seems to care about your general health and needs. Easy to get to from downtown via Muni’s 3-​Jackson.

Dr. Fong is great. .. very thorough, easy to talk with, and open about his diagnosis. Highly recommend. Really nice fella and a very good dr.

Dr. Fong was my primary care doctor for a couple of years when he was still at the Telegraph Hill Family Medical Clinic. I always found him nice and sympathetic, but not necessarily accurate in his diagnoses. For instance, I went in once with what was clearly an acne attack. I’d had them before and knew what prescriptions I needed to bring it under control. Dr. Fong told me I did not need medicine, I needed to stop eating so much citrus and milk and stop stressing out and it would clear up. Believe me when I say that citrus was not the problem. So I asked for a referral for to a dermatologist. He resisted strenuously. I think the HMO I belonged to at the time incentivized him to resist referrals. I had to stage an exam room sit-​in to get one. Of course the dermatologist gave me exactly the same meds I had used before to good effect. Another time I came in with a mysterious rash. I was told not to launder my clothes so often, or with such harsh soap. I doubted that was the cause but accepted his diagnosis. I ended up in a hospital in New York on the day of my best friend’s wedding with the worse case of scabies the doctor there had ever seen. Turns out the cream Dr. Fong gave me to control the itching actually made the infestation worse.
I am no longer a patient of Dr. Fong.

I’ve been a patient of Dr. Fong’s since 1999, and I’ve been so impressed with him and his office staff that I’ve recommended him to my friends (five of them now have Dr. Fong as their primary care physician), and I now take my daughter to him. (I bypassed the pediatrician route in favor of having the entire family see the same doctor.) I found him by chance, through a list provided by my insurance company. I was new to the city and only two months into a new job, and hadn’t had much luck with the dentist that my insurance company had recommended. Come to think of it, finding Dr. Fong was only good thing about that insurance plan.

On my first visit, I had to wait 45 minutes before I could be seen because I arrived about 10 minutes late for my appointment. At that point, I had pretty much decided never to return again.
Once I actually got taken to a room though, my opinion completely changed — both Dr. Fong and the nurse I spoke to were attentive and thorough. It’s the first time I’ve been to a doctor where I didn’t feel like I was getting rushed through the pipeline. I’m so used to filtering out all but the most important details before seeing a doctor so that I can make the most of the limited time that it was such a pleasant surprise to talk to someone who seemed like they really cared about how I was feeling and was willing to order other tests to be thorough. I highly recommend his office!