David J MacGregor, MD

I’ve spent my career in healthcare (not as a provider) and have very high standards. Dr. MacGregor exceeded them. His office staff was pleasant, he was warm, reassuring, competent, personally called me with test results and seemed to have little of the ego endemic to physicians. Couldn’t have asked for a better experience and recommend his practice without reservations.

Dr. MacGregor is a fantastic dermatologist. I’m a fair skinned lady, and since skin cancer is prevalent in my family, I take moles and freckles pretty seriously.
Not only is he thorough with preventative skin cancer care, I reckon he’s a brilliant doctor all around. Earlier this year I had a pretty terrible viral health issue. I’d seen a couple doctors who misdiagnosed me. Only Dr. MacGregor was astute enough to work out what was wrong and got my treatment sorted out.
Scheduling an urgent appointment as a new patient was surprisingly easy, not sure if that’s usual. I was squeezed in early, around 8am. The whole office is technologically integrated, making bill paying and scheduling easy.
The office is clean and efficient. I have only wonderful things to say about the front desk staff. They’re so kind and genuinely considerate.
I’m super thankful to have been a patient here. Hope to find a dermatology office remotely as great when I move to the east coast.

Great experience at this dermatology office and very convenient location. I saw Lesley Bowler for my first skin check and she was very thorough and diagnosed my condition, which gave me so much relief!

I cannot recommend Lesley Bowler enough. She is part of David MacGregor’s practice. Lesley is very professional and was quickly able to accurately diagnose my issue and gave a very detailed explanation of the cause and her recommended treatment. She was patient in her explanation and spent time answering all of my questions. I often feel rushed when I go to the Dr. but Lesley took her time to really understand my issues. I felt very comfortable seeing her and will return to Dr. MacGregor’s practice if I can see her. He is lucky to have her on staff.

You will be in good – no, amazing – hands. See Lesley Bowler, PA-​C. She is TOP notch.
As someone with crazy-​sensitive, dry, acne-​prone skin, I’ve experienced my share of skin afflictions. Oh, and I’m aging way too fast. I’ve seen Lesley for years and she’s a divine skin-​whisperer. She listens carefully, asks all the right the questions, and meticulously examines — all without making you feel like you’re under the microscope. Even if, yes, you quite literally are. Seriously, show her what you’ve got: No judgment here.
This 5±year patient is here to tell you that Lesley knows what she’s doing and she cares deeply about her patients. Come on people: your skin deserves a visit to this office!

So far a 1 star experience, but then again, I haven’t gotten very far. I called as a new patient and was led to a voicemail tree which advised appointment-​seekers to schedule online.
Ok, no problem, I’ve heard this internet thing is supposed to make things easier for everyone. Hoping for a site that might actually schedule appointments, I was instead led into the darkest corner of healthcare technology: an Athena Healthcare website which forces you through endless hoops to register your vital details, sign up for text messages, and create passwords before even discovering whether you can get an appointment with the doctor you want or whether the doctor even takes the insurance you have.
Fine, click, click, click… and finally, I’m into the appointment scheduling part, which it turns is not an appointment scheduler. It just generates a stupid email to the doctor where you ask for an appointment. I’m still waiting for a response.
Hey, I get that this is your twisted idea of HIPAA compliance, but it’s not really. You could easily just answer the phone to take appointments, and that would be HIPAA compliant too. You could even get a real online scheduler, and that too could even be HIPAA compliant. In the meantime, you’re just making life difficult for patients and simultaneously wondering why they always complain about customer service in the healthcare industry. Well, your dumb website is why.

Christina Hampton, PA-​C is AWESOME. I was suffering from an acute case of Poison Oak, and she just made everything better quickly. Getting instant care is important when you have poison oak.
it was easy to make an appointment and there was very little waiting time.
I was desperate to find a good dermatologist after the doctor I loved passed away. So far so good after two visits to 450Derm. If I have other issues, I am confident they will take good care of me.

Lesley Bowler PA-​C is fantastic. She’s professional, courteous, and most important of all, spot on with her diagnosis and treatment. She listened to my issues and especially to my goals for my skincare needs. The laser treatment I received was amazing– good bye dark sun spots made worse by pregnancy! She also got rid of my son’s plantar wart painlessly, with only one treatment. I highly recommend Lesley Bowler! You can’t go wrong going to her with all of your skin care needs!

Doctor was fine, but the office staff is horrible. I have been trying to get a billing statement to send to flex spending with an explanation of benefits for 3 months now! You cannot get anyone on the phone, I had to call the line dedicated for calls from other doctors in order to speak to someone. Then they emailed me my payment history, not the explanation of benefits. WTF, how hard can this be? How much time do I have to waste with these people? Save yourself the time and find another office to go to, there are plenty of them, including in their building.

Was recommended to me by another doctor for a routine exam. It quite difficult to schedule an appointment but eventually managed to make one. The exam was simple. The reason I am giving it only 1 star it is because it is extremely difficult to get a hold of anyone in that office, esp when it comes to scheduling and billing. My visit there was in May and now, end of Oct – 5 full months later, I have still not managed to resolve the billing problem (related to Flex spending). Overall bad experience because of the front office. So if you are looking for a routine visit, I would recommend to look elsewhere.

[As my previous review was removed due to unknown reasons, I’m updating it once again.]
I do want to share my experience. I was seen by P.A.C Leslie Bowler and I do insist that she is unprofessional. She didn’t pay much attention to the problem I had and didn’t make any tests. Thus, I don’t think that 140 $ for 5 min exam is reasonable, considering the fact that she made wrong diagnosis.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A FEW YEARS MAKE! Or a day. After calling every high rated derm in Unilocal and being told, «we do not treat that condition,» (because we do not know how and do not make bucks on it), I went back to see Dr. Macgregor.
Maybe the Doc was having a bad day last time. This time he was nice, sensitive, listened, seemed to care, and quite charming. He told me that if I wrote a bad review of his shirt, it would really hurt him. He likes that shirt. His wife gave it to him. How sweet. He says his wife is a lawyer, so he probably does not mind women with opinions.
Well, first of all, don’t blab about terrible things you wrote in Unilocal if you are at that same person’s office again. Doc was sharp enough to recognize me from the review. He said, «You are the one who wrote that I was a jerk, etc…» I said, «But I did say you were SMART!»
So he says, «why should I treat you after you wrote that terrible review about me?» And, looking back at it, it was much too extreme. I have removed some words that I think were verging on slanderous – Apologies, Dr Macgregor, that was out of line to use the N word.
I am thinking and saying, «shit, busted! now he will not help me and I am bald for certain.» I said, «you should treat me because you took an oath. I took an oath and you should see some of the skeevy people I have to deal with.» (please oh please have a sense of duty)
AND, he did. I think that shows ethics and a doctor who takes his oath seriously. Also, a person big enough not to hold past harm against a person. And that is why he gets the fifth star from me.
Not only that, he asked me, «what do you want?» I said, «I WANT THE PILL» I had read online about people getting treated for mange with a pill. They were happy.
He said «O.K. You will get reinfested, so… etc.» (time to go wash everything, put it in the freezer, kill the dog – just kidding. Poor guy, first dog to get mange from his owner!
Dr.Macgregor and I discussed my issues from the last visit, and he agreed reluctantly that I was right about the Cortisone side effects and agreed to disagree about the sun damage on my face. We agreed I do have bad sun damage on face neck and arms and he scolded me about sunscreen. He checked me for skin cancer, injected a bit of beauty-​ox, because as one silly woman said, «frowning just is not me.» (then why do you need to get botox ?)
I got my frown lines from crying and frowning. They are also crying lines. ALso, SINGING can make me pull those muscles together as I emote. You know another great home remedy for the frown line? FROWNIES, paper stickies that flatten it at night.
So, all’s well that ends well. Although the botox is not working. yet. I forgot to tell him to put it all in the sad line.
PS. the front desk was great, friendly, funny, nice. No problems there.
OLD ONE STAR REVIEW:
Dr. MacGregor is arrogant. He does not like women with opinions. He is smart. He knows and shows it. He dislikes other people who know they are smart and show it. He ignores their medical conditions when feeling threatened.
He ruined my life. OK, my appearance. I am almost bald now and have almost lost the use of one tear duct which is clogged with poop from mites on my eyelashes. Dr MacGregor could have prevented this with a pill.
I told him I thought I had the demodex mite (mange, which 100% of people have by age 70), which was making me lose my hair, and moving on into my eyes, on my face, and entire body. He said, ‘so what, everybody has it.’ (UPDATE: now I have become allergic to the mites, so one dead mite and I am itching like crazy.)
I told him I have a bad immune system meaning I cannot handle the mites like normal people. It is like dogs. They all have it, but only some go bald and need treatment. I am one.
BALDNESS IS NOT an OPTION for a FEMALE. I had such THICK hair. Now I want to tattoo my scalp light brown so I do not look so bald on the part. I am combing over, YUCK.
I also showed him giant blood blisters on my arms.
He said «that is sun damage.»
I said, «But they are blood blisters. One spurted blood three feet when it popped.» Same WRONG diagnosis.
Same for the bumpy marks on my face. Which he did not even come close enough to see Which come off if I rub them with oil. Hmmmm. Wrong again!
The «sun damage» on arms disappeared leaving big scars. Side effect of cortisone cream, right in WebMD, which is not even the most informative of medical sites. Why did the doctor fail to look at my paperwork? I wrote the cream down.
Smartass. I was crying about the acne in every pore from bug shit and he said «it will just sluff off. It didn’t but I killed it with SULFUR CREAM. Good home remedy.
Dont bother going – it is ALL SUN DAMAGE. ha ha. but benign. he cans tell at a glance from 10 feet away. suuuuuure.
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I never had major skin problems, so I don’t have a basis for a fifth star. I never had any issues with the front office staff. They deal with a lot of patients, so they don’t have time to chat with you, but I found them friendly, efficient and accurate. I had no more difficulty making appointments by phone here than at any similarly busy place.
I liked Dr Macgregor. I never found him to be curt or impatient — in fact, quite the opposite. I found him to be a good listener who was genuinely interested in making sure I received appropriate care and had my questions answered. I actually appreciated the fact he was business like, because my appointments were usually on-​time or close to it. One time something came up and I did have to wait about half an hour, but he apologized for that.
And I really appreciated the fact that he only had me come in once a year, unlike some prior derms who had me come in every 3 weeks or so and prescribed tons of expensive, non-​generic topicals. I miss Dr MacGregor now that I have returned east, and highly recommend him and his practice.

I went back for a follow up Thursday, because one area of the scar seems a little sensitive still. Christina Tucker is really good, and I would like my review to focus more on her than the administrative process. Overall, she gave me a cortisone injection and put my mind at ease.

Wonderful Dermatologist! All the office staff is very professional and attentive. I have gone in for a few routine visits and they are always prompt and take the time to treat all my needs.
Recently I was experiencing a somewhat last-​minute emergency skin irritation. After emailing the office at night, I was able to get in first thing in the morning, got on antibiotics, which were necessary and I was all set.
I highly recommend Dr. MacGregor and everyone in the office. Needless to say I will be returning!

I’ve seen my share of dermatologists over the years back in my home state and needed to have a suspicious freckle reviewed as well as a head-​to-​toe skin cancer checkup (family history alas). Dr. MacGregor was recommended by my primary MD at One Medical. The entire process, from appointment setting and new patient paperwork to the check-​out is extremely efficient… despite negative comments from some other Unilocalers, I had zero difficulty establishing my initial consultation. Who knows, maybe Dr. MacGregor secretly wishes to weed out the technology illiterate? :) I was seen RIGHT on time. He was thorough and took time to answer some other questions I had… yes, he is a bit matter-​of-​fact, which I appreciate. He’s not a psychologist — he’s a dermatologist. Oh, and for folks like me who normally cringe at the thought of parking anywhere near downtown, I found there were several spots further up Sutter only a block or so away. All in all, a great experience.

Dr. MacGregor has in many ways, changed my life for the better. Just a week after my first visit with Dr. MacGregor and I could see a difference in my skin for the better. I have been going to his office for over a year now, and my skin has improved dramatically.
There were so many times in which my skin caused me a lot of anxiety and now I am proud to show it off!
Dr. MacgGregor is patient, knowledgeable, thorough and very professional. His office staff are very kind and have always made me feel welcome and comfortable during each office visit.
I would highly recommend that anyone who is looking for a dermatologist in the Bay Area, visit with Dr. MacGregor.

I saw Dr. MacGregor twice and he really is excellent. He was recommended to me by one of my husband’s colleagues and I agree he is wonderful.
I had an allergic reaction to the paternal DNA during my pregnancy that seemed to persist even after the baby was born. I sent Dr. MacGregor a message through their online portal explaining my condition, the treatment that i had received and asked if he thought he could help. He immediately had his administrative assistant help schedule me in the next day. He was on time, gave me a thorough exam and then really listened to me before proscribing a treatment plan. My skin was noticeably better within three days and after two weeks it was the first time that I felt normal in 6 months. I scheduled a follow exam, but couldn’t make it because I didn’t have anyone to watch my baby. They were able to squeeze me in between appointments for an earlier day. Overall I would highly recommend him to anyone.

For the record, I have not seen this doctor nor any other doctor in the practice. Why? Because they have constructed an impenetrable fortress of an appointment system, with no apparent means of contacting them to address problems making a booking.
I tried to make an appointment, which requires signing up for an account, which in turn requires receiving a temporary PIN and using that to generate a password, at which point presumably you can request an appointment.
But what happens if the PIN they provide you doesn’t work? They have no posted email address, and the message I left on their answering machine requesting help has gone unanswered for 8 days.
So really, I am left with no choice but to give the doctor an awful Unilocal review. I’m not sure I actually want to take my child to his practice, but I’m willing to believe that the service we’d receive would actually be decent if and when a human is around to administer it.
In the meantime, Dr. MacGregor, please hire a receptionist, return phone calls, do some tech support if you want a tech portal to your office. Even Comcast is more responsive than your office.

I saw Christina for a skin cancer exam and was very satisfied with her care and attentiveness. I feel like she was more thorough than the exams I have had elsewhere and she really listened to my concerns, which is sometimes hard to come by with medical professionals. She was also very prompt in contacting me to notify me of lab results. No complaints at all. Thanks, Christina!