Kenneth A Woeber, MD Frcpe

First the good:
He will spend a lot of time with you. As a new fan of electronic medical records has a long checklist, that he enters into the computer. It is thorough, and he never felt rushed. His staff is wonderful, and the OLD building actually has natural light.
I liked him as a person, and know his personality is suited for extreme or difficult cases. If you are 300 lbs, can’t get out of bed, brain fog and blood sugar swings, and have many OBVIOUS signs of extreme hypothyroidism, you will probably get help from him.
For me he was quick to «prove» a previous MD’s diagnosis of Adrenal Fatigue was wrong. (But it was +12 months prior, and I had been working hard at getting to bed, eating lots of red meat, and all the other Adrenal helpers.) He spent 45 minutes with me, although the progress was slowed by his need to enter data into the system. I’d guess it was a «productive» 25 minutes. (And he was unable or unwilling to scan the docs I brought into the system.)
If you are an «A» type personality, reaching the age of 40, or a little beyond, and you can’t get out of bed, can’t focus, or become mentally exhausted after work that you normally loved, read the links listed below.
{Caveat: Don’t suggest herbs or other low cost solutions, he prefers old school methods, but be forewarned you should research the initial reasons those drugs were developed and what the long-​term negatives are for being on meds for +10 years. I did my research, after experiencing nausea taking Synthroid, and found desicated thyroid is a CHEAPER, better option. After 2 months on it, I’m about 95% me. Woop, woop!
More info:
)
Now the bad:
I fell within the 30% of the population that is NOT within 1 St Dev from the mean/​average. While my blood work did show some distortion (elevated cholesterol, low Thyroid hormones, no DHEA, etc.), but it wasn’t BAD ENOUGH for him to be interested that I’d gained 40 lbs in a year, couldn’t focus, and had nearly every symptom in the Hypothyroid checklist.
{For those who really want to learn why the standard tests don’t work, read this:
Yes, I brought in sheets of online tests, just so I wouldn’t forget anything. Lord knows my memory was shot, thanks to low thyroid hormones. And, I even brought in my DNA genome which included all the Vit B related defects contributing to hormonal disregulation. (And I mentioned I was a vegetarian for 30 years, which should have been a big warning to him that I likely faced long term nutritional imbalances. But I digress.) When presented with these documents, he scoffed and stated «We have an electronic system. I can’t use those.» So, that means the additional information, which is leading edge, isn’t good enough for your system?
He recommended that I come back in 6 months for more tests. Ummm… so you want to monitor my decline? Sorry, I do want to live like a zombie until you decide I’m «bad enough» for treatment. I’m «bad enough» now.
So, for those who KNOW there is something wrong, and your MDs are ignoring you, I recommend that you go to ONE MEDICAL and get to work with a naturopath + MD combo. This will give you the insurance coverage for the detailed tests, and a softer approach to fixing your body’s hormones. I’ve spent $ 500 of my own money on appointments and supplements, but couldn’t be happier.
Finally, I have a doctor who listened to me. She believed me, when I said something is seriously wrong. I will admit that it took two months of seriously ramping up the thyroid med (I doubled the dosage every week for the first month, then held steady as my brain and body were starting to benefit.)
YOU NEED TO TAKE OWNERSHIP OF YOUR HEALTH.
FAT WITH BRAIN FOG? Try Dr Ohhira’s professional probiotics. These were the KEY to clearing my brain fog. (5 in the morning 1 hour before breakfast, and 5 before bed for a week, then take 2 before bed every night for a month, then just one.)
HAVE YOU HAD FERTILITY ISSUES? Fertility issues run on the female side of your family? AD, MS, ALS, PD, or any neurological issues in your family? Get your DNA tested. It is only $ 99 @23andme and you can dig into your genes to discover how to support your thyroid with better nutrition and specific supplements that work for your PERSONAL genes. Here is a great diagram of how your genes fit together.
Genetic Genie and Nutrahacker sites can help you see how to help yourself (and your children/​family).
So why three stars? I think he would be a good MD for «someone near average» in their Hashimoto’s disease.
An update on my health: After slight improvements, thanks to an MD practicing Functional Medicine, I felt there was still something wrong. She ordered a «micronutrient test» which clearly showed extremely low intracellular VIT B12 (2 StDev below), despite eating liver weekly. More to learn…

I’ve been seeing Dr. Woeber for a while and he’s just great. I like the fine wine analogy another person used. He’s knowledgeable, kind and just an all around great doctor. I’ve even carted my toddler with me to the office a few times and it didn’t take him back one bit.

dr woeber is like a fine wine, an old school doc that knows today’s modern medicine as he’ll take care of ya and make ya laugh as well.
had surgery at mgh in boston back in ’07 as the folks there recommended me to him. depending on my health carrier which has bounced between kaiser /​ucsf he’s been an absolute delight when i’m able to visit him
catch him while he’s still practicing as he’ll shoot ya straight

I have only seen Dr. Woeber once, but had a great experience and echo the sentiments of other Unilocalers who gave him 5 stars. The commute from the East Bay is a pain in the rear, but definitely worth it.

I went to see Dr. Woeber after my thyroid condition and general health were made much worse by Dr. Nathan Becker. (I heard from the highly respected endocrinology researcher who recommended Dr. Woeber that I am not the first person he has had to send to Dr. Woeber after a bad experience with Dr. Becker.) He is very experienced and got me better.

There is one atrocious review here for Dr. Woeber and there is something definitely wrong with that picture. I’ve been seeing Dr. Woeber since 2007 and as far as I am concerned he is one of the best physicians at Mt.Zion. I find him extremely knowlegeable and while you probably won’t call him «warm and squishy» as one of the reviewers put it, he clearly cares for his patients a lot. He demonstrated it to me as he called me a number of times on Saturdays and Sundays if my test results called for a medication adjustment. He does not waste time during the appointments and thanks to that his appointments are always right on time which cannot be said about many other doctors but he clearly spends enough time to learn about his patient and to come up with the best solution for them. As for his assistant: Jennifer is extremely efficient, personable, nice and polite and has always gone out of her way to acomodate all my requests.

I’ve had only positive experiences with Dr. Woeber. He is a very nice guy and very down to earth. He is not a coddler, so if you think something is wrong and it’s not, he will tell you and not try to pacify you by pretending you’re right. Jennifer is also very pleasant. I would definitely recommend him to anyone that needs an endocrinologist. I cannot imagine that there is anyone better out there.

We went to see Dr Woeber due to my mother’s issues with thyroid. We got an appointment within 2 weeks from submission of her results, we didn’t wait even for 5 min upon arrival. Dr Woeber is very straight forward, very knowledgeable and you get a wonderful feeling that you were seen by the DOCTOR. He is also a very nice and pleasant person.

Dr. Woeber is not warm and squishy. He is tough, straight-​forward, and not a hand-​holder. That being said, he is an excellent physician. He sees his clients on-​time, gets right to the point, and spends as much time with you as is necessary. Sometimes I wish he would be a little more empathetic, instead of throwing a tissue at me when I cry, but I would gladly trade that for a great physician who has helped with my thyroid issues.

I really like Dr. Woeber! Like everyone else said, he takes the time to understand what is going on with you and explain in detail anything you need to know. He is very thorough. I feel like he really cares. He even walked me down to another department to get a sample of my lump right after my first doctor’s appointment and made sure the doc did it right then and there. He is funny guy and I was told from the doc that took the sample that Dr. Woeber is the «house» (like the tv show) of his day. That made me feel really good, i feel like i am in really good hands with him. I would recommend him to anyone that needs an endocrinologist.

I have been seeing Dr. Woeber for about 3 years now, and he is excellent. Although he is very much a «traditional» practitioner, he is also willing to consider slightly more alternative treatment, so long as he doesn’t feel it will be harmful. I have thyroid disease and he was the first person to ever test me for Hashimoto’s though I have had symptoms as long as I can remember! He accurately diagnosed me which none of my GP’s were ever able to do, which I am very grateful for since I feel 1000% better now that the disease is being treated.
I have *never* waited so long as a minute when I am there to see him, which is pretty unbelievable. He is kind and funny and takes a lot of time for my check-​ups each time I see him.
It did take quite a while and some persistence to get in to see him originally, but well worth it. That’s just the unfortunate reality of trying to see a specialist in our messed up health care system.

We waited over a year to see this man. Me and my fiancée went through unbelievable battles to see somebody at UCSF. I was diagnosed before and have advanced symptoms of severe hypothyroidism and clear resistance to thyroid hormone. I won’t get into details, but I have been repeatedly tested for resistance and my tests clearly show that I have serious tissue resistance, plus I have myxedema and cannot walk, breathe, or function properly in any way. One look at me is enough to see how drastically changes my face, hands and feet DAILY, how I have lost most of my hair and have only three real teeth left (I cannot chew due to teeth loss, and the ones that are left are all fake. I cannot walk past one block, and electrolyte deficiencies cause me constant pain, periodic seizures, inability to think or move, and constant severe reactive hypoglycemia (I cannot eat carbohydrates, sugar, fruit, juice, bread… practically cannot eat anything). I walk with a cane and I am only 32. The man is a monster-​he ignored 2 years of daily 45-​pound of severe swelling that I live through, ignored my medical history and radiation poisoning that we repeatedly told him about, ignored the way I look, and in fact laughed when he saw the cane, I should «try to walk on my own». My fiancée basically carried me to his office.
The man refused to see me on the regular basis (three appointments three months apart), REFUSED to test me for thyroid hormone resistance, became ANGRY when we showed him test results from another doctor, and threw them at us, refused to refer me to somebody else, refused to send me to the dermatologist (I have progressive face changes– severe untreatable lymphatic swelling due to hypothyroidism), refused to even investigate my illness while admitting that «something is really wrong”-refused to in fact even try to find out what IS WRONG. We were begging him to refer me to the research program that helps people with thyroid resistance-​the man with a chuckle said that we «should do it ourselves» if we really need help. He said that he never came across «peripheral resistance» (meaning he never read any research) and that it’s too rare and that’s why I can’t have it. He was puzzled by my symptoms but couldn’t even diagnose me besides getting angry at us. We are almost starving due to my illness, and we can never save enough money to do the testing he was supposed to do, or afford to put me into a research program. He was the anchor we were hoping to use to find me help. I am on Medi-​Cal, and this a-​hole with a chuckle took our only hope away and just got pissed when my fiancée told him that we have to manage my illness at home without any medical help-​he has to put IV in me, has to buy medication online because I don’t have a normal doctor and I have to self-​treat so I don’t die. He is so old he cannot hear anything we were saying, and his «assistant» should be reported –she threatened to call security on me when the man made me cry. Back to slowly dying at home, I guess. I am not the only patient like this –he keeps another woman severely hypothyroid «because she had a total thyroidectomy due to thyroid cancer, and now «doctor» Woeber is afraid to cause her thyroid to develop cancer again».(Note: she doesn’t have a thyroid to have cancer IN! …and keeping her hypothyroid will cause cancer!!)
I hope this dangerous and clueless man finally retires-​he is should not be a doctor. I have no medical care due to him, and we have no hope anymore.
Oh, yeah-​Jennifer the Assistant tends to lie, she tends to say there is no openings to make an appointment available and you have to go in PERSON and make her look in her system and assign you time and date. God forbid you dare to cry when the man insults you, sitting there wiuth advanced myxedema in a chair with your cane-​she will scream how her bouncers will throw me out if I am not happy that her doctor will only see me in three months. We are not coming back. I will rather disintegrate at home and not get hurt by these people anymore.

I’ve seen Dr. Woeber for two years now for thyroid cancer. He is the best doctor I have ever seen. He always takes his time with me and keeps me informed about the treatment progress. When I came to his office to apologize about a missed appointment and reschedule, he took me in right away as he was finishing his breakfast and discussed my treatment. His genuine sincerity is evidenced when he remembers details about my personal history I casually mention in earlier appointments and which are not in my chart. He could have retired long ago and spent his days golfing like many other doctors but he chooses to come in to UCSF and I doubt this is for the money.
I believe he is selective with patients, however, so this review might not do you any good if you are trying to select an endocrinologist unless you have a serious thyroid condition and he feels his specialized expertise would benefit you.

I highly recommend Dr. Woeber. I feel so lucky to be able to see such an experienced and knowledgeable endocrinologist. Whatever your thyroid-​related woe, he’s the person to see in the Bay Area.

Dr. Woeber is the best endocrinologist! I completely agree with one of the reviews here — Dr. Woeber never makes you feel rushed and gives a thorough exam. He also has a great sense of humor. His assistant, Jen, is very nice. She always returns my phone calls promptly.

Have you ever had a doctors appointment where you didn’t haveto wait long at all for the doctor? Or where they sat down with you and spent 45 mins to an hour giving you a thorough exam, discussing any issues, and not making you feel rushed at all? That’s an appointment with Dr. Woeber.
Highly experienced and the Head of his department, Dr. Woeber is an extremely knowledgable endocrinologist. He always spends a lot of time with me during my appointment and answers all of my questions. He’s very honest with me in his answers, and looks out for my overall health — even things my primary physician should be checking on.
He is very confident in the capabilities of the UCSF system, and only wants you to get the best care possible. I relocated to SF and am so glad he’s now my endocrinologist… I couldn’t ask for any better!

A pathologist @UCSF/MT. Zion who had to give me some unfortunate news recommended Dr. Woeber. I’ve been a patient of Dr. Woeber since March 2008, very pleased with his expertise and feel confident in his care. He’s been at UCSF, let’s say FOREVER, and I hope he doesn’t retire soon. Jennifer, his assistant at the desk, is very friendly person to deal with.