Norma Jo Waxman, MD

Extremely condescending and pretentious. It seems as though it is her life mission to belittle, or what she would call educating, literally any individual that she perceives as beneath her. Completely unnecessary and unacceptable demeanor to have towards people in 2014, learn to treat others as competent thought forming individuals.

My encounter with her has definitely been the worst experience I’ve had with a doctor in my entire life! I came to see her because my primary doctor wasn’t available and I needed to know why I was getting chest pain. Of course I felt anxious when I came to see her because I didn’t know what was going on inside me.
Her demeanor was more less than professional. Instead of showing compassion and being understanding, she was quite arrogant… BOTTOM LINE: poor bedside manners (an understatement to say the least). Every time I talked, she added more insult to injury. She told me that I should take some anxiety pills because I was already showing signs of frustration… yes…but with her… OMG!
This doctor thinks she knows it all…
I was already frustrated to begin with since I waited patiently for 1 ½ hours long in the waiting room before I was seen. I was accompanied by my 11 year old son who was sick that day and wasn’t able to go to school. I had to drag him to my doctor’s appointment and the fact that Dr. Waxman was late didn’t improve my situation.
This doctor thinks she knows it all…
While my son and I were in the waiting room, I had given my son permission to play a game on my phone since we had been waiting too long and to distract him since he wasn’t feeling well. When we were finally seen, Dr. Waxman arrogantly told my son to put the phone away. WHAT NERVE… and how insensitive! She could easily have told my son to lower the volume on the phone if it was getting to be a distraction for her, but not to «put it away»! To add more insult, she also implied my son was overweight like me and that we should both lose weight. Well doctor… did you know my son has Asthma and taking steroids and that’s why his face is so chubby looking? My son is big boned and stocky like his uncle… it’s in his genes too. Also Dr. Waxman, did you know my son had just seen his pediatric doctor who congratulated him for losing weight… thanks for the encouragement Dr. Waxman! Besides… Dr. Waxman, who were you examining, me or my son?
This doctor definitely thinks she knows it all…
Giving Dr. Waxman the benefit of a doubt… perhaps she’s had a bad day… but I felt like I didn’t know who I saw… was it Dr. Jekyll or Mr. Hyde.

I don’t know what I would do without Dr. Waxman…
I have never had a doctor like her. I’ve been impressed since our very first visit where I was AMAZED when she actually SAT DOWN and TALKED to me… In the past doctors always breeze in, see you for a minute and pass you off to someone else. Dr. Waxman sat down and got my entire history, chatted with me, asked me about health concerns, my health goals, even asked me if I’d like to get rid of those nasty little skin tags that keep popping up on my body!
Every time I visit her she remembers who I am, even if it’s been a year since I’ve seen her. She looks you in the eye, and she really LISTENS. I feel if I have a concern she really wants to help. I feel she’ll do anything to help me stay healthy, or to get well!
When I first started going to her, I too was a little concerned about the wait times. But now that I’ve been seeing her for a few years, I see she is worth the wait (and the wait is not that long!!!). You know when she gets to you, you are going to be her entire focus and she will spend time with you. It’s not that she’s «overbooking». It’s because she spends TIME with her patients.
She has a terrific bedside manner! No kidding… I’d give her TEN stars for her bedside manner if I could! I was just in her office yesterday for somewhat of an emergency procedure that had me in tears. I watched her tirelessly run around the office, juggling prescriptions, sonograms, and other things I needed effortlessly, as well as caring for her other patients. I just sat with my book and felt safe & secure knowing that Dr. Waxman would take good care of me… and she did!
I recommend her highly if you want someone who you can confide in, who’s shoulder you can cry on or have a laugh with when you’re feeling good… someone who will treat you like a human being!

You can tell that Dr. Waxman really cares about her patients. I have been going to the practice she works at (Bay West Health Care) since I moved to SF about a year ago but had been seeing another practitioner. Just recently I needed to get in for a last minute appointment due to a confusion in scheduling that was MY fault. She gladly was able to fit me into her schedule and took the time to inform me with the appropriate information as well as connect with me in a nurturing manner.
I have read some other reviews about her time management being a problem. As far as I’m concerned, I don’t mind waiting a little longer knowing that I will be taken care of in a professional as well as very compassionate manner. Most doctors I have had over the years have not demonstrated the support and empathy that I got from her. She even gave me her personal cell number so I could reach her over the weekend if needed. She’s awesome!

Dr Waxman is an amazing physician. She explained everything in detail, took the time to understand my needs. I did not have to wait more than a few minutes on each visit. I would highly recommend.

Norma Jo Waxman is my primary physician and has been there for me since the very beginning. I first saw her at the start of 2011 and since then, I have seen her a number of times. Although I live in Montclair, I drive the extra 30 minutes to see her in SF. I feel very comfortable with Dr Waxman and can talk to her about anything. She is able to relate to her patients in such a way that makes them feel automatically comfortable, as though you’re talking to an old friend. I can approach her about anything at all and not feel like she is judging me. She is incredibly knowledgeable, genuine, and caring. She is a superb doctor and I would recommend her to anyone that is looking for a primary physician.

Dr. Norma Waxman is a fabulous doctor. She really takes the time to go through the concerns I want to address. I feel that she truly cares about me as a person and patient and would not hesitate to tell her anything that may be relevant. She is very knowledgeable and I trust her judgment. I am so glad to have found her.

Norma Jo Waxman takes the time to listen to my concerns and offers solid medical solutions to my issues. She actually seems to care about my health and well-​being.
That’s all great, but the incessant waiting time will be what sends me to another doctor. I’ve now seen Dr. Waxman three times, and for each she was more than 90 minutes late for my appointment. That’s unacceptable; my time is also valuable. Stop overbooking patients!

Dr. Waxman was inappropriate and unprofessional with me on so many levels in all of our 3 visits I will not see her again under any circumstances. This doctor may be a good researcher but in my experience with as her patient and 18 years as a health professional, she should not be a clinician. Dr. Waxman was never less then 30 minutes late for an appointment. When I mentioned it, she tried to blame the staff, other patients, me, traffic or make it seem like it was my problem that I didn’t understand her and her practice issues.
Dr. Waxman was flightly and unfocused in her exams. She could not seems to stay on one issue long enough to fully address it, much less address the health problem I made the appointment for. One visit was just for a vaccinations and that took more than an hour, including the ½ hour wait, because she couldn’t figure out what she needed to do or how to do it. My last exam, an annual, was never completed because she determined I didn’t need it. Despite that, the visit still took nearly two hours because even though I booked the first appointment of the day, she was still more than a ½ hour late. Then Dr. Waxman spent a lot of time reviewing what my other specialist were doing and telling me what she would do differently even though I didn’t this ask of her. She also told me she wouldn’t prescribe several of the meds I was on but didn’t clearly explain why or change them which was not very comforting or helpful.
I did try to bring an extremely sensitive and personal issue with her that had been on my mind for quite sometime however her response was so negative and made me so uncomfortable. I really regret bringing it up at all and now would hesitate even more to do it again with any doctor.
After several weeks of sitting with my feelings, I realized I felt very strongly that these issues needed to be brought up to the practice and called the practice manager. I shared my experience and understood that it was not unique. I agreed to stay with the practice, Baywest Family Health, but would change doctors. Then a couple of weeks ago when I need support with migraines, I was not able to get in to see even a PA in a timely way (less than a week). Dr. Waxman was the only doctor available. At that point, I decided to change practices.
If quality of care, attention or detail, and timely access are concerns of yours, I would looks elsewhere.

Norma is great — super knowledgeable — she was an academic at UCSF for many years — great bedside manner, great to deal with. I had been looking for a doctor in this area (Bernal /​Noe /​South part of Mission) with almost no success until I stumbled on her by total random luck. The staff is pretty good — I’ve seen better I’ve seen worse. They do tend to be behind schedule, so bring your laptop or a book.