Stephen Van Pelt, MD

Brought my wife in who suddenly developed what was diagnosed as bursitis in her shoulder after too many long days in the office and too much time at her totally non-​ergonomic desk. Dr. Van Pelt was kind, thoughtful, thorough and totally professional, providing not only immediate help, but down to earth and, dare I say it, holistic advice on what she needed to do to get her shoulder out of the immediate crisis and bring it back to health. Last but not least, he was not at all hurried, but took his time exploring the problem and discussing the short and long term prognosis and treatments. If I haven’t yet made myself clear, I would unreservedly recommend this doctor to anybody.

Seen this doctor a couple times. He is friendly and seems pretty nice, but unfortunately his clinical skills seemed to be lacking or perhaps just sort of blasé or careless in his exam. One time, in an urgent situation, he prescribed immediate PT and pain pills. That did help in the short-​term, so I was thankful. However, another time, non-​urgent, he did an exam and essentially had no idea what was wrong with my leg and didn’t seem to think much of it. Funny thing is, it’s 2 or 3 years later and I STILL get the pain in my leg — feels like my hamstring is popping out from behind my knee. Hey, if any readers know what I’m talking about, and have a diagnosis, please let me know. Van Pelt was no help.
Oh, and I was told my insurance covered the appointment, but I got a bill for a copay some months later. When I called and spoke with his billing person, she said the insurance didn’t cover the whole thing. Odd that my other appointment with him WAS covered in its entirety. Hmmm.
Nice guy but I personally wouldn’t recommend.

First off I’d like to say that I hate doctors. That being said I had a great experience with Dr. Van Pelt. Had some issues with my shoulder (thought it may have been a torn rotator cuff). Dr. Van Pelt did an exam determined it was just and AC Disc issue, and gave me a few ways to fix it. If I ever have a sports issue again, I’ll be going back.

One of the best doctors I’ve ever had: spot on diagnosis (the most important thing), super nice and friendly, takes time to explain what is wrong with you and what options you have. I broke my ACL and now he is helping me with contacting a surgeon and getting an operation
Came back home and told my housemate and, small world, he treated her wrist years ago… also only nice things to say.

I had reasonable expectations, but I was still impressed with Dr. Van Pelt. I found the doc through Zoc Doc (which I had never heard of) which gave me a 8am visit time. I received a phone call the next day saying Zoc Doc is wrong and that the earliest appointment was 9am. Ok, no worries. Showed up at 8:30 to fill out paperwork, seeing the doctor at 9am on the dot.
The reason I went was to get what I suspected to be a ganglian cyst on my left pinky looked at (climbing injury). The doctor concurred with my YouTube self diagnosis, and gave me my options: nothing, drain it, surgically remove the sac. Because it was minor but still annoying, I opted for draining it. He went and got a numbing agent and needle and went to town. Out the door five minutes later. If anyone else found this review because of ‘ganglian cyst’, he said it would ache the rest of the day but be fine tomorrow. And I’m back to climbing on Thursday!

Right on time, smart, very helpful in answering my questions, didn’t rush me.

Met with him only once on a follow-​up visit & he was subbing for my regular doctor who was on vacation.
The exam was fine & he was nice enough, but he was a little chatty which is the opposite of Dr’s that see you for 30 seconds… but I had to wait a while to see him, so I think his chattiness may have been what caused him to be running late.
Lastly, while chatting, he repeatedly put his hand on my knee/​upper leg while talking & I hate touchy-​feely people/​doctors that I do not know that do that. I’m no prude, but seriously, hands-​off!

He is amazing!

Dr. Van Pelt is the best doctor I’ve ever been to. I went to him with a slipped L5/​S1 disc in an incredible amount of pain. He took the time to listen to me, fit me in to an MRI right away, and then fit me in right afterward to read the results. He went through the MRI step by step and showed me exactly what was happening and totally put me at ease. I can’t recommend him highly enough.

I honestly don’t know if this Dr. can be any nicer? He seriously needs to write a book to share with other doctors re: how to treat your patients, listen to them, and overall demeanor. Over the past several years I have gone to him for issues w/​my back and knees. He’s simply the most pleasant doctor you will ever encounter. I highly recommend him for any of your muscularskeletal needs.

I saw Dr. Van Pelt today for my quad strain. He was extremely helpful, a good listener, and also very informative about my injury.
His assessment was thorough and detailed. He took his time to explain what he was checking for and really listening to my replies and history.
My overall impression of the clinic was good as well. A little… «corporate» on the outside– all of the different receptionists feel a tad like waiting in line to get a number at the DMV. But what can you expect from such a LARGE sports medicine center.
Dr. Van Pelt himself was a pleasure and seemed extremely knowledgeable and patient. Would recommend him and the clinic to anyone with a sports injury.

I saw Dr. Van Pelt for my knee, which I injured while skiing. I had never injured my knee before, and I wanted to speak with a non-​surgeon first so that I would not be pushed into surgery. Dr. Van Pelt was very patient with me, and answered all my questions, no matter how stupid. He had great bedside manner, and never made me feel rushed. He performed a very thorough physical exam and determined (to the best of his ability without seeing an MRI or x-​rays) what was possibly wrong with my knee. He then walked me through my options, and recommended some surgeons and physical therapists. I later got an MRI and his diagnosis was spot-​on. Overall, I had a great visit with him and he set me on the right track to getting my knee fixed. Highly recommended.

Great doc — very thoughtful and comprehensive. Dr. Van Pelt (I was corrected by the staff to say Van Felt… hmmmm) listened to my history of injury closely, gave me a full eval and gave clear and concise council on my next steps. This is how it should be!

I located Dr. Van Pelt after reading some Unilocal reviews. I had previously seen another physician in the same clinic, and wanted a second opinion. Appointment booking was a cinch, I was seen the following day.
Dr. Van Pelt was patient and approachable, his demeanor made me feel very comfortable as I conveyed my concerns. I felt him to be of the old school of practitioners who rely on empirical diagnostics rather than imaging, but perhaps this varies case by case. He asked specific questions and used very specific clinical examination techniques that, having visited a few other sports docs previously, I had not experienced before, all quickly leading to an affirmation of earlier diagnose. Dr. Van Pelt then personally led me over to the therapy department and prescribed some treatments.
Overall, I’m very satisfied with the experience and would recommend his services (non-​surgical sports medicine/​orthopedics).

Conclusion: Dr. Van Pelt is awesome. Will definitely see him again
Me;First time patient for Dr. Van Pelt.
Very patient — He actually let me thoroughly explain my problems. That’s a first for me.
Not rushed — He asked questions to cover issues i missed myself and took his time with diagnostics and explanations. Also, he had time to personally drop me off to PT. Maybe it was a slow friday, but scheduling ample time in between patients showed me that he didnt cut my visit time short.
Amiable — He didn’t have a «i’m the doc, stop questioning me» attitude, thus making him very easy and pleasant to talk to.
While i would have liked an mri/​xray/​whatnot for reassurance, Dr. Van Pelt’s explanation logically reassured me that those tests would be unnecessary.

I am currently experiencing a very serious problem with my spine and leg (affecting my ability to walk). Dr. Van Pelt is extremely kind, honest, and very knowledgeable. He explained every detail about my diagnosis very clearly. He even called himself to schedule my MRI on Monday morning as his staff had left for the day. I had a 4:00 appointment on a Friday and he talked with me until 5:30 (even thought the office closes by 5:00) so that he could answer all of my many questions about my diagnosis. He even talked to the spinal surgeon who is in NYC for a couple of days to ask him to squeeze me in for surgery early next week. His kindness, patience, and intelligence really helped me when dealing with a very serious health issue requiring surgery. I could tell that he really cared about me and that concern and sincerity was what I needed to feel comfortable asking so many questions.

I run/​hike/​bike quite a bit, and lately i started to have consistent knee pain after sitting down for a long time. Honestly before i saw dr. van pelt, I thought all doctors would just ask me to stop exercising until the pain subsides (at least that’s what my primary care doctor would say), and pray that the pain won’t come back when i start exercising again.
But Dr Van Pelt did way more than what i expected! during my visit, he asked me alot of questions about my exercising habits and my knee pain, examined my walking posture, and did a thorough check on my knee, and best of all, he actually concluded about what caused my pain!!! phew, can’t tell you how much better when someone can tell you what’s going wrong with your body! after the diagnose, dr van pelt asked a physical therapist to show me what exercise i can do to improve my situation. i felt so lucky to have found dr van pelt :)

I’m getting old. I have pain in my knees when I run. So I stopped running and now I use the elliptical machine. No problem, right? But two weeks ago I hiked Yosemite Falls (awesome, if you haven’t gone GO!) and starting on the way down felt that familiar pain. Once I got to flat land I did what they always told us in basketball, RICE, rest, ice, compression, and elevation. No better.
So now I have to find someone to diagnose and hopefully fix me. Enter Dr. Van Pelt via my insurance dr listings. I called, and got an appointment that day. The name Van Pelt name sounds totally snooty but the man is very chill (also contrasting which his place of work, the Center for Sports Medicine, an intimidating bureaucratic department of the Saint Francis Memorial Hospital). Dr. Van Pelt asked really acute questions about the nature of my current pain, listened to my sports injury history, and patiently answered all my questions. I didn’t get the feeling that he was rushing at all or that he was mentally somewhere else. He also discussed with me a few options for treatment and then got one of the on-​site physical therapist to give me a quick walk-​through of some strengthening exercises.