UCSF Sports Medicine Center

If you get Wendy Vining, a physician’s assistant, run out of the room. Rude with horrible bedside manner. When she was examining my shoulder she would ask me to do something and I was slow because my shoulder hurt — she would act annoyed and with a bitchy tone say «why are you doing that». Extremely snarky. Ask for a real doctor because this woman has issues; she will unload them onto you when you are there for help.

Beyond horrible. Male, 50 years old, with a knee problem that happens after 40 – 60 minutes of bicycle riding /​4 – 5 miles running. Sudden swelling and pain, deep in the knee (but I could recover after a day or two, so I had no idea what the problem was). Went through 4 UCSF doctors, x-​rays, expensive MRI, ultrasound, injections of steroids, — nothing. And the worst part was ZERO diagnosis. None of them had any clue, and the last of them told me «if it hurts when you do this, don’t do that.» That’s a punchline to stand-​up comedy from the 30’s, not sports medicine. And condemning me to no aerobic exercise for the rest of my life renders me a fat cripple who’s just lost his health permanently.
So I did what I should have done in the first place, took my bicycle to a good professional (Tony at A Bicycle Odyssey, Sausalito). He suggested some new parts, a change in the way I rode, and a knee warmer to keep the knee from straining while cold. And he used a laser gizmo to fit the bike to me ergonomically. I can neither sprint hard nor push as hard as I used to, but I can ride again, and while I feel the limits of the knee (I’ve had to self-​diagnose it as an internal baker’s cyst — where under pressure, the knee’s sinovial fluid [lubrication] squirts out of the knee leaving it vulnerable to friction), I’m no longer hindered in my exercise. Yesterday, I rode for 3 hours and probably climbed 2000 ft. To be clear, NO ONE at UCSF ever made any suggestions similar to this. No one ever asked whether the bike was fit to me properly. STAGGERING INCOMPETENCE.
This is supposition, but I think UCSF is now about money and liability. I think if you’ve got an easy diagnosis, and an easy, established, and (cost efficient) procedure, they’re happy to take care of you. Anything that isn’t typical is a slightly elevated legal risk, and financial question in relation to corporate insurance companies. So they blow you off.

I decided on UCSF because of Unilocal and its proximity to my house. Big mistake. I knew where I should’ve gone instead, but it’s way across town: CPOSM California Street Office, San Francisco 3838 California St. Suite 715.
I hate long reviews so here are quick facts so that you can just head straight to CPOSM. I got an MRI and saw a doctor at UCSF for a hip issue. The diagnosis: none. Get physical therapy.
I took the MRI images that UCSF took to CPOSM. The doctor there said that the images were bad and ordered another MRI. I went to St. Luke’s and got good images to take back to CPOSM. The diagnosis: torn and partially detached tendon which they gave me a cortisone injection for.
I tried to appeal UCSF’s $ 800 MRI (the BAD IMAGES) and it was denied by my insurance and the California Department of Managed Healthcare.
Luckily, this wasn’t a life-​threatening condition that they straight up misdiagnosed.
I wasted my time, ultramarathon training, and money coming here. Don’t waste yours.

This place is the worst. I have had 5 appointments in the past 2 months and have had to wait at least 2 hours each time. The administrative staff makes no effort to inform you in advance that they are running significantly behind and the delays happen every time. It’s just the way they do things and it’s lousy. When the doctor finally meets with you, it takes 5 minutes and you are treated in a dismissive way. Then you are simply told to come back in a few weeks even though they have made no real attempt to diagnose or treat your condition. This place is also bureaucratic and expensive. They coast on reputation but actually suck when it comes right down to it.

I called UCSF in February and told the front desk that I was in a lot of pain, and had an MRI and diagnosis from my local Santa Cruz ortho practice that I did not understand — a SLAP tear with bicep involvement.
UCSF scheduled me to see a doctor within three days. Dr. Brian Feeley and his staff were all very helpful during the entire process from first visit and pre-​op, to surgery and post-​op. The guys were even nice in the OR.
I never waited more than five minutes for any appointments. Most important to me, Dr. Feeley is a very nice person and generous with his time (he answered all of my questions). I also think he’s a great surgeon — I had very little pain post-​surgery, minimal swelling — and no ugly bruising. I experienced no pain on the day of surgery.
Dr. Feely showed me my MRI and the pictures from the surgery — other doctors that I saw never bothered to explain anything in much detail and I found them to be condescending. It’s very hard to make a decision — or feel good — about elective surgery if you don’t have enough information or trust your doctor. Once I got over hearing the bad news about needing surgery I never doubted that I made the right decision to go with Dr. Feeley.
In my opinion the entire practice runs extremely well. Surgery is never fun, but the experience was as good as it could possibly be and I felt extremely well cared for and comfortable there, and I’m generally very anxious in medical settings. The Sports Center at UCSF is a brand new facility and the medical teams there all seem to go out of their way to provide good care.

My spouse says: Had a terrific experience with Dr. Brian Feeley and Dr. Anthony Luke. (Dr. Luke does seem to run late quite often, though.) After a dislocated patella, I consulted with Luke who referred me to Feeley. Was very impressed with the overall practice. Dr. Feeley was absolutely terrific, great surgeon. He had a great bedside manner, candid, witty, clear communication. I especially appreciated how he referenced his own experience in getting orthopedic care. I found him very easy to relate to. This coming from someone who has a lot of experience working with doctors and is pretty skeptical and often not especially deferential to MDs. Staff and practice assistants had great communication and people skills.

Check in and wait time is really short.
Staff is friendly and funny. Its great the the MRI is downstairs so everything is convenient.
The only draw back is that the build is near the end of Gene Friend Way, so if you take the T Line Train, its a walk.
Restroom is clean and so is the waiting area.

I came here for the RunSafe program, and I would say my experience was «OK to decent,» and could have been better if I had known a few things going in… more on that later.
They have you go to each of four stations: gait analysis, physical training /​therapy, footwear, and nutrition. The station you’ve probably heard about (and that some running stores offer too) is gait analysis. This is where they put some stickers on you, take a video of you running and then analyze it. My analyst had a specific tip about posture that I thought was pretty valuable. I started to take notes. «Oh, don’t worry about taking notes, it’ll all be in the report.» I obediently put my pen down.
Big mistake.
The report, which I received several days later, listed about a dozen weaknesses or form problems, from the gait analysis and PT stations. And there was no priority listed for any of the issues. As good coaches (of running, other sports, music, and dance) know, movements are connected to other movements. Solving one problem often solves three others. So when I got a non-​prioritized list of so many issues, it was practically useless. Even worse, it was several days after the clinic, so I didn’t have much memory of what was said in person. Equally uninspiring was a list of tons of exercises intended to correct my various problems, again with no prioritization. To have time to do them all I would have to quit running. I’m pretty sure the purpose of this clinic was not to make me quit running.
So why three solid stars? A few reasons:
— I did get something out of watching the videos of the other runners and myself with the specialists’ commentary. (Unlike the written report, they prioritized comments in person.)
— I appreciated the sanity check I received from the footwear specialist. (She validated that neither my old barefoot style shoes nor my even older motion control shoes made sense with my current gait.)
— Also, I learned a lot from the nutritionist about how to get tons of protein in a small pre-​run meal. (But please please modulate her advice on pre-​workout hydration, or you’ll be taking pee breaks while your running buddies roll their eyes at you.)
So, grab a pen, ignore the scolding about note taking, go to this clinic, and then have an experienced runner sanity check what they tell you.

Dr Christina Allen is the best in the whole Bay Area… I have visited more than a dozen ortho surgeons… great staff as well go UCSF!

I’ve been a patient of Dr Luke for about a year, since I sustained an injury just after a half-​marathon I ran. A partially torn ligament and a stretched tendon, resulting in a few months on the shelf. It’s a tough review for me to write, because Dr Luke clearly knows his stuff. Probably the most knowledgeable doctor I have ever met. And when seeing him, he was very patient and thorough in answering my questions about my rehab and recovery.
So why 2 stars?
My first appointment was scheduled for mid-​morning. And Dr Luke was 90 minutes late seeing me, including 40 minutes of me waiting in the examination room.
My second appointment was also mid-​morning. Dr Luke was 130 minutes late seeing me, including 55 minutes of me waiting in the examination room.
My third appointment was set for 9am, theoretically the second or third appointment of the day. Dr Luke was 65 minutes late seeing me, including 35 minutes of me waiting in the examination room.
My fourth appointment was the very first appointment of the day. The first. No chance of it getting delayed because previous patients ran long. The very first appointment. Dr Luke was 43 minutes late seeing me, including 26 minutes of me waiting in the examination room.
Now, I don’t personally blame Dr Luke for this. Doctors are supposed to focus on medicine. But that is why you have support staff that manages the appointment schedule and keeps things moving. The support staff here must be the worst in America. Even when I would discuss the delays with the scheduling personnel I just got blank stares. I’m not naïve. I expect every doctor I see to be running 10 – 20 minutes behind. That’s just reality. But averaging 80+ minutes for four appointments?
Two stars

This review is for the RunSafe program.
Don’t waste your money ($ 399!), especially if you already have any knowledge whatsoever about gait, form, etc. The actual analysis only takes one hour per person — TOPS — in which you run on a treadmill for about a mile, have an ortho resident examine your foot and footwear, do some exercises and tests with a PT and meet with a nutritionist. After analysis, runners watch videos of themselves running and get feedback on form as a group. A few days later, they send you a DVD of yourself running, and update your online profile with recommended exercises. Here’s what I learned:
Gait/​form: Nothing unusual or alarming
Ortho: Feet are sound, I can run in any shoes I want but should wear cushier shoes if I experience any pain in my minimalist ones.
PT: Nothing special, perhaps a little weakness in my glutes
Nutritionist: Didn’t show up, so we didn’t have that station (!!!)
I could go on about how lackluster I found the whole thing, but that would bore even me. So I’ll just share some highlights.
When the nutritionist didn’t show, runners had to spend that station with a young volunteer who coordinates the whole thing, just chatting. (Couldn’t they have led us through stretches, or taken that time to schedule make up meetings with the nutritionist, or SOMETHING?) Also, at one point the volunteer commented to one of his colleagues that the nutritionist didn’t know she was supposed to be there, and was just getting off an airplane at SFO and so wouldn’t make it on time. Later, when the volunteer emailed runners to schedule make-​up nutrition sessions, he said that she «had an emergency» that prevented her from joining. Dude, don’t you remember that we heard you say that she just couldn’t make it before? We know you’re lying when you say she had an emergency. Come on!
I emailed the nutritionist to schedule my make-​up, and it’s been two days and she hasn’t gotten back to me. Also, the first email address that the volunteer shared was incorrect.
The results/​recommendations shared afterward are, as another Unilocaler noted, totally generic and nothing new to anyone who’s seen a chiropractor/​PT/​orthopedist for running before. They didn’t recommend any exercises that I don’t already do with my chiro. (It seems they have a program that always recommends the same exercises based on whatever weakness they write down for you. They don’t take your current strength training regimen into consideration at all.)
And it’s been a week and a half and my boyfriend has received no follow up recommendations at all.
They have you complete a fairly lengthy profile before the meeting, but it’s never referenced again. I would’ve loved to have someone address my specific goals and weaknesses — which seems to be part of what they promise up front — but it just didn’t happen. In fact, there isn’t any personalized time for asking questions, no one lays out a specific plan with you, etc. The whole thing felt really unprofessional and disorganized.
If you’re rich and have never run before, RunSafe will be great. But if you’re already a dedicated runner, skip it. Underwhelmed doesn’t even begin to cover how I’m feeling after dropping a chunk of change for absolutely no return.

I have spent the past week trying to schedule an appointment. Nobody ever picks up the phone and you only get an answering machine that promises that they will get back to you in 24 hours. I’ve left several messages over the past week and nobody has gotten back to me.
I heard the medical care providers are good, but the administration clearly doesn’t care to provide good service to patients.
If I ever get to see a medical provider I’ll review my rating based on my experience with them, but until then I can only give 1-​Star based on no service provided so far.

LOVE the surgeons, HATE the facility.
So, the doctors here are just unparalleled. I’ve worked with Dr. Allen for knees and Dr. Olson for ankles. Both of them are truly spectacular surgeons who provide excellent care and followup support for their patients. For ACL tears, you’re better off coming here and seeing Dr. Allen than screwing around trying to go to any CPCM or wherever. Get the best of the best. Same with ankles and Dr. Olson.
HOWEVER, once you commit to letting these brilliant talented surgeons cut into and pound away at your tissues, be forewarned that you will have to put up with some major flaws in the facility.
This place is simultaneously spectacular and enraging. It’s UCSF, they have the best surgeons and caring, talented nurses working on you. But at the same time there are some severe kinks in what should be a smooth-​running, flawless system.
First of all, this is a freaking ORTHOPEDIC INSTITUTE. Helloooooo, do you know what that means, oh genius 260 Step score 38+ MCAT having UCSF planning department??? It means you have a consistent patient population of NON AMBULATORY AND SEMI AMBULATORY WITH ASSIST people coming daily to your door. PUT A FREAKING RAMP UP THE FRONT CURB. It is simply unconscionable that UCSF lacked the foresight to put an adequate patient loading zone with a handicap ramp in front of the building at an orthopaedic surgery and physical therapy center. It’s Mission Bay, for cripes sake. Claim you don’t have enough room to add another 10′ to have a space for cars and taxis to pull off to the side and unload onto a ramp? Just add some more landfill to the bay and there ya go. Where the patients have to load and unload now is a nightmare. People have to pull over in the middle of Owens Street and drop off people in a storm drain gutter (LITERALLY, there is a gutter drain right in front of the door… do you know how hazardous this is to navigate past holes in teh street when you’re on crutches?) and then over a 9″ curb. I see kyphotic little old ladies struggling to get up and over this curb on a daily basis without killing themselves.
Fwiw, I have found the othro front desk staff on 2 to be far friendlier and helpful than the physical therapy desk staff 2 floors up.
Now on to PARKING. IT SUCKS HERE! If you’re a patient here, you probably paid $ 40,000 of your insurance money for surgery already. Why do they have to rape you every time you come for another $ 8 of parking? Also, at a place where a lot of HANDICAPPED people come, they actually make the handicapped people pay to park as well, which is in-​congruent with the rest of the state of California and city of San Francisco, where handicapped spots are free. Shrewd move, UCSF… way to money grub people who can barely walk out of that extra $ 5. ALSO, it is really thoughtless and crappy planning on their part to place the meters where you have to pay and buy your tickets in the middle of the lot AWAY from the handicapped spots… which means the poor handicapped people have to schlep on their crutches, walkers, canes, etc all the way past their car, back AWAY from the building, go over to the meter, buy their ticket, and then hobble back to their car and screw around leaving the ticket THEN go to the building. When you’re 2 weeks post-​op and worry you’re going to fall walking 10 feet and reinjure your delicately and carefully repaired extremity and undo all of that hard and expensive work by the talented orthopaedic surgeons, that extra 15 feet of walking you’re forced to do so you won’t get a ticket truly does suck.
Along the lines of parking: Public transit to this location (and all of the Mission Bay campus for that matter) is NON EXISTENT. I’ve heard other patients ranting in the reception area about what lack of patient empathy that displays because anybody who is unfortunate to have to rely on public transit to get here… just isn’t going to be able to come. Not displaying those patient care values of accessibility for all if we’re locating our shiny new building inside a public transit dead zone, eh? Why should anyone from UCSF care about how their patients will get to the building when they can just all zip around on their free shuttles.
If you’re going to call a taxi for your trip here, expect to pay at least $ 20 per trip to get from any part of SF AND wait at least 30 minutes for them to show up.
Ranting about the facilities aside, I still have to give 5 stars just based on the sheer excellence of the surgical staff. If they would build a freaking loading zone for the patients and fix the parking lot nightmare, this would truly become the world-​class facility which UCSF strives to be!

I met with Dr. Christina Allen several times over the course of the past year, in regards to my right knee subluxation. Another surgeon had told me how physical therapy would be useless, and to jump straight into surgery. Having only heard rave reviews about Dr. Allen, I went to her for advice. After a thorough examination and series of x-​rays, she directed me towards a very competent physical therapist, and prescribed a knee brace to improve stability.
With her help, I’ve been able to improve my knee and be properly advised. I highly recommend her to anyone who has issues with their knee. She is extremely courteous, knowledgable, and helpful.
Warning: she is in high demand, so make your appointments early!

I received treatment from Anthony Luke for my bum knee. I had gone to him for a second non-​surgical opinion. He suggested to remove the fluid from my knee and give me a shot of cortisone. Almost a week later my knee is doing so much better!
Dr. Luke listened to my concerns and worked with me on a plan to get my knee feeling better in short term and then to think about options for the long term.

I’ve somehow hurt my leg muscles really bad over the summer and it’s been hurting for half a year. so I finally decide to look up a place and call. I ask the nurse if I can come in though mine is not a specific sport injury, she says «we only do sport injuries» in a really rude tone and hangs up.
I mean, define ‘sport’… so if I pull my muscles while jumping up and down, they won’t treat me here, but If I pull my muscles while jumping up and down AND putting my hands in someone’s face to stop them from shooting hoops, then they will take me?
this is seriously ridiculous.

This is a review for Dr. Feeley and his team of medical miracle makers. Yep, I went there.
I could not have asked for a better experience working with the Dr. and his team. I was always seen on time and greeted with a friendly and knowledgeable staff. After fracturing my patella in two places (I would not wish that experience on my worst enemy), I was not exactly «calm». Nor was I an especially «easy» patient. I am a runner and this was a huge deal for me. Luckily, the fracture was non-​displaced and I did not need surgery. Phew!
Dr. Feeley set realistic expectations for me and always made me feel hopeful that I would be able to run and ski again. I took Medical Leave went home, and sought Physical Therapy in LA (see my review for Bechtel in LA if you enjoy stalking me-​they are equally skilled and wonderful to work with).
Dr. Feeley helped me figure out which offices I should go to in SF before I took Medical Leave from work. He wanted to make sure I was comfortable and left feeling like I was supported.
I know this is not at all a factor in helping you choose a Doc, but the man is hysterical and we had a really fun working relationship. My knee is practically normal and he said I may even catch the tail end of ski season! Woot woot!
Again, pleasure to work with and I trust everything he says as I have had a relatively easy recovery. Don’t break your knee, but if you do– see this man.

I consulted Dr. Luke and Dr. Ma for about five visits for some chronic sports injuries. Dr. Luke is the only primary care physician at the UCSF sports medicine/​orthopedics center, as far as I know, so is extremely busy. Appointments with the front desk are tough to come by, so frequently I resorted to contacting his medical assistant for a sooner booking.
Although I found Dr. Luke knowledgeable, most appointments felt rushed. Dr. Luke is definitely one to pursue conservative measures before referrals for surgery, so I appreciated this. Bedside manner, beside the rushed visits, was acceptable — not altogether sympathetic, but nonetheless courteous and attentive. Dr. Luke was very helpful in responding to after-​hours phone calls and emails.
Dr. Ma was polite and took time to answer all my questions during my one consultation with him.
Most visits included a preliminary work-​up by a resident or fellow, but don’t be alarmed if the resident seems lacking, as the attendant follows up comprehensively.

I had an awful experience with previous surgeon, who totally destroyed both of my knees. Dr. Allen has already totally turned around one of my knees, and I’m well on my way to recovery on the other one… FINALLY!
She has kept me optimistic about my recovery, is enthusiastic about improvements, and really takes time to figure out what’s going on. I don’t feel like another patient in the mill.
She’s the best — don’t go anywhere else if you need ortho surgery!

Sometimes bad things happen. Like tearing your ACL, MCL and meniscus on the first ski run of the season.
Dr. Benjamin Ma, my surgeon, and June Graham, my physical therapist, were my superstars of 2009. After my injury, I suffered a lot of complications, and they got me through a tough injury recovery, and then a flawless ACL reconstruction.
Dr. Ma is both a renowned surgeon and a very caring person. He gave me his email address, and was great about responding quickly when I had questions. I would highly recommend him. A+ on the ACL reconstruction.
June was amazing. I found her physical therapy incredibly helpful, and I couldn’t have gotten through everything (physically and mentally) without her. She’s very mindful of insurance limits, and always returned my calls promptly.
Seriously, these two are amazing. I have so much respect for them, and can’t thank them enough!