Ratcliff James MD

I have seen Dr. Ratcliff for ingrown toenail surgery and for plantar fasciitis. From the get-​go he addressed my problems and put me at ease. I have a condition called white coat syndrome which is where my blood pressure soars any time I am seen by a doctor. When I saw Dr. Ratcliff I actually think my blood pressure dropped to normal. His professional and calm and cool approach really made me feel comfortable and is exactly what I needed. I admire the fact that he is humble and down to earth. I tend to put myself on the back burner when addressing my health issues and when I saw Dr. Ratcliff, I was suffering from immense pain. He was compassionate and really listened to me. He took the time to see what the best treatment would be
for me and I could tell that he really cared. I could hardly walk from pain and now I am pain free. I have referred several patients to him and they have also been extremely happy with their results. I will forever be grateful to Dr. Ratcliff, he is the best!

I’ve been playing basketball on a painful heel for the better part of a year. Was told I need to stretch my achilles, or have someone inject my heel with something that sounded excruciating, or take pain meds, or pick another sport.
Challenge was that if I quit the game I do think that the pain would have eased (not gone away) — but a major joy in my life would have now been gone.
So my choices were to quit, try to get better without surgery, or go the surgical route.
Dr. Ratcliff knows how important quality of life is, especially in No Cal. He was able to empathize with me in that he surfs and is not ready to give it up. He told me that he thought that with the right surgical intervention I could be back on the basketball court. He also shared that the X-​ray and MRI revealed that anything short of surgery would not work as I had a structural issue.
I went for the surgical intervention. The surgery took 4 hours as they had to shave a heel spur and clean up all kinds of scar tissue from 40+ years of basketball. The anesthesiologist was awesome — set me up for a no pain recovery with a does of whatever that numbed my leg for the better part of 3 – 4 days.
Dr. Ratcliff saw me, emailed me, called me, and explained what I’d feel, when I’d feel it, and why I’d need to be careful in my recovery. The man gave me his cell phone number and an invitation to call him at any time. The surgical center called 3 – 4 times just to ask how I was feeling. Amazing!
It’s been 3 months since surgery and the pain in my foot is gone with the exception that I’m still in recovery and need to ease myself back into high impact exercise. I started a light treadmill jog last week and am trying to hold myself back from rushing things basketball wise.
Throughout this process I’ve found Dr. Ratcliff to be honest, empathetic, and genuine. He invited my wife in to sit with us for each post surgical visit and treated her questions with respect and compassion. After each visit we marveled at how he gave us his undivided attention.
Not sure I could have asked for much more than what Dr. Ratcliff’s has offered. He’s a genuine person who helped me get better. Hope I never need him again but if I do I’d return in a heartbeat.

Like other reviewers have mentioned, Ratcliff is arrogant and dismissive. I went in with an obvious case of plantar fasciitis, he confirmed it, but then proceeded to spend the next 15 minutes talking about how much he surfed and how he has special shoes to avoid it. I inquired about getting orthotics made (I’d had this before and that was the solution then, which worked well). He seemed annoyed at the suggestion, but agreed to have their office look into what the cost would be for me on my insurance. Meanwhile he kept pressuring me to go and buy this brand he recommended. One look at Open Payments shows he has a history of accepting «gifts» from pharma companies, which is hardly surprising given how much he pressured me into looking at this other brand:
.
Meanwhile, his office never looked into orthotics cost or got back to me, and also are charging my insurance $ 645 for this useless 15-​minute consultation, and appear not to have given them full information, which I’m now having to appeal to get fixed.

I saw Dr. Ratcliff because he was recommended by Menlo Clinic, where I have my primary care physician. I was warned by friends that he is arrogant and dismissive, but I pretty much ignored that and figured I’d see for myself. He was okay… not the best bedside manner I’ve ever experienced, but not the worst either. However, he seemed rather uninterested in the problem in my foot, and I never saw him actually look at the X-​rays that were ordered. I have the feeling that he just read the radiologist’s report, which, to be clear, only indicated some arthritis in my big toes, as I later found out from another physician. He was adamant that I didn’t have a fracture or any other problem and told me that I have flat feet (true, I’m sure), am getting older (yup), etc. I felt like he wasn’t taking my concerns particularly seriously, especially when he «diagnosed» my problem as being a case of, in his exact words, «Shitty Shoe Syndrome.» He then recommended some sandals to wear at home and some athletic shoes, which I subsequently bought and wore. The pain and the swelling did not go away. Since then, I have seen another podiatrist, who ordered a MRI and found that I have a stress fracture and a tumor in my foot that may be eroding the bone. So much for the shitty shoes… Doctors are human beings just like the rest of us and can make mistakes. I just wish that Dr. Ratcliff had taken me and my concerns a little more seriously and had been more careful and thorough in his assessment.

Dr. Ratcliff is efficient, gentle and precise. I saw him a year ago for extremely painful toenails and thanks to his expertise I left his office able to walk pain free. I have so much confidence in Dr. Ratcliff that I traveled over three hours last week to have and annual foot check up.

If you want a doctor that talks, walks, looks and acts just like a doctor, Dr. Ratcliff is not your man. He is much more intuitive than that. He takes awhile to figure each patient out… what makes them tick and he thinks about what their specific needs are, their lifestyle and what they can or cannot afford.
He offered different solutions to my foot problems that were not easily fixed. Most foot and ankle issues are complex and are not easily remedied.
I thought he was terrific!
Refer back to my first sentence… give him some time and he will give you his time too.

Went in for an appt in March and it wasn’t until I left that I realized he never looked at my feet! Granted, I said that the ball of foot pain was gone by the time I got my appointment but he never looked at my feet. Less than 3 months later, the pain had returned and I went to another podiatrist who diagnosed me within seconds. Had Dr. Ratcliff been inclined to give me a full examination, he could have found it too. Complete waste of time!

I had a great experience with Dr. Ratcliff when I was having lots of foot pain. He was willing to listen to me and make some useful recommendations about shoes and followup care.

A great doctor and one of the nicest people I’ve ever met. He patiently listened to all my questions and resolved a problem that 5 or 6 other podiatrists were not able to.

Dr Ratcliff is great. He took a measured approach to my heel spur issue, and we tried a few holistic measures to help my pain. Rather then just resorting to the standard cortisone-​shot-​then-​imminent-​surgery treatment, he introduced me to a device that loosened my tendon with a german vibration tech. I plan on using him again for my *other* plantar fasciitis issue soon. Bonus points for being a fellow Gaucho!

Reassuring, appreciative that I had come in for what seemed to be a really slight issue. It’s the next day and my broken toe already feels better! I might be in a better place to judge and write a more complete review if I had had a more serious injury– knock on wood!
The three-​star rating is just because I had a 10:00 am appointment but didn’t see the doctor until 10:25. He got me out quickly, though, so it really was A-​OK in the end.
PS– he looks nothing like this photo!

Liked him, he listened, and spent a good deal of time with me. If he recommends
graston google it and watch the videos online and do it yourself:)
Really like he didnt want to custom orthotic me:)but likes superfeet DPM
like most pt types wants to get the foot strong and not overly supported…

I saw Dr. Ratcliff after I broke my foot in July. I was prepared for the worst in terms of pain and a long recovery period. But after surgery and a tremendous amount of professional attention from him, I am actually walking on my own two feet in less than three months. And I have had minimal discomfort during the entire process. Both my feet may actually be in better condition now, thanks to his rational approach to treatment; and I am sure he has saved me money in his recommendations on shoes, shoe inserts, etc. I found his manner to be extraordinary down to earth and attentive.

I give Dr. Ratcliff my highest recommendation. He is a skilled, compassionate, and knowledgeable doctor who provides excellent care. Dr. Ratcliff has been helping me achieve recovery from a painful right foot (achilles and post tibial tendon issues, flat foot). He worked with me to explore all options of care including shockwave and cutting edge PRP injections. He is an excellent listener who addressed all my concerns and anxieties with kindness, respect, and a healthy dose of humor. He has instructed me on proper foot body mechanics, foot exercises, and has changed my life in the most positive healthy direction!

Awful. Dr. Ratcliff obviously missed the class in med school about how to interact with the patient in an appropriate manner (and according to some other people I know, he also missed they day they went over how to read an X-​ray and MRI pictures).
I went to see Dr. Ratcliff for pain in my big toe. I ended up leaving with two sets of X-​rays and a funky looking boot that I had to wear for weeks. Once I stopped wearing the boot the pain came back. At my follow up appointment Dr. Ratcliff was incredibly rude to me. I was told (not so nicely) that I should have come back sooner (I came in when the pain returned), and that he might have to do some sort of invasive surgery on my foot??? At that point, I made an appointment for a second opinion with Dr. Lehnert over at Pacific Foot and Ankle. He reviewed the films of my feet, made me some inserts for my shoes, and told me that no crazy surgery was needed.
My foot pain is now gone, no thanks to Dr. Ratcliff. If you need to see a podiatrist go see one of the people at Pacific Foot and Ankle instead. You will receive excellent medical care from a doctor who knows how to politely and professionally communicate with his or her patients.

Without question, the worst doctor I’ve ever visited. He berated me for not knowing that I had flat feet. How the heck am I supposed to know this? I see an arch myself, but I’m no expert. Very condescending attitude. I’ll never go back to this jerk.

Um, don’t go on a Monday. I went there for the first time on a Monday and had to wait for over an hour. The receptionist told me that this was «typical» for Mondays. What the heck? Schedule fewer people, then. Dr. Ratcliff was still great and all (see my original review), but was definitely rushed and had less time to spend with me than has been true in the (non-​Monday) past.