Dr. Brian First and Shirley Fett, N.P.

Ummmm, what? Shirley Fett is gone? :(Bummer! I will stay for now, and see how it goes… but w/​o Shirley Fett there I’m giving them ONE star because:
The phone system is horrible. They start answering phones at 8:30am, and they do not answer their phones from 12:00 to 2:00 («For lunch») … then they stop «answering» at 4:30… so you can’t call before 8:30 on your way to work, or, during your lunch break, or after 4:30. During the times they actually do «answer» their phones, they don’t actually «answer»… but rather, you get to LEAVE A MESSAGE for the Assistant to call you back. It’s just such a bad system, it’s almost funny. I’m guessing one of the doc’s relatives or someone close sold them their phone system. Their office is NOT great. Super basic and small, no bells and whistles, and the one woman at the front desk is totally swamped, it’s pretty bad. I was fine with all of it because Shirley was so awesome, but now… I don’t know… And Dr. First is my actual * Doctor* but I only saw him once about 7 years ago and in some paper work they gave me he had diagnosed me as having a reaction to a medication that I wasn’t even taking. I had gone in for a physical/​first visit with him as my new primary. So… not sure what to do now. Will see if they make any fabulous changes… maybe with Shirley leaving it will shake things up. They need it!

This is the wors office ever. I switch to Brian First as my primary when I was pregnant becuase I wanted to deliver my baby at sharp Mary Birch. It took two months to get a referral to the OBGYN. I let it go thinking maybe they are just busy. Here I am a year later having serious medical issues and I can’t get an appointment for two months. Hire more staff Dr. First!!! Why did you let Shirley leave? She’s the only reason your patients stayed with you! Whatever you do stay away from this office.

I am surprised to read so many negative reviews for this doctors office! I don’t have any specific memories of the apparently rude office manager so maybe I have been lucky. I have been coming to this office for all 7 years I have lived in San Diego. I have referred multiple friends who also come here. I have only ever seen the NP’s, so I can not speak for the particulars about the 2 MD’s in the office. But my experience with Shirley Fett in particular, has been so positive and supportive that I encourage all friends looking for a doc to go to her.
Shirley and her nurse Maribell have made me feel so comfortable, supported, and are very responsive to my needs. Once I had a hives breakout and was basically calling their office every few days for the span of 2 weeks, and both were so responsive and helpful. They are willing to help me over the phone (when its reasonable) and I always am able to snag an apt when I need one at the last minute. When I sit down with Shirley to discuss whatever there is to discuss, she never ever appears rushed, distracted, and always has asked me how I am feeling and coping with whatever is happening in my life. She is kind and validating and has never made me feel judged. They are always good about calling back with lab results and explaining them if I need help understanding. There is a reason I refer my friends here! I am lucky that I have nothing super complex medically going on, so all I ever really need from this office is the very basic check ups and feedback every now and again. But when I have needed a specialist, Shirley and the office have been great at putting in the referrals and following up with me.
My only complaint, and its a rather annoying thing is their system for calls. I would imagine they are a crazy busy office, so it makes sense that they may need to limit the hours they allow calls through, but basically when their office is closed they have system where you cant leave a message for anyone and you talk to an operator who basically tells you either to call back during office hours or go to the emergency room. 99% of the time if I am calling out side of their normal business hours all I want is to be able to leave a message for them to return because I forget to call during their normal hours! They shut down their phones during the day from like 11 – 2 for their «lunch» and so basically you can reach the office between 9 – 11 and 2 – 4. Or something like that… its really annoying! If I didn’t like the providers as much as I do, this alone would make me consider going elsewhere. Silly system, wish they would change it!
Other than that though, I have had nothing but positive experiences here!

Shirley Fett, Nurse Practioner, is one of the most compassionate, caring, knowledgeable health care providers I have ever had the pleasure of sharing patients with. Her kindness is unparalleled.

The «office manager» Sherry Meier is a complete JOKE. Whomever decided to hire her must have made the decision before meeting this woman. Beyond RUDE and impatient, myself, my friends and my family will NEVER return to this office. Sherry gives this place minus 5 stars, Good job Sherry for your terrible attitude!!!

Dr. Brian First is one of the most remarkable doctors I have ever been to, He actually listens to your concerns and tries to help you figure a way to get healthy and live a quality life. He has been my mother’s primary care physician for over 25 years and agreed to see me immediately the day I found out I was diabetic. I am so grateful for this man, and his office staff for providing me with my much needed medical care. I am a cash patient and he worked with me on an extremely fair price for the office visit. He is also aware that 30 years ago I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. He is a believer and an advocate for helping those suffering from that, and we will address that on our next visit. Thank you! Cheers!~Paddimelt

Shirley is great! The office manager is impatient and rude.

This office does not even deserve 1 star.
Office manger is completely RUDE!!! I’ve been goin to this office for over 40 years. I can believe they let such a horrific person run this office like this!!! My whole entire family will now have a different doctor!!!

Sharon, the woman who sets appointments: she is the least helpful person I’ve ever spoke to at a doctor’s office. She did not want to answer any questions I had as a prospective new patient. I gave her very specific insurance info, yet she would not tell me if I would be insured or not, almost as if she didn’t want to set appointments. Maybe that would just make her day busier. And God forbid if a medical assistant was to do her job.
It’s too bad. I wish I could review the medical assistant and not the doctor since I do not know Dr. First, but she represents the practice and this was my horrible experience.

Shirley is awesome. I truly believe she saved my life. After several visits to GI surgeons for extreme abdominal cramping and wrong diagnosis I went to Shirley and she immediately knew what was wrong. If I hadn’t gone to her and let it slide I probably would have died. After she gave me proper meds and blood work along with CT scan I’m on the right path to recovery. Additionally she called me several times to follow up and see how I was doing. Imagine in this day and age someone caring about people like that. This is a super human being that restored some faith in me. Paul Miller

i have been a patient for a few years now. always see the nurse practioner, nancy, who is just wonderful. the only proplem is that you have to leave a message for courtney, her nurse. courteny has no concept of calling back in a timely manner. as a matter of fact i have had to call upwards of 3 times to finally get a responce. when she finally does call back she is SO rude. complaining to the office manager does no good because she happens to be courtney aunt. guess that was the only way she could get a job. nancy is wonderful and patient. if it was not for her i would have sought my healthcare elsewhere.

I been a patient of Doc. First for almost 2 years and I had never had a appointment with him always a nurse, the staff there is extremely rude and more the person who is in charge of booking the appointment who I think must be the receptionist is extremely rude and not helpful. I am changing to different doctor.

The medical assistant that returned my call via voicemail for an appt. was RUDE. She scolded me for not having gone in sooner and that Dr. First did not have openings until March. I called back and left a voicemail still needing an appt. and she never called me back. Wow, unbelievable! Now I am seeing another doctor.

Long story short I get a rude call from ‘the office manager’ Friday telling me Shirley will no longer be refilling a prescription she’s freely prescribed and refilled for close to two years. I tell her fine do what you will thinking Shirley said it was okay to stop taking it with no physical reactions when she first prescribed it. Low and behold I’m sicker than a dog so I call Saturday morning to find out who’s on call and can see me or if I should go to urgent care. TO MY HORROR THE PHONE NUMBER IS NO LONGER IN SERVICE AND NO NEW NUMBER IS LISTED!!! WHO DOES THAT?! I can’t find any new number listed or notice that they’ve closed but this was literally overnight, on Labor Day Weekend!!!

As of this posting, I am a former patient of Dr. First. When I changed insurance plans, I had to leave my former PCP and find a new doc close to home in my network and was, initially, happy to find Dr. First’s conveniently located practice near my home. The first appointment went off without a hitch, I had an amazing appointment with Nancy Shanzlin N.P. (since Dr. First was on several weeks vacation apparently).
Now comes the part where I head for greener pastures… after getting a referral to a specialist, I went to my first appointment with said specialist and paperwork that was supposed to be sent wasn’t. Specialist’s office staff called over to Dr. First’s office to have said paperwork sent over and were told they would not due to HIPPA regulations… despite the fact that I had signed a waiver… strike one. Strike two was trying to set up an appointment for an unrelated issue and was never called back after two attempts and after calling the office manager. I didn’t wait around for strike three before I switched PCP’s.
BTW, You’ll find a wonderful array of answering machines to talk to when calling Dr. First’s office instead of a real, live human being… and if you call on their two hour lunch break you’ll get a snotty woman at the «physicians answering service» who tells you to call during their office hours. If you ever do happen to get an appointment and go to the office it’s dingy, Goodwill-​chique, full of their clinical trial paperwork and the other patients look like the just drove from their meth lab (to say nothing of the office staff)…
Bottom line: don’t waste your time with these incompetent clowns (sorry Nancy, you’re too good to work in a place like this!) and go somewhere else like UCSD, Scripps or Reese-​Stealy for your care!

If I could give minus stars I would, I was a patient of Dr. First for several years and was fairly happy since I never had any health problems, then I was transferred to Shirley Fett, and when I started having problems, my cholesterol and some other situations, all I could hear was go to the hospital, the staff is very rude, the wait time is excellent but when I finally was able to make an appoinment to see Dr. First it was about 11 months away then they called me to make it earlier when I had told them I could not go early, I lost my appoinment and I was tired of Shirley, if I had not changed doctors I would be in the cemetery right now since she ignored symptoms that were very dangerous, she is very likable, but when it comes to serious health care stay away.

I’ve seen Shirley Fett twice. She is very nice but never has an answer for you and your situation always seems to be something new to her when in fact it is very basic. She misdiagnosed me and I ended up in the hospital having hernia surgery. The staff is rude and you can never get through on the phones. Stay far away!

I am updating my review and adding that extra star back. The office staff is now very helpful and attentive.

Shirley Fett is an outstanding N.P. She listens to your concerns, discusses what she thinks will help you (explains why it will help), and she is professional at all times.
I have been her patient for over a year, have seen her on multiple occasions, and she has provided excellent medical care to me each and every time. If you are looking for a great N.P., look no further.

A lot of people don’t think it’s professional to write reviews about doctors, but I say why not? Especially if they’re a good doctor and you can recommend them to others. While I’ve never seen Dr. First because the wait to see him is long, I’ve been seeing Shirley and I think she’s very professional and has excellent bedside manner.
Shirley is very thorough, and she takes the time to listen to you. She’s a N.P., but I still always feel like I am talking to a Doctor. She’s very knowledgeable, compassionate and has a sense of humor, as well. I would recommend her to anyone, and I trust her.
The appointment scheduling here is very easy as well, and the staff is courteous and helpful. I’ve never had to wait for my appointment, either. Like I mentioned, the wait to see a Doctor is long, but I can usually see Shirley as early as the next day after I call.