Joseph Stern, DPM

Last spring, I walked a dog across the city in one weekend and developed a bunch of pain in my left foot. He diagnosed the issue, and noticed patterns that limit my ability to run long distances (which I never thought about in regards to my foot mechanics, just being out of shape). He made custom-​made orthotics to contour my weirdly shaped arches and re-​laced my shoes. After his treatment, I’m now able to run farther than I ever could in my entire life, and now I’m training for a race this summer. Interesting guy, knows his stuff. Would recommend!

When we shop for doctors, we look for docs who GEEK out in their field. Seeking that one, tiny attribute in doctors has served us well for a dozen years through several large cities relocations. Beyond being honest, fun and wildly experienced, Dr. Stern is definitely a doc who geeks out in Podiatry!
Podiatrists are my favorite doctors. They pick up on things about our alignment, walk, posture before we may even notice. I personally think more people should pay them a visit before the damage starts occurring.
Dr. Stern is especially great at spotting things that I didn’t think about –not bad, just details that I hadn’t known were important to a healthy walk for an active person. He also reassured me about several non-​issues that I ‘thought’ might be important concerning my kids.
My whole family has loads of love for Dr. Stern. Many thanks Doc!

Does leaving a Unilocal review for a Podiatrist mean you’re getting old? Who cares! I saw Dr. Stern about a week and a half ago due to persistent pain in my big toe. After a fairly simple procedure and some easy jazz listening, I’m pretty happy with the healing process. Dr. Stern saw me promptly at my scheduled time on the day of my first appointment and on my follow up appointment. I appreciated his no-​nonsense approach to my problem as well as his friendly, informative, and humorous demeanor. I was in good hands with Dr. Stern and will definitely come back for custom orthotics (question answered).

Dr Stern is someone I highly recommend. He is a doctor who really cares about his patients and will do all he can to help. He is easy to talk to and always friendly.

Like other patients, I was made to wait way too long for the appointments I’d booked with Dr. Stern. He’s knowledgeable and passionate about his work, but his poor grasp of time is a sticking point for those of us trying to squeeze in a doctor’s appointment during working hours.

My mother is 80 years old and she has been having foot problem recently. It has made her very sad since ballroom dancing is one of her very few interests that she can still enjoy. Dr. Stern adjusted her shoes and that solved all the problems on her first visit. Dr. Stern is not only professional, but also friendly, kind hearted and very humorous. I am very grateful for Dr. Stern to bring sunshine to a 80 year old woman’s life!!!

Incredible doctor who truly cares about his patients and his practice. I went in and he completely analyzed my issues and gave me actionable advice about what to do. He took the time to understand not only my issues but who I was as a person. He took his time to make sure everything was addressed and went above/​beyond what I would expect.
I didn’t even have the right type of insurance but he still accommodated me anyway telling me that all he cares about is happy patients. He only charged me what the copay on my insurance was despite the mistake I made. Not only that, but he gave me his personal phone number in case my issues flared up again and told me to give him a call if that happened. This level of care is incredibly rare to see not just in healthcare but in the world.
I would highly recommend Dr Stern. He’s the doctor you want to go see.

Fantastic MD — extremely personable and knowledgeable.
It’s also readily apparent that this is a man who has a high degree of compassion and really cares about his patients.
Highly recommend!

Booking the appointment was super fast and easy thanks to ZocDoc, and I was able to get in the next day, Red flag. I waited an hour while he gabbed away with a few patients, zero recognition of me waiting. I had to track the nurse down to ask if he planned to see me. He did kindly send me an apology email later that afternoon, which was very thoughtful. Said he was very delayed because of another patient. But the nurse and he should have communicated about the delay when I arrived.

Wow! Dr Joseph Stern, what a great doctor. My heartfelt thanks goes out to him.
Friday night was spent at the Palo Alto Medical Foundation urgent care. They determined that I ruptured my Achilles tendon, that it would require surgery, and that the foot and ankle clinic was closed till Monday.
First thing Saturday I got up and started to research for surgeons. I started calling and offices were all closed. I called Dr Stern’s office and he picked up himself (early on a Saturday early morning).
Naturally this is a pretty serious issue (can’t walk, drive etc.), so I wanted to know more about it. Dr Stern was generous with his time an knowledge. He walked through the accident, possible alternative diagnosis and even helped me to identify a great surgeon in our local area.
He easily could have said «sorry I can’t help you» but even after helping as much as he did, he asked me to call back and let him know how it turned out and gave me encouragement.
Now that is what I call a great Dr. — really living the Hippocratic oath. Thanks again.

Dr. Stern was excellent. He was knowledgeable, down to earth and genuinely cared about fixing my issue. He was even open on a Saturday, which we all know is rare. Go see him and he’ll help remedy your condition.

Dr. Joseph Stern is a very great doctor. Very personable, funny doctor who knows what he is doing. He listened to my problems and defiantly found a solution. He explains throughly on what’s going on and dumbs it down for you if needed. Besides a foot doctor he’s pretty knowledgable all around with random facts. So if you want to have a intellectual convo, you can. Photography, history, traveling, etc. I definitely recommend him and I will be coming back in the future.
MUST GO AND SEE HIM FOR PAIN RELIEF.

Horrible experience.
He couldn’t care less about my issue and made it very clear by saying that it was boring. He kept saying that he was really interested in other foot problems other than the issue I presented him with. As a client looking for answers for a condition he advertises as a speciality, he made it clear that I was wasting his time. IF YOU DONT LIKE DEALING WITH CERTAIN ISSUES, don’t advertise them on your website.
As a professional, he should take every interaction seriously and help by adding insightful knowledge about the issue, instead of making jokes and telling someone how awesome you are about things that don’t concern the client sitting in front of you.
I left the office with zero direction about what to do next.

Cannot say enough good things about Dr. Stern. He is very attentive and knowledgeable. I often have a hard time making it on time to my 5pm appointments because I get stuck at work, but he waits for me every time and makes it a point to make me feel at ease. With some serious foot injuries in the past, I’m happy I’ve finally found a doctor that really cares for my situation and does his everything he can to relieve me of pain. Not to mention, he’s very funny and easy to talk to.

Great all round. Great personality, bedside manner. Outlined the options, was quick and effective. Gave me materials for free and the check up was free too — no gouging or milking me for every penny. Seemed generally concerned about fixing me rather than earning some money. Hope not to, but would definitely go back to Dr Stein.

Even though I visited Dr. Stern’s office yesterday, I can’t comment on his skill as a podiatrist — because I never set foot in the examination room. However, I think my experience was noteworthy — that’s why I’m posting.
I made my first and only appointment with Dr. Stern the day before, on Friday, and the receptionist put me on hold to ensure that Dr. Stern could see me the next day, Saturday, at 11:30. I was pleasantly surprised that I could be seen so soon; the receptionist was extremely friendly and helpful.
I walked to the appointment on Hyde St. and wasn’t sure where the office was. I saw a postal carrier and asked if he knew where 909 Hyde was. He waved me in the direction — the next building south — with the caveat, «If you’re going to see the doctor, you need to call him on the telephone because the building is locked and you can’t get in.» The receptionist hadn’t mentioned that when I made the appointment. Since the building was locked and there were no directions on the door about after-​hours appointments, I probably would have left if it wasn’t for the postal worker.
When we reached his office, he gave me a clipboard with the requisite paperwork, asked me to wait in the waiting lounge, and returned to his previous patient visit. I’d arrived on time for my appointment and assumed he was finishing up with the patient, because I could hear everything they were discussing. I thought they were making small talk and perhaps he was seeing the patient out. I had long since filled out the paperwork and flipped through magazines.
Finally, about 30 minutes after I arrived, the phone rang and Dr. Stern answered. «OK,» he said. «I’ll be right down.»
«Great,» I thought. «I’ll be in and out of here in no time.»
Dr. Stern came back to the waiting room for the first time since I’d arrived. I thought he was going to apologize for the wait and show me to an exam room. Nope. «Say, would you do me a favor and run down to the lobby and let my next patient in?»
«Uh, I’ve been waiting for half an hour,» I said.
«I know,» he said. «I’ll only be about 10 more minutes with this patient and then you’re next in line. Just go down and let the next patient in.»
«Uh, I’m not comfortable with this. I’ve already waited more than half an hour and I have other things to do today. Now you’re telling me I have to wait 10 more minutes, and I also have to go downstairs, let the next person in, and come back upstairs and continue to wait? «I said.
«I feel bad,» he said. «I’ll fix you up at no charge. Just do me a favor and let the next person in.»
I agreed. By the time I got downstairs, someone had already let the next patient in. I left the building and I won’t be back.

Found Dr. Stern through a Unilocal search and was a bit nervous about going to a new podiatrist. Dr. Stern made the whole visit a pleasure, and even fun! He is very good at what he does and did a great job of keeping me distracted despite my natural squeamishness with foot stuff.
He clearly cares about his patients and I am so glad I found him! Thanks again doc!

My toe was in PAIN!!!
Luckily Dr. Stern is like a magical foot wizard and saved me before I went on a vacation.
If you have a foot problem and live in S.F., go see him!
I’d even let him deliver our next baby he’s so awesome.
*Bonus, we listened to some good music while he performed a mini-​surgery on me, then he burned me some cds of it!
I’ll send all my friends his way.
Thanks again Doc!!!

Dr. Stern is definitely a quirky guy. I had been seeing another doctor for a very long time.
Here were my problems.
I developed a neuroma in my left foot. Felt like I was stepping on a rock. It got worse over a year (initially started by wearing high heels for a long time). The other doctor I went to, had me do cortisone shots, alcohol injections (the most painful shot I’d EVER gotten) to no avail. All the while, he was saying I would probably need surgery to remove the nerve where the neuroma was.
Then I tried acupuncture. Would only feel ok for a day then go right back to hurting.
THEN, I developed plantar facilitus in my right heel. Heel hurt so much for two months. At the first onset of pain, I saw the other doctor, he said it should go away on its own (it didn’t).
Then after two months of heel pain, I developed a stress fracture in my right foot from walking so funny with my heel hurting.
So, that’s when I saw Dr. Stern. I had to wear a boot to fix the fracture. Then I got orthotics.
I wish I got outfitted for the orthotics faster, because I had to wear my boot for the heel pain after the stress fracture healed. But once I got the orthotics, I’m able to walk again!
I’m pretty much 90% better. I still get heel pain and the orthotics basically have fixed my neuroma pain.
Now I can walk again (and for a YEAR I had trouble just walking!). So, Dr. Stern has helped me tremendously! He really cares and you need to remind him about what’s going on, but other than that, he’ll get you back to normal quickly. The other doctor I had was about to do surgery on me, but now I didn’t have to have any surgery. Really a life changer.

Signed up for Unilocal to write this review! I am flat footed and had never thought to address it until I started having lower back issues. I came in via a friends recommendation and Dr Stern fitted me for orthotics, in addition to helping with a soreness issue in my toes.
The orthotics are very high quality and hand made my the doc himself, and he takes great pride in it, in essence offering to address any issues you should have with them in the future. I get the vibe that they’ll last me a very long time.
In addition to the high competence at what he does, the doc is a great guy to talk to. Hilarious, witty and up to date in local stuff (he knows a ton about tech). I feel like I’m talking to my cool uncle over some whiskeys. You also get the sense that he is really passionate about what he does.