Leah Tessler, MD

I have been a patient of Dr. Tessler for about four years. I think she is terrific. She listens to you, gets to know you as a person, and is very thorough and responsive. When I had an issue with my leg, she made sure I was seen immediately, referred me to CPMC for an MRI and followed up. I would highly recommend her.

Dr. Tessler was impatient and extremely hostile during my appt — in short, very unprofessional.
The appt was for a physical, and she started the session by prompting me for concerns. I started listing some minor things (allergies, soreness), when she started rapid-​fire drilling me for symptom details, in a very unkind manner. It felt more like an interrogation than a doctor’s appt, where seeking information for a diagnosis is perfectly acceptable. I had never experienced this before, but soon got the hint that I wasn’t welcome. It’s actually funny to reflect on, with her eye rolls, sighs, and are-​you-​stupid stares. Perhaps an off morning? To give her credit though, this was very different from my first experience with her about a year ago.
To add insult to injury, she ended the session with ‘oh by the way, I’m going to submit this as a regular dr’s visit instead of the physical [this appt was supposed to be].’ Knowing full well the difference in out of pocket costs (insurance will fully cover for preventative services like physical check ups), she insisted she do this and I book another appt with a nurse at the facility. Total damage ended up being around $ 150, where I budgeted $ 0 and 2 hours.
Needless to say, I left feeling mistreated and will not be rescheduling a new physical appt at Bayspring Medical. It’s a shame because a friend had recommended the nurses in the first place, and I should’ve opted to see them instead of Dr. Tessler.

This place runs like a corporation.

I have been a patient of Dr. Tessler since the 90’s and she is GREAT!!!

Wanted to add a new 2015 review. I started with Dr. Tessler in 2005. She saw me through some very difficult health times with warmth and competency — she is thorough. I had to leave the practice for a little bit due to insurance changes, so I definitely know the differences in care quality out there. An added advantage is timeliness — my appts have been on-​time, yet my time with Dr. Tessler is never rushed. The practice insists that you arrive on time, but I know if I keep my end of the bargain Dr. Tessler keeps her end. I have so much confidence in her abilities, that I referred my daughter to her who I believe has had similar experiences with Dr. Tessler. Let there be no doubt we are lucky to have Dr. Tessler as a PCP in San Francisco! Others have mentioned the staff. I’d like to say that the phone reception is quite awesome too. Very nice and they let you know how long to be on hold — last call 1 minute.

I have been a patient of Dr. Tessler’s since 2000. I’ve had nothing but great experiences with Dr. Tessler and her staff.

I wish all my doctors were a attentive and caring as she is. It took me no time to get an appointment, she was on time and took all the needed time to work with me. The office staff was very helpful in scheduling an appointment that had time limitations. If you need a good GP, she is the one I would suggest.

Dr. Tessler is one of the best physicians I have encounter in any type of situation.
Her bedside manners are exceptional and I feel most comfortable with the fact she never makes me feel like she has to get to the next patient. I truly feel comfortable in all situations with her and her staff.
Speaking of her staff; each practitioner that I have encounter is very professional and personable. Each of them has a sense of experience and confident when it comes for these type of procedures.
The office staff is truly friendly and professional. It can get crowded and busy in the office but you feel like you are being treated with their full attention. I have had no issues with billing either. They have not made any mistakes in my tenure with this office. (That says quite a bit in my book!)
I truly recommend Dr. Tessler’s practice and I just all my physicians were this complete in all aspect of care!

I recently started going to Dr. Tessler as a primary caregiver. I had a few misgivings as some of the older Unilocal reviews were not all that complimentary — particularly about her office staff. Decided to take a chance and was I GLAD I DID.
From A to Z, and soup-​to-​nuts, the folks that work at Bayspring Medical are top notch. For my initial appointment, I was asked to come in a few minutes early to get my paperwork completed. I complied, and was then escorted back to the exam room. Had the obligatory weigh-​in, blood pressure and temp and at EXACTLY the appointment time, there was a tap on the door and in walked Dr. Tessler. As Cricket X and Courtney H have mentioned in their reviews, Dr. Tessler is warm, efficient, funny and competent.
My next appointment to get my lab results was exactly the same — arrive 10 minutes ahead of time, do the preliminaries and the tap-​tap on the exam room door at EXACTLY the time of my appointment.
Best of all and Dr. Tessler and Staff, I can’t thank you enough — I recently had a scare when I found a lump, and from the time I found the darn thing, to the time of the mammogram and sonogram and the diagnosis that it was nothing, there was total time span of FIVE DAYS. Coulda’ had it in three days, if my calendar had allowed me to come into Dr. Tessler’s office when the staff member suggested I come in.
One final note — I’m not sure what happened between 2008 when the office staff was given negative reviews, and now, but you women at Bayspring Medical ROCK!!! Five stars to each and every one of you!!!

Excellent MD and her office too, Dr Milkman great as well.

I’ve been going to Dr Tessler for 20 years, and I’ve always had great experiences with her! she’s been able to diagnose things other doctors couldn’t figure out and solve some pretty complicated medical problems. she’s always kind & intelligent, and I really appreciate her humorous side. I have kaiser insurance now, but I still go back to her & pay out of pocket to get her advice on procedures, medications and special issues that come up.

I’ve been seeing Dr Tessler as my primary since 1998. She’s super awesome & always takes care of everything I need, even in this era of paperwork heavy medicine. (Especially for one’s primary. She’s always cheerful & works hard to make sure that any ‘hum drum’ medical issues don’t fall thru the cracks while we are dealing with all of the major ongoing issues. The office staff has been ‘updated’ in the last few years & the current group are great and really on top of things. And if I ever need one of those get in an hour ago kind of appointment her FNP is awesome (Tara Reilly) and can usually see you right away.

I’m sorry to hear and very surprised that some people have not had good experiences with Dr. Tessler.
I have had the extreme opposite experience in the 6 years I have seen her.
She is very personable, knowledgeable, and fun. She takes her time with me as a patient to go over changes in my life and medical history as well as allows me to ask my millions of hypochondriac questions.
We always have a good visit and I trust her completely.
I also appreciate that she has my medical history on a computer and takes the time to review and update it while we are addressing new and old history.
Seriously, she rocks!

Dr. Tessler is great. She’s friendly, caring, knowledgeable, and has very good ideas. Her assistant these days is also excellent — never had one at any doctor’s office be so efficient getting back to me. And
the office staff has been fine the last times I’ve been in. The wait
time to get a physical is long, but I think that’s standard these days.

I recently had a retina detachment and needed to have emergency surgery the next day. The surgery cordinator called my PCP (Dr. Tessler’s office) to ask if they could schedule me in that day to run a blood test and EKG prior to surgery.
I was informed that the nurse had talked to Dr. Tessler and that she could not see me because they did not get any notice. It was explained to the nurse that this was an emergency surgery. The nurse’s response was that she spoke to Dr. Tessler and she said to «cancel the surgery» because she could not fit it in.
I was not choosing to have «elective» surgery, and am disappointed to hear Dr. Tessler’s response. I certainly understand she is busy and would have appreciated an alternate solution from her such as referring me a nearby physician. I had to get my EKG and blood test ran at the hospital.
While dealing with the lost of vision in my eye, her response and solution was a «clear» sign I needed to change my PCP.

I started seeing Dr. Tessler after moving back to the Bay Area from NYC in 2001. Because I am relatively healthy, I was her loyal patient for 9 years, but only saw her maybe 2 – 3 times a year, at most.
I finally saw the light and switched out of her medical group and out from her care recently. Within the last 9 years, I have had two major medical events: shingle (after my aunt died) and an unexpected pregnancy. You can’t imagine the stress I endured during both periods. In both instances, I could not get an appointment with her office. I ended up obtaining care from other medical establishments (an ER and another doctor).
A very close friend of mine said it best: I am not her client, the insurance company is her client, and I should not fool myself into believing otherwise.
I have since switched out from under her care, and am a lot happier as a result. Good luck to you if you end up choosing her as your primary care physician.

I began seeing Dr. Tessler when my other PCP crossed the bay to Oakland. Although I’ve only seen her twice, she is an amazing doctor. She spends plenty of time with you on annual physicals, which explains why she schedules so far out. She is super informative and caring. I’ve been having this stomach problem for over 2 months and demanded that I see a GI ASAP. (Currently working on that)
She is very easy to talk to and makes you feel very comforted, especially since you are practically naked while doing your breast exam and pap.
Can’t speak for the other doctors, but she is great. You might have to wait for her, but she is worth the wait.
The NP are also great. I never have to wait to long to see them and they seem to take care of the problem. The staff… well that’s another review.

Yes. It’s true. The front office staff at Bayspring can be a real pain. They can be surly and somewhat rude… but this isn’t a review about them. It’s about Dr. Leah Tessler — an awesome physician.
The fact of the matter is, I don’t go to Bayspring for the staff. I choose to go to Bayspring to see a physician, a doctor of internal medicine who has provided me with only *the* best care I could ever hope for, and it’s because of this that I would highly recommend her to anyone.
Great physicians, especially one you can completely put your trust in are hard to find. They’re rare. And my experience with Dr. Tessler and her team of nurse practitioners & nurses has been top notch.
As for the rest of ‘em? Turn the other cheek and kill ‘em with kindness. Better yet, charm ‘em with chocolate :)

I have been going to Dr. Tessler for two years now and have never felt like I could get an appointment with her when I had an «emergency.» Outside of the difficulty of scheduling an annual check-​up, you can forget about trying to schedule an appointment f you are sick or need a doctor’s on short notice. I was sick this week and was blown off by the staff and told my only option was to go to Urgent Care. What?! Really?! What is the point in seeing a regular doctor if I’m told to go to Urgent Care? The receptionist said she would leave a message for Dr. Tessler and that I may hear back from her if she has time. Seriously?! Anyway, I did get a call back and was tod that if I am still sick after 4 – 5 days that I should come in. Ha! Like I would be able to even get an appointment even if I was on my deathbed.
Time for a new doctor who has time for her patients…
Oh yeah, and although the office opens at 8:00am I couldn’t even get past the «We’re closed for lunch» recording until 8:45am. Nice… lunch?

This is the first review I’ve ever written on Unilocal.I was compelled to write this one about Dr. Tessler’s practice as a result of my recent experience with it. I agree with many of the comments of the other reviewers. Dr. Tessler does have a good manner, is nice, holistic, asks questions and is informative HOWEVER, what folks have said about never getting to see her and the incredibly rude office staff is unfortunately also true.
Last month I called the office 6 times trying to get a prescription refilled. After the 6^th time I asked if someone could call me back and tell me why it was not being called in. All I could get from the receptionist was that she «was doing her job and passing the message on.» Okay, thanks I’ll just go and die somewhere, but I’m glad you’re doing such a great job. Finally afer I just gave up I got a message from Walgreen’s 3 WEEKS LATER saying it was ready. I was never able to talk to Dr. Tessler or her assistant to find out why it was not being called in.
Trying to get an appointment with Dr. Tessler is nearly impossible. The last two times I tried to get in to see her they only had appointments two months out. When I went in for my last appointment I had to see another doctor in the practice who had me mixed up with another patient. And the kicker — the office staff said Dr. Tessler had appointments open and that I should have been able to see her!
Finally, the woman at the front desk who checked me in was having a fit about some patient being rude to her. Big shocker. She went on and on about someone throwing the paperwork at her repeating over and over again «I don’t have to take this.» Well all I can say is — yeah I don’t have to take this either. Time for a new doctor. We’ve recently moved to the Peninsula anyway. Anyone recommend a good general practitioner down here?