UCSF Spine Center

If you feel like waiting up to two hours or more after your scheduled appointment time to meet for a few minutes with a brusque, uninterested doctor, this is the place for you. I’ve had 3 appointments here with 3 different doctors and the fastest I saw one was an hour after my appointment time. He spent exactly 4 minutes with me. Next visit, I waited over half an hour past appointment time for an EMG, got taken back and got half the test done. Then I was left lying on a table in a gown in a freezing room for almost 50 minutes before starting to get dressed to leave. Doctor came in while I was dressing, asked me a few questions about how I felt, told me I didn’t need the test anyway, and let me go. This morning I had a 10:45AM appointment. Was finally «taken back» at 11:40AM and was told that the doctor would be in «in a few minutes». At 12:20, I got up and left. As I passed the front desk to tell the guy I didn’t expect to be charged, the assistant came out and told me if I waited it would only be another «20 or 30 minutes». Yeah, right. I’ll find a neurologist who knows the word «scheduling».

A disappointment. I will never return here again. I went through a slew of neurosurgeons and neurologists for many months in 2013 and 2014. «There is nothing we can do for you,» was the phrase I kept hearing. UCSF is a a conglomerate corporation, disorganized, and hugely overcrowded. I could only fight for my health for so long at this institution.
I must point out, I was strongly surprised because UCSF has such a prestigious image and is supposed to be one of the top ranking Hospitals and research centers in San Francisco. The lack of respect and dignity I experienced will never bring me back here. Perhaps other departments are different, I would imagine, but now I don’t care. They did nothing to help heal my pain except recommend Lyrica, which gave me additional side effects to my already inflammatory condition. That being said, UCSF neurology made me worse off than I am now. My dental bills are way up due to the side-​effects of Lyrica.
I decided to stop beating my head against a wall, trying to find any doctor in the spine center to at least listen to my back problems very carefully, but to not avail, they all simply did not care to put it on their list as a priority. To this end, I made no progress with my condition, only the development of new problematic and possibly symptoms that won’t ever become resolved. I can provide the names of doctors whom I have had the unfortunate experiences, just send me a message.
Just to reiterate, the worst part, of course, was the rude and disrespect I received from every doctor when attended. My issues were brushed aside, unimportant, and not a priority to them. I was offended, insulted, and I will not recommend UCSF Spine Center to anyone I care for. This is not how doctors should treat their patients.
Now I attend Stanford Hospital Pain Clinic, who are a world of a difference in regards to CARING about their patients. They were shocked when I informed them about how I was treated at UCSF Spine Center.

PA Fields is horrible-​I can’t speak for any other staff, although reception was just fine. So I am a UCSF employee in need of spine health care and had door slammed on my face, literally.
Things started off ok with the PA Katie Fields. I explained the trouble I was having from two fusions (L5-​S1 and C6-​C7 by Cobbs Andrews at CPMC), then she offered some potential causes. CT’s done for the fusions and MRIs for a herniated disc above my lumbar fusion and exploratory in the cervical region for disc issues. Imaging went fine and follow up scheduled.
I had a chance to read the results before my appointment hoping each item would be addressed in my up coming follow up (so far I had no reason to feel they would not since the report came from PA Fields via mychart).
Results: No obvious fusion of grafts in either surgical site, minor disc bulge at C3-​C4, apparent screw fracture in cervical endplate, scar tissue at end-​plates, lumbar disc herniation at L4 (severity?).
Ok so I was like great ;I. These findings definitely reflect the issues I have been having for quite a while. I was thinking the next visit would go something like…” Mr F, we have your scans and we have a good idea what may be causing your symptoms, here’s what we can offer at our practice.
At my next visit, Fields walks in and says…“Hi, my name is Katie Fields, Ill be seeing you today…” as if she completely forgot who I was. She then continued to inquire about my general health and I described my increasing symptoms, including severe dizziness and nausea concurrent with severe neck pain.
This is where it went downhill. She immediately said, «Your dizziness is a strange symptom and not caused by my neck fusion failure and disc issue.» She only said pain can cause dizziness. I disagreed as there is plenty of precedent for cervical disc/​vert pathology causing these symptoms, including MY OWN!!! (and sure pain adds to the symptom). On that I did mention I had a c6-​c7 fusion and that I had such bad headaches and dizziness from that, and that when the fusion was done those symptoms were gone immediately. Apparently, my experience is not useful here lol.
She then she continued to disagree with my objection, offering no evidence to the contrary. Without even discussing my lumbar results, the fracture from the screw, or the kyphotic nodules found, or the scar tissue build up at the end plates, she asked what I wanted to get out of my care with the clinic?
This took me off guard as well. Dismissive in tone as if I was asking too many questions about my results and different studies showing symptoms I have described. I said well obviously I would like to not have to have surgery and reduce/​eliminate my symptoms. What kind of Q is that? She then said well, we can do an injection and if that helps your pain, we’ll set up an appointment to see a surgeon and talk about whether to correct your fusion.
Huh? If the fusion has failed it will need to be fixed regardless. Why waste time with injections and waiting appointments of months? As well this is not practical at all for my work situation (not discussed). I mentioned they (injections) are way too risky for such limited relief that rarely works and sometime makes the issue 100X worse. But this had no effect on her, just rolled her eyes.
She ended by stating we we not getting anywhere with this conversation and that it may have been her fault! Whoa, lol. She then gets up hastily and slams the door very hard and was loud, it actually shook the room.
So in conclusion, PA Fields only addressed two scan results out of 4 (just the CT’s showing no fusion). I had to ask about the cervical disc as she was trying to leave… she was like, Oh its minor — not surgical (I was like great! why did you not lead with that…). No mention of what I should do in the meantime… ie. is it dangerous to have the fusion unstable? Can I go back to work, exercise? Or no mention of causes of the failure. Nothing.
Just wow. She obviously had her mind made up about how she was going treat me, or that she was wholly unprepared for my visit and I only annoyed her with my targeted questions about MY health. UCSF stop hurting your own people, or anyone for that matter! Listen to your patients, and your employees. If ADMIN sees this, make a change.
I suppose I will be scheduling to see an actual doctor next visit and maybe they will have a better practice about them. We will see if I need to copy and paste this review for a surgeon instead of a PA at Spine Center UCSF. And of course looking at second opinions.
Truly an unprofessional and is very disappointing as I have found so many good reviews on some of the doctors, especially one with insight/​experience with such failed fusions.
I had hope. Back to square one after an in house complaint for incredibly rude behavior.
Schedule AYOR

Had the pleasure of seeing Dr Dhall. He took his time to explain my condition and treatment options. As important and highly rated of a spine surgeon that he is, he made me feel very important as a patient and made me feel well taken care of.

Update written 2÷23÷15.
Had the surgery Nov 25^th, as they had a cancellation and asked if I wanted to come in early. Decided it was OK to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital, as my wife and two daughters would be there.
Arrived 9:00am the day of the surgery and navigated through a number of waiting rooms and nurses. The place was busy, but we still felt no one was treating us like just another patient. Everyone was very clear about what would happen every step of the way. The plan was to put two screws in each of three vertebrae, with two rods connecting three each, forming two rows. They would replace one disk with an artificial one, and «shave» another. They also planned to correct the scoliosis by about 50%.
Once they started wheeling me towards the operating room (about 11:15am), the strong stuff in the IV kicked in and I have no recollection of anything until recovery. Frankly, I had hoped to talk with the doctor in the OR before they put me out, but it wasn’t to be. I somewhat remember the recovery room nurse trying to talk to me, and family members being allowed to visit one at a time. The surgery took about five and a half hours, and everyone said it all went well.
I got up to the private room on the 12^th floor that evening, and remember very little. The next day (Wednesday) I was much more awake. The nursing staff was quite good. Puja and James were especially helpful and took the time to answer questions. My daughters were particularly protective and asked a lot of questions.
They used staples instead of sutures. There were 36 of them with about a six inch incision. There was also a small hole for drainage. Turns out the drainage determines your time of departure. I was sent home Saturday, when they were sure the drainage had diminished enough. A total of four nights in the hospital.
They fit me with a back brace that I have to wear for three months. I returned to UCSF in 11 days to have the staples removed by Marcus, Dr Ames’ PA (physician’s assistant). No numbing of the area. He just pulled them out. Didn’t hurt much, except for a couple.
You’re pretty laid out for the first week home. I started to work from home a little (email, etc) the second week and went back to work the third week. Definitely needed to go easy for a while. I had been used to my legs hurting all the time, and while my back definitely was hurting from the surgery, my legs didn’t hurt for the first time in almost two years. Very encouraging.
I had my first follow up appt on Jan 5^th with Dr Ames at UCSF. I got a full set of X-​Rays there before I saw him. This was one of those visits others have commented about — the total visit took about three and a half hours. I went in expecting a long wait, so it was easier to take. The visit with the doctor went very well. Again, he took the time to explain what was going on, and what to expect. He answered all our questions, and we set the next appointment for March 5^th. If all goes well, that is when I get rid of the back brace and can start physical therapy.
As before, so far so good. I’ve been very pleased with the care and treatment so far. I’ll follow up after the March 5^th appt.

We were referred here and at first things went well. We saw Dr Sibel Devron who recommended a test for my husband who has a mass on his spinal cord in the sub-​arachnoid region. I left easily 7 – 8 messages for Dr. Devron with her assistant Elizabeth and not ONE of those messages was ever returned. The patient was completely abandoned and ignored with no idea what is happening. This is an egregious malfeasance on behalf of the hospital and the doctor. I see many other people have had similar experiences here. It’s nearly impossible to understand what the foreign doctors are saying to us, when we do talk to them. After the initial tests are all over, NOTHING. No care, no concern, no returned calls. NOTHING but patient abandonment. -

Excellent Doctors for sure. The best and brightest stars work at UCSF Spine Center in San Francisco. The staff is super friendly, and the Physicians are top notch. In a learning hospital like UCSF, the physicians collaborate on your care plan, and you get the synergy of multiple bright minds dealing with your problem. The professors and residents alike are all fantastic. The staff and nurses are highly rated also.

Don’t even bother. They don’t have anybody to even answer the phones so it has been literally impossible for me to get an appointment for the last 2 weeks. Forget it. There are lots of other options in the Bay Area with great spine doctors who can at least answer the phone.

I have suffered with three-​to-​four diseases of the spine for over 30 years. It is only in March 2012, the «perfect storm» came, where I had terrible right lower spine pain, that radiated down my right leg. I have spondyliothesis, stenosis, scoliosis, and a fracture at the right lower spine, about L5. I am very active, and have a high pain tolerance. After the incident of running down a tennis ball while playing, I decided to seek help in my community. Two MRI’s Xrays, two epidurals, three separate PT’s, and visits to two neuro’s, I decided to send all my reports to UCSF. After a couple of weeks in December 2012, I was scheduled a visit in January 2013 with Praveen Mummaneni. He was most attentive and serious about my problems, and asked about a CT scan along with another epidural, to pin point the pain with the radiologist at UCSF. That gave me a bit more relief, where the other two injections gave me no frelief. I saw Mr. Praveen, in March, and he told me surgery would be required, mostly due to the fracture of the lumber, and that would not imporve. I decided to wait. I teach school, and as long as I stay limber, keep my core muscles up, walk and play tennis doubles, I am fine, but life does not deliver that way. I stay too busy with a husband and a high schooler, and began having more problems. I saw Mr. Praveen in April 2014 and have decided on the surgery. I had another MRI in March 2014, and it appears the fracture is increasing, allowing more arthritis to fill in. I plan to have the surgery for spine fusion through the front, as opposed to the back, as it is less evasive, less cooperative time, and less metal in my body. I am 59, will turn 60 in March next year, and I want to continue to play tennis after the healing process, hike and walk again. I highly recommend Dr. Mumaneni.

in july of 2013, my husband had surgery on his neck by dr. mummaneni. for 3 years prior my husband saw dr. m to be sure he was clear on what had to be done. so when it was time for the surgery dr. mummaneni pretty much did what ever he felt like doing without informing my husband. in the end my husband received a total redo of his neck all 8 disks and a metal plate.
we had been assured that he would not be in the hospital for more than 3 days. after being on the operating room for 9 hours my husband came out a different person. he was unable to breathe, speak or swallow as his cords had been damaged by being on the table so long. my husband is 76 and had only wanted a minor neck surgery correcting only several discs not 8. after a week at ucsf hospital i was told that my husband was not going to make it. his care at ucsf was horrible and he receives little medical care. he was transferred out of ucsf to sutter rehab for no reason. once in sutter it was discovered he had c-​diff, blood clots, pnuemonia and still could not swallow or speak.
during all this time dr. mummaneni never helped him with the after
math of all his medical issues. after getting out of sutter to go home my husband was back in the marin general hospital with a fever of 103.5 witnin 24 hours. he had been released with c-​diff,
pnuemonia and major problems with his heart. before all this he had played golf and tennis and really wanted just his lower back fixed but was told he needed both. when we looked at the medical reports of his surgery we discovered that dr. m left the operating room and let his assistants work on my husband, but the agreement was that only mummenani would do the operation.
a tubal feeding tube was put in his stomach and for almost 5 months that is how he was fed. to date his neck is very painful and when he turns his neck it is a sharp pain and he can feel the metal brace. he takes pain pills 3 – 4 times a day and they do little good. his life is limited to a little walking and he struggles to do that as he no longer has balance and has fallen many times. our experience with the ucsf spine center and dr. mummaneni has been tragic and we feel that he will never get his life back or be the man he once was. the care on the neurosurgery floor was simply the very worse. at one point his feeding tube fell into his stomach and no doctor would come to remove it. it took 8 hours to finally get someone and they had never even done this procedure before. so we waited until we could have someone who knew what they were doing. it turned out to be a very painful procedure and he was not given the correct medication to make it less painful. and after it was removed there was blood coming out his mouth and he was crying from the pain and would not allow them to reinsert it. so i phoned a specialist to come the next day and see what he could do for him. after this dr. saw him he apologized for the terrible care he was getting and he inserted the tube in the stomach which should have happen several days before but no one had made any attention to his condition. what made this all so terrible was that i was getting a stem cell transplant 2 weeks after the surgery and of course that never happen and never will now. my husband is still on the mend after 7 months. still cant swallow well, his voice is weak and he cant speak for long periods. but its the pain that has ruined his life along with having c-​diff for 5 months which could kill him if it cant be controlled. we are out of ucsf never to return and we have caring doctors in marin county who are taking care of him. he lost 40 pounds had 2 heart attacks and the list goes on. i am writing this to warn other people to be very careful about getting spine surgery at ucsf and to be very concerned about the medical care you will receive after your surgery which was non-​existence for us. my husband prayed every night at ucsf that he was ready to die and for god to take him. he couldnt imagine having any kind of a life after his surgery. i am sure ucsf is a good hospital in some areas like having a baby or getting your arm put in a brace. but be very sure about everything before you let any doctor operate on your back or neck. in a few months we are going to the mayo clinic in rochester minnesota to see if they can help my husband get his life back. in the future i would recommend going to see brian andrews at cal pacific or perhaps going down to stanford. there is lots more to tell but this is as much as i think you can handle.

Uggh. Just read through all the terrible reviews of the UCSF Spine Center and decided to give it a try myself, in the event the doctors are so great, it’s worth it.
Pressed a bunch of buttons to navigate through their phone system, and got a message in broken english and Chinese accent so thick I have no idea what they said. From what I can gather, the process is: see someone else first, dial 38 276 882 734 (gibberish intended) have something done then dial 8 273 948, and if they like what they see, something will happen… click, end of message, system hung up!
All your Base R Belong to us…
UCSF should be embarrassed by all these terrible reviews and this uncaring relationship with their patients.

In Sept of ’12 I was hit by an unlicensed driver while operating my motorcycle in Marin. I spent 4 days in the ICU with multiple fractures including of my neck. After my release, I was evaluated by a surgeon in Marin who stated that I needed surgery but he was leaving town in a matter of hours. He referred me to UCSF where I was evaluated by Dr. Bervin at 6 pm the next night. He offered to send me downstairs and perform the operation that evening or I could come back in the morning and have it done by his partner, Dr. Deverin. My wife and I elected to go home to process it and get a good nights sleep (in a Cervical Collar). The next day I was on the standby list for surgery but went to prep around noon. The following night and day werent fun nor were the next several weeks but I made steady progress everyday. Dr. Deverin was straight forward with me throughout the process and like his staff was always professional and honest. At the sixth month mark he pronounced me ‘fused and stable’ and cleared me to do whatever my heart desired though I’m going to sit out the remainder of the ski season. Im happy to report that I am able to lift my new baby boy above my head albeit with some difficulty as he’s a twenty pounder these days. Thanks to the skill, effort and care of UCSF Im able to see him, look at him and touch him.
As for the folks who write negative reviews for having sit in the waiting room for so long, I thank you for your patience. The doc’s were likely in the back, putting my life back together.

Easy check in but I’ve been waiting for the doctor a long time in the room. Appt at 9:45 — now 10:22 and no doctor. Tbc.
10:24 physicians asst arrived. 10:42 waiting for doctor again.
Well he finally showed up at 11:15, didn’t give a reason why he was late or even apologize for his tardiness, I got about 5 minutes of his time, he took a phone call, said he will be out of the room in 2 minutes. Very arrogant and rude.
Complete waste of my time.
Will not return.

I’m impressed with Serena Hu. No doctor has reviewed my MRI’s with such a careful eye and explanation that I could understand. I like her matter of fact & friendly manner. I understand that Dr. Hu is conservative when it comes to recommending surgery. She is doing a spinal fusion for me next week, L4/​L5. Maggie, Joann, and Susan in fiscal have been responsive and helpful.

Wow. After reading the other reviews I feel both vindicated and pained. My back honestly hurts from reading them and has never hurt WORSE than when I went back to UCSF on Monday. It has taken 4 months to get a consult on my back pain /​scoliosis. It took a few weeks and multiple phone calls to get an initial consult. Then a few more weeks to get an X-​ray. Then an MRI. Then another 2 months to see Dr. Hu for her «recommendation.» Well as nice, experienced, and smart as she was, all she could say to me was «you have the most impressively ugly disk I have ever seen.» This after waiting over an hour to see her and chatting with a nice resident who said that such an ugly disk must have come from an infection. Clearly, he didn’t read my report or he would have known that I had a compression fracture which would explain why there was no disk. I’m not even sure Dr. Hu read the report because if she had, why would she have been so shocked to see that the disk was gone?
Anyone who knows anything about the «Nocebo» effect should know better than to say such a cruel thing to a patient and when I called her out on it, I think she felt badly. Like others here have written, I guess that’s just how some surgeons talk and they think nothing of telling you that your pain will get worse and that things don’t look so good for you. If you’re going to say that, then at least have some suggestions about what to do about it. Nothing. I had to ask her to recommend a list of PTs and remind her and her assistant a few times until I got it. I tried to call back to get a referral to see someone who can advise me what to do about the pain and now I have to go through the whole process again of speaking to her surly assistant Maggie. Now surly is a generous word. Others on Unilocal have said «condescending», «bitchy» and «mean.» I feel their pain. I think these people must just be overworked and under-​mentored because I do think they are trying and some of them were exceptionally nice (Janet Hoover at the front desk, radiologist, etc). But, I honestly dread talking to Maggie each time I call and that’s not a very good way to pursue care. The net net is that we end up not going back, not seeking treatment, and taking pain killers instead. But I refuse to give in and will come up with my own therapy: pilates, yoga, meditation, whatever it takes. So don’t give up on your back and don’t let them tell you that you will have a life of pain. Shame.
Oh, and I haven’t even mentioned the 4 digit bill I got for the MRI which was supposed to be covered by my insurance. But that’s a story for another day.

I wish there was a NO STAR rating and I would give them.
I’m suffering from scoliosis (I dont know the degree) but the pain on my spine and my back says that there is something seriously wrong in that part.
I went there and asked them if it’s possible I do x-​ray or MRI to figure out whats going on in my spine. The receptionist woman was rude enough to laugh at me and say: We do not take orders here in this center! I was shocked by such a bitchy answer and only said: Excuse me??? What do you mean by orders? I only need to do an x-​ray to see if my scoliosis gets worse. She improved her mean accent a lil bit and said, well, you need to be visited by one of our doctors first, and then he will decide you need an x-​ray or not! I was like, that’s true but I have been trying to call here to make an appointment but the lines are busy and I couldn’t do it. I just stopped by to ask you guys… The phone number on their website is wrong. That’s not working…
After having a terrible conversation, she asked her manager Cynthia, the new patient coordinator to admit me. She asked me some basic info and said she needs to talk to one of their doctors and let me know what they think! Then she will call me to give me an appointment. … Guess what?! She never called me back!
But I’m glad that they didn’t call me back. When I read the reviews by people I saw that no one likes them! I’m so lucky that none of their doctors saw me, otherwise they would def do a surgery on my spine!
Thank you everyone for informing me of such a sham. And for those of you guys who are planning to go there I would say DO NOT GO THERE.

As busy as these people are, they still make me feel important.
The coordinator, Sharon Hoang, is very patient and understanding of a worried family. She also knows how to get things done. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate what she does.
Dr. Mummaneni has an awesome bed side manner, is confident without being cocky, and is easy to talk to. He isn’t afraid to ask a colleague to corroborate his findings. Understanding that I come from a distance he was super accommodating on my last visit and fit me in after a long day in surgery. I am extremely grateful.
Dr. Amin is his awesome assistant and is great at explaining things. I have a great visual (how I learn and remember best) about the surgery I will have. He obviously enjoys what he is doing and is enthusiastic about trying to find a solution and answer any questions.
We come from about 4 hours away and they take that into consideration when scheduling all the test I have.
THANK YOU!

One star for the appointment process (OMG!) and the terrible check-​in and waiting room atmosphere… Dr. Tay you are too good to be in this horrible, I mean horrible, environment. I had to wait nearly 1 hour which based on other Unilocalers appears to be the norm, if not a «short» wait time. The irony of the situation is that there are numerous posting in the waiting room and in the treatment rooms about how UCSF wants your feedback especially if you are not getting 5 star service. Do they read the survey people take?! Also, if you want your customers to take your «please fill out a survey card», I suggest you stop using Microsoft word-​art to make the darn posters and signs. Just tacky.
Minus the long wait and the terrible attitude from the receptionist, Dr. Tay was great. His bedside manners made the appointment worth while. But please Dr. Tay leave that ghetto office.

I’ve got a pretty severe case of scoliosis (curvature of the spine). Decided to solicit the opinion of the «medical experts» in the field, to supplement the input I’ve been getting from PT’s, Chiropractors etc. Did my homework and Dr. Serena Hu of the UCSF Spine Center came up as an expert. So I scheduled an appointment. What a mistake.
Of course, these people are surgeons. And in the classic American Medical System way, they have zero interest in educating themselves in anything other than the specific specialty in which they practice; in this case, cutting people open and operating on their spine. My blood boils as I write this so I’ll have to be brief. As a teaching hospital, most of the time you spend won’t be with the doctor you’re trying to see. I’ve been in severe pain for months now. I’m sitting in the waiting room and in walks a «Visiting Professor» some doctor I didn’t know and didn’t schedule an appointment with. He spent all of 1.5 minutes looking at my X-​rays, performing very basic neurological tests and, least of all, listening to my description of the situation. He then proceeds to say, with the compassion and sensitivity you’d expect from Joseph Stalin, that I’m «not a candidate for surgery and I should expect my condition to worsen each year such that by the time I’m in my ’50’s or ’60’s, I will likely not get around without the aid of a walker.» Then he excused himself and went to get the doctor I scheduled to see, Dr. Hu. While she was more compassionate, she did not broaden her discussion of the condition. She/​they offered ZERO insight or information on what I may do to prevent the horrible outcome Dr. Jerk-​Off described. I’ve learned infinitely more about the condition and possible treatments from the internet.
In short, I walked out of their borderline suicidal. Had I acted on the devastating prognosis they callously provided, it would have been on them.
I’m now putting together a comprehensive program of Rolfing, chiropractic and pilates/​gyrotonics. I hope to be the exception, not the norm, proving these cold-​hearted, short-​sighted egoists wrong.

Avoid this place like the plague.
During my 3 hour wait for my appointment to see Dr. Ames, I witnessed the receptionist being indifferent to downright rude to a number of patients. I saw another employee (I believe Dr Ames’s office manager) be curt with a senior citizen. I personally was in physical pain from sitting so long, to the point that I paced the waiting room to relieve some of the discomfort. Other patients were squirming in their seats as well. It is inhumane to make people with spinal injuries sit for that long.
The entire experience got much worse once I was seen by Dr. Ames’s nurse. She was incredibly condescending. I was treated like a lying, drug-​seeking addict. A simple glance through my medical records would have confirmed that I was telling the truth regarding my medication, but I got the feeling that nobody had bothered to look at anything other than my most recent MRI. By the time my consultation with the nurse was over, I was sobbing hysterically from the uncaring and unhelpful way in which I was treated.
The doctor himself might be a fantastic surgeon, but I got the feeling his examination of me was cursory at best. He said I should have an EMG and that was about the extent of it. After his brief exam, the office manager (I believe this is her title) reentered the room. Previous to my consult she had brought me a pillow and seemed harried, but nice enough. I can only assume that the nurse said something derogatory about me to her, because after the exam she was also condescending and short. I was told that she would be doing the referral for the EMG the next day and would contact me about it. I also requested that they contact my PCP regarding confusion over who should be prescribing my medication.
After my horrendous experience, I spoke to a nurse unaffiliated with the Spine Center. I was told I should have been given a referral to a physiatrist. I left a message to that effect the day after my appointment. I was not contacted until the following day. The message left by the office manager mentioned only a referral to a pain management clinic, not the EMG. I had several questions so I called back. One would have thought that I was committing a crime by daring to ask for more information. I was practically yelled at that she did not schedule the EMG appointments. I had to ask for the number to call to schedule it myself because that information had never been given to me. From what I can tell, they never contacted my PCP as I requested.
Dealing with the UCSF Spine Center has been a complete nightmare. I changed to a different neurosurgeon, because I would rather gnaw off my nerve damaged leg than have to deal with the condescending, rude staff again. They seem to have forgotten that they are there to heal people, not make them feel worse.