University Podiatry Group

Dr Mejia is a reliable Podiatrist! He saved me from the general doctor’s wrong advice!
When I went jogging one morning, I stepped on a hard nut on the sidewalk and twisted my ankle.
My primary doctor at UCLA Medical Group was out of town, so I was seen by Dr. Anne Arikian at the same medical office. When I told her what happened she said, «You have to start doing exercises.» She demonstrated, standing up and down on tiptoes. She asked me to start doing it now. I told her I didn’t want to. She also said to get a rubber stretch-​band at Sav-​On. She sat down on the floor and demonstrated, holding the ends of the band in both hands and placing it on the back of the toes of the injured foot. Then, «Pull the toes back toward the body with the band, and then release. Repeat this several times and this will make your ankle strong. Do it as often as you can»
No way. At this point, I told her I wanted to see a specialist. I told her that her exercises will aggravate rather than heal my ankle. I asked her to arrange the referral to a specialist. She said she cannot refer to a specialist when she knows how to treat the patient here. She said the specialists don’t like patients sent to them when she can take care of it herself. She brought in another woman doctor from the same office. They both tried to convince me to start the exercises right away. I did not accept that. Finally, they arranged for me to see a podiatrist, Dr. Ottoniel Mejia.
Dr. Mejia took an x-​ray. After he examined my foot, he said I had a severe strain. He said my ligament was torn. He told me not to do exercises! He showed me a wooden model of an ankle and explained in detail what had happened to my foot. He told me to put ice on the ankle 5 or 6 times a day. He told me to eat a high-​protein diet like milk, cheese, fish, chicken, beef, etc to strengthen the ligament. He brought a white fabric stretchable ankle supporter to put on my foot right away. He told me to keep it on 24 hours, even while I sleep. I could take it off when I take a shower. He told me to wear shoes that would support my feet, like sneakers.
During the visit he was never rushed. He really seems to care about his patients. I had made the right decision in seeing this doctor. Dr. Mejia told me to follow up with him in two weeks.
Two weeks later, he re-​examined my ankle. He then said I could gradually start to walk on it at my pace. I still had to wear the supporter. «Start for 10 minutes. Gradually, you can increase the time. If it starts to hurt, cut back the time a little» I followed all of Dr. Mejia’s instructions. I was able to make a smooth recovery.
Two months after the first visit with Dr. Mejia, I was able to take a flight overseas. I appreciate Dr. Mejia giving me the correct diagnosis and treatment. I strongly recommend him.

I like Dr Lee. He came recommended. But for my last appt, I had to wait 90 mins past my appt time. And today, they sent my new orthotics to the WRONG OFFICE. save yourself from wasting your time and go elsewhere.

I’m unsure why there are so many negative reviews. I am a student at UCLA and was referred to here to Dr. Mejia. He has been an excellent podiatrist and surgeon. I have had both of my feet operated on and he went out of his way to make sure I was comfortable and healing properly.
The office is usually packed and the staff are friendly. I think there are many people who come here satisfied who don’t review via Unilocal.I recommend Dr. Mejia! :)

I called to make an appointment and after being put on hold twice for two long periods of time, I simply hung up. During the very brief conversation I had with the receptionist in between holds, she was very rude and seemed unhappy about having to schedule a new patient. Forget it!!! There are plenty of excellent options out there — no need to deal with rude staff.

First of all, this place is called «University Podiatry Group» — but it is in no way associated with UCLA. Due to the name of the office, I mistakenly thought I was actually getting treatment by prestigious UCLA doctors. I was wrong, and they are just renting space.
I came here 2012 – 2013 to see Dr. Mejia for pain due to Morton’s Neuroma’s in both feet. During that time, almost a year worth of treatment, I continued to come into the office with flip flops and high heels, and I was never instructed that wearing flip flops could be so devastating for my feet, especially since I have flat feet. I continued to mess up my feet until I went to another podiatrist who told me to stop wearing them immediately – and then I saw improvement within just a few weeks. I was not provided this simple instruction through Dr. Mejia, who instead told me to just wear the orthotics in my sports shoes when I’m exercising, but that my regular footwear could be whatever I wanted. Dr. Mejia did not provide enough psychoeducation for me regarding the condition.
Dr. Mejia also gave me, in total, 8 cortisone shots in EACH of my feet. That’s 16 shots total. I went to two podiatrists following him, and they were both appalled – and considered it medically irresponsible – that he would give me so many. They said I was lucky not to have suffered damage due to the excessive use of cortisone injections. Dr. Mejia also had a very surgery-​oriented approach. He said that we would try the cortisone injections and orthotics, and if those did not work, then we would need to do surgery. I have since looked up the success rate for the surgery, and it is frightening how many people develop «stump neuromas» and endure 24-​hour nerve pain for the rest of their lives.
Through the help of another podiatrist, I changed my footwear 100% of the time, I changed my lifestyle to be off of my feet (no more elliptical, running or long hikes), and I incorporate stretching and foot baths. My feet have improved dramatically. While it is still a condition that I am experiencing, it is now a manageable condition which I have learned to live with.

Dr Gary Dorfman is THE MAN” he is cool, assertive, caring, and simply the best I had inground toe nails for 25 years suffering, he gave me new look for my toes and no more pain… Love this doctor! God bless him!

Not impressed. The doctor I saw was ok. He tried to explain the foot problems I was having, but it seems like the solution for everything was «wear orthotics.» that is fine, but tell me more information. don’t just pawn this off as a magic solution.
here are the other problems with with office:
–administrative staff is very rude. i literally had one of the women scold me over the phone.
–they do not run on time.
–when my orthotics finally showed up, the office never called me.
–when i came in to pick up my orthotics, they just shoved me in the back, ignored me, and then couldn’t find my orthotics.
–even though they said they pre-​approved my orthotics with my insurer, i received a bill for $ 610 that I am now fighting.
what a pain in the ass. i will give this feedback to my PCP so she never refers someone else here.

I like the doctors but hate the office. It’s too busy and they don’t stick to their schedule. First, it takes 20 minutes for you to be called and then once you’re in the chair, it takes another 40 minutes to an hour for the doctor to come in.

Despite the name and location, this group of doctors ARE NOT part of the wonderful institution that is UCLA Medical and it shows. They are a private organization.
If you are a busy professional and don’t like to be treated rudly, don’t come here. Two appointments, both were almost an hour past the appointment time. I understand that emergencies come up – this was at 8:45am and there weren’t any emergencies. Compounding my frustration was seeing several people come in, get seen and leave, before I even got called to the back room (where I waited and waited and waited before needing to leave because of a conference call I couldn’t miss).
As I left, the nurse said the doctor was just coming to see me. Right. Then, because they aren’t part of the UCLA system, they can’t share data with other REAL UCLA DOCTORS. I needed to get a CD for my new doctor and they tried to charge $ 10. When asked if there was temporary parking so I could run up and get the CD from their office (as opposed to paying another $ 11 for parking), they said «I don’t know. I’m not in the parking department. You should call them.»
I have gone to UCLA doctors for a very long time. They are all very accomplished and professional (Cornell educated, graduating honors, versus UC Riverside). Do not be confused with people who rent office space and use the word «university» in their business name.