C. Benjamin Ma, MD

I'm have a complete delay of care because of Benjamin Ma... he says he can't do my surgery and wouldn't even give me a referral to another surgeon... by far the worst experience I have had with a heath Carr professional. His status in the hospital is reflected in his attitude... his arrogance is disgusting. it's a blessing to not have to deal with him again. My heart goes out to his staff... they do the best they can with his attitude.

One of the very rare exceptions to the major league practitioners
at UCSF Orthopedics. My close friend had a shoulder replacement,
his _​sixth_​or so, that day, and suffered an extremely rare «brachial plexis»
— rendering her entire left arm and hand unusable for 2 years+ +
— Ma then refused to discuss it, and stonewalled successfully until the Calif statute of
limitations on medical malpractice had passed. The brachial plexis was
diagnosed by at least one other MD at the _​same_​institution, and
by another non-​UCSF orthopedist…
Go to ANY one in that department but Ma!!!
(And NO, he is not «pleasant» in person, in ANY sense!) Add to this an extremely
flawed fluency in English — typified by his almost-​nonexistent notes, and
you have a sense of his skillset…
Almost all the other UCSF orthopedic surgeons are why UCSF is usually rated so high by their peers… and, UCSF non-​MD staff _​is_​invariably excellent, as others have pointed out… What I don’t understand, is how Ma even got on such a great staff, especiually given his lack of research/​English/​communication/​people skills…

Went back to see Dr. Ma for a 2^nd opinion on another issue in Feb. 2014. He really would not listen to what I was saying and made a totally off the wall diagnosis that was WAY OFF BASE. It was totally contrary to the MRI and totally contrary to two other Doctors who were shocked by his odd opinion. So, I really have to change my opinion about Dr. Mah. Way to dangerous to make such an off diagnosis without any tests to back it up.

Bar none, the best orthopedic surgeon specializing in shoulder surgery. He successfully repaired my torn rotator cuff, very friendly, accommodating and professional. After surgery, follow up calls and a recommendation to help alleviate related pain to a spine doctor. Combined, I’ve reached a very successful, though long, recovery. Would recommend Dr Ma to anyone. Staff were very good, professional, courteous and helpful.

Dr. Ma is one of the best orthopedic surgeons I know, if not the best. I personally decided to take my care outside UCSF, and have my shoulder surgery done by another surgeon last minute since my request to exclude residents from my surgery could not be accommodated (understandable, teaching institute, etc.)
But still, as a provider myself, I highly recommend Dr. Ma, and his expertise.

I’m almost feeling bad by giving Dr. Ma a bad review. Apparently many people here think he is a good surgeon and I have a feeling that he might be a really good and talented surgeon. He seems very sharp and quick. However, I’m really disappointed and hurt by his bedside manner toward me. I left his office feeling emotionally attacked, confused, and helpless. Basically, I have tendonitis on my both shoulders due to my job that requires me to travel globally about 50% of my time. Without even locating where my inflammation is, Dr. Ma’s response to me within one minute of meeting me was «quit your job and stop traveling so much». I can’t believe that is his solution to my problem. I thought I was looking for a doctor who can help me heal my shoulders and make sure whatever I’m doing or not doing is not making my condition worse. I was not looking for a life coach who tells me to quit my job. First I thought he was joking, then he started saying it’s my own doing to have my shoulder problem and he is the wrong doctor for me. Even if that is the case, I just wish he presented more compassion and patience, and acted like he cares about my condition. He just seemed to be a bit abrasive and made me feel it’s all my fault that I got my shoulders injured. Again, I believe Dr. Ma could have the potential of being a really great doctor that heals people, but please don’t forget the importance of human aspect.

The office is completely unprofessional in terms of notifying patients on wait times. My appointment was at 9am and was not able to see the doctor until close to 1030am, at which point I was lucky enough to steal 10 minutes of his time. For my 10 minute visit with Doctor Ma, the pre-​negotiated outpatient visit was $ 774.
I give the extra star (rather than 1 star) because in my incredibly short time with Dr. Ma, he seemed knowledgeable.
I would not recommend.

Dr. Ma just rocks — all these reviews are accurate. He is knowledgable and personable, highly competent. I felt like I was in excellent hands. I had meniscus tear surgery 2 weeks ago and while it’s soon to tell how well I’ll heal, the experience was nearly stress-​free thanks to Dr. Ma and the entire team at UC Ortho. His assistant Lisa is the most accommodating and helpful human being I’ve met in a long time.

What can I say about a man who changed my life for the better. It’s been about six years since my surgery but finally got around to posting some reviews on Unilocal.I threw my shoulder out about 10 years ago in a snowboarding injury and discovered I had a torn labrum. I went to see Dr. Ma who was very throughout in explaining my options and how based on my age (28) he recommended surgery to avoid having my shoulder continuously pop out. Long story short surgery went well! I even got photos and a video of the process. After 6 months of PT I am back to normal (98% rotation back)! Thanks Dr. Ma! A great physician you can trust with your life!

This review is not for Dr. Ma, but for the receptionist.
I’ve heard how great Dr. Ma is from friends and colleagues, and all the positive reviews further confirm his expertise. However, the receptionist that I spoke with (I don’t remember what her name is), is simply rude, unsympathetic, and unprofessional. I am not sure whether or not she works for Dr. Ma or the overall office, but despite my pain and all other health issues I have, I am not going to see anyone at this place.
Here’s what happened. I called in to make an appointment with Dr. Ma regarding my hip pain, and the receptionist answered with a short boring monotone voice: «Dr. Ma doesn’t treat hip injuries.» Ok fine. There are other doctors in the office; why not just suggest me someone?” I had to ask. She said there’s Doctor Feeley and another Dr. that I could see. However since I am a student and have an insurance plan through school, they need a referral and my medical records faxed from the student health center at my school.
Ok, I have seen many doctors at multiple health centers in the city and by far, I haven’t seen anyone requesting a referral and fax from my school health center. Anyway, that’s all fine with me since each place has different policies. However, what got me really angry is when I asked the receptionist nicely by saying: «I have been experiencing pain for a long time and it’s just getting worst and I don’t think if I can wait too long, could you please get me an early date? I am going fax the documents to you once school reopens on Monday.» She simply said «NO», like I’ve been begging for years! She then added «You must have your documents faxed first, we’ll then determine how severe your case is and give you a date?» Whatttttt??? I know how urgent my case is, just a couple of months ago, I run half and full marathons, played soccer, lifted weight, and now I am having issues moving my leg because of my recent injury. Don’t you think my conditions require medical attention? The last thing I want to do is to wait until someone takes the time to evaluate my documents and schedule me a «God knows» date. The receptionist simply displayed COMPLETE LACK of feelings towards patients.
Again I do have to reemphasize that I understand and respect the policies each office has, and this one is no exception. Of course again, this review is not for Dr. Ma. I would love to come see him one day for my orthopedic issues. However, I do not appreciate the kind of rude attitude the receptionist had.

if you ever need an orthopedic, go see Dr. Ma. He was recommended by 3 other friends who are either doctors or nurses and who went to him for help. I was very happy with everything.

I’ve had 7 major surgeries (lasik doens’t count!) and Dr. Ma is definitely the best ortho and possibly the best doctor I’ve ever had.
The UCSF staff is absolutely amazing including X-​ray techs, front office, recovery room nurses, anesthesiologists, you name it. All of them are top notch. I’ve even gotten follow up calls at 10pm on a Saturday night (after I left a message so it’s cool) and it would’ve been an instant answer had the surgeon not been in the OR when I called.
I’d send my mother here in a heartbeat.

I am really happy for everyone that had a great experience with Dr. Ma. I did not.
Some background: I had been having significant shoulder pain for 6+ months. I had seen 3 different orthopods. No one could figure out exactly what was wrong. There was some disagreement as to what my MRI showed, my exam was not clear cut and I am very hypermobile, which apparently complicates matters. I had had three steroid injections, physical therapy and had even gone on disability to rest my shoulder. Despite all of this, my shoulder was worse not better.
I will admit to having high expectations– I had heard that Dr. Ma was «the best». Boy was I disappointed. I left the office in tears.
My experience:
His resident was rude. He barely looked at me or asked me questions. He was more interested or perhaps distracted by their new computer system to pay attention to my case.
Dr. Ma was dismissive. When he recommended that I continue doing the same thing that I had been doing for 6 months despite the fact I was getting worse not better, I got pretty upset. I tried to have him explain to me why he thought more of the same treatment would be better. He couldn’t, just stated that it was his opinion and then he got up and left.
I guess I got him on an off day. I found a surgeon in Palo Alto named Dr. Frank Chen who was able to help me. The Mission Bay Campus for Dr Ma is a five minute walk from my house, but I’ll happily make that hour trek to Palo Alto again if I ever have a problem again.

I was less than impressed with Dr. Ma’s attitude or his diagnostic skills. I came to him for a 2^nd opinion after still experiencing pain in my shoulder 6 months after my last surgery. It was a bit soon, but I was convinced something was still wrong, so I just wanted to find out what it might be.
In our meeting, Dr. Ma refused to give an opinion even after studying my MRI. He just kept asking me, «well what did your other doctor say?» I answered him, but I just kept thinking, ‘I know his opinion, I want yours Dr. Ma.” By the end, he refused to give a diagnosis and just said to go with the recommendation of my first Dr. When I asked him about what could be causing my persistent pain 6 months out from surgery, he got assertive/​aggressive with me, leaned in a bit close and said emphatically, «I have no idea ! «
Now this pissed me off not just that he was getting in my face for asking a basic question, but he should be able to give SOME idea as to what was causing my symptoms. Give me a guess man, you went to medical school. I want to hear what you think. It’s why I drove 2 hours to see you. He then said, «well this just may be the best that your shoulder will ever be.» It made me feel like he just couldn’t be bothered.
In the end, I went to another Dr. recommended to me and he took about 5 minutes to diagnose that I had a torn labrum. After he operated, he even showed me the pictures of it. He was right — I still had damage to the shoulder.
I guess after all this I’d recommend that it’s your body. You know when something is wrong after going through months of physical therapy and it’s not getting stronger and you have pain. So don’t take the word from a doctor simply cause of their title or reputation. Get someone who actually cares to take a good look at you.

I’d been suffering from some rotator cuff issues for several months. The Workers Comp doctors I was seeing just weren’t getting anywhere and I never felt like they were really even listening or trying to help. Rather just give me pills and out the door. They eventually wanted me to have surgery. I checked on the surgeon and he was very poorly rated.
Unhappy with the service thus far I decided to go outside of the Workers Comp program. I found Dr. Ma on here with great reviews and gave it a shot. I took the same MRIs to Dr. Ma and he said surgery was not necessary and referred me to a great Physical Therapist.
Had I not chose to pay out of pocket and get a second opinion, I would have had needless surgery and never would have known.
You really get the feeling that you’re in good hands with Dr. Ma and his staff. I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

Before finding Dr. Ma, I consulted with two other orthopedic surgeons
(Dr. Callendar at CPMC and Dr. Pyka at San Mateo Orthopedic Medical group). I just felt like I wasn’t getting good care and had a really bad gut instinct about them. In Dr. Pyka’s case, he wasn’t able to
give me a firm opinion whereas in Dr. Callendar’s case he was like
«let’s schedule surgery for next week to fix you» without explaining
anything. Interestingly, I almost had surgery with him. Even Callendar’s admin staff was terrible; impolite, didn’t returning calls. Dr Callendar
wanted to shave out my torn meniscus and insisted on repairing my torn ACL with an allograft (cadaver tissue) without laying out all of the
options.
Dr Ma took a more detailed look at my MRI and concluded that my
meniscus was repairable and that if I shaved it out as Dr Callendar
wanted to do, I would suffer arthritis, pain and be at greater risk
for another ACL tear. Depending on where you tear your meniscus, it
can either be repaired (because that area gets blood flow — my case)
or it cannot be repaired (because in the other part it doesn’t)
This was a small, but critical detail completely lost on Dr Callendar.
Dr Ma laid out the pros and cons of each graft method (hamstring, patellar and allograft) giving me enough info to decide on my own without telling me what to do.
Before surgery UCSF nurses called and prepped me, gathered info and I went in the day before to see Dr Ma. That day he gave me all of m
prescriptions (Norco for pain, 600mg ibuprofen for swelling), a letter
to the DMV to get a temporary handicap sign for my car (which I never
ended up using) and spent time to explain the surgery.
Oh, one other thing about Dr Ma I love; he gives out his email so you can ask him questions directly. He actually responds and is all around a rockstar doctor; super academic and residency credentials, tons of papers to his name, awesome bedside manner, accessible and most importantly, great results. I am walking, biking, doing yoga and barely even have a scar a few months later despite three incisions.
UCSF is a world-​class facility with the best radiology machines, the
best staff, the best technology, the best residents, the best admin
and best PT staff. Everyone was amazing. One day I even saw the
receptionist go downstairs to place a parking pass on the windshield
of an elderly woman’s car because apparently, she couldn’t figure out
the payment system.
Recently, two other friends have been to him; my friends Susan and
Yuko, both for shoulder surgery. Both had great experiences. Another
friend, Linda, went to Dr Feeley who’s at the UCSF clinic with Dr Ma
and had a great experience there too.

Look no further. Dr. MA is the best you can get.
History: I had an ongoing rotator cuff issue, and was referred to a different Ortho by my GP doctor. The first guy talked about cutting me before he had ever done an X-​ray. I hated that experience.
The shoulder got worse, but now with some research I found Dr. Ma. He is an Ortho superstar! He and his excellent staff are highly patient focused, professional, competent and caring. Surgery is the last resort for this team, and they do everything to try and heal you prior. And the Orthopedic Institute is a new gleaming state-​of-​the-​art facility
After Phsical therapy failed and multiple MRI’s, it became clear surgery was my only option, Dr. Ma was the best. He was clear in setting my expectations and amazing pre, during, and post suregery. He is a remarkable doctor. Takes the time to help the patient understand what he is doing and why.
I am 5 days out of surgery now with recovery ahead of me, but I am so glad I had Dr. Ma as my surgeon and I cannot recommend him and his team highly enough.

This guy has a perfect score on Unilocal for a reason. He’s awesome. I would give him 6 out of 5 stars if I could.
A little background: Went to UCSF Orthopedic Institute looking for what is wrong w/​my shoulder (from what I hear, Dr. Ma is the go-​to guy in SF for shoulders). Dealt with an assistant professor & primary care doctor (Dr. Carlin Senter… also good) initially to diagnose and then met w/​Dr. Ma after my MRI. Dr. Ma doesn’t do diagnoses. He’s the chief orthopedic surgeon at the school. Busy guy, you have to pay a few co-​pays to see him, but once you meet him, you would have thought he had all the time in the world to see you.
The exam: The orthopedic institute is a teaching facility. So be prepared to get examined initially by a resident. They were good as well. Kind of freaked me out a bit by focusing on the wrong issue in my shoulder, but you know, they’re residents. When Dr. Ma came in he corrected him and showed him why. I have a rotator cuff tear (and a significant one at that, 95% of one of the four muscles was torn) and he answered all of my questions. I was concerned that he wouldn’t want to waste time w/​my questions so I asked his resident, but when he came in he answered all of my questions with much care and also included some analogies for those without medical vernacular.
One of the best things about Dr. Ma, in my opinion, is that he caters to what the patient needs. Before seeing Dr. Ma, everyone that I talked to made it sound like a surgery was a must and immediate (which sucked because recovery time = 6 months). But Dr. Ma came in and listened that I was a sports player and didn’t want to give up my sport. He explained that I could continue to play, but I was at risk. He then said that my age group (mid-20’s) had a high success rate from the surgery and that I could play sports again, but this sort of injury is career-​changing. Instead of saying I had to give up sports all together, he instead picked a route of suggesting that I reduce my level of competition. I don’t know if he’s a practicing psychic, but he knew exactly how to make me feel better about the injury, still knowing I wouldn’t have to give up sports all-​together.
If you have any injury with the shoulder, knee, or anything that involves orthopedics, go to Dr. Ma. This guy seems as though he can do it all. He even was able to explain an MRI to me and I now know what to look for! Amazing.

Never Fear, Super Doc is Near!
I went to another orthopedic surgeon who advised me that my knee pain and instability can only be fixed with an ACL reconstruction. Being a super skeptical super critical patient I opted for a second opinion. I brought a copy of my MRI with me. They took some X-​Rays.
Dr. Ma and a fellow did some exam and decided that Physical Rehab is enough to fix me. He spent his time explaining my MRI, went over the questions I had, and has super fantastic bed manner. Hey when the doctor is as good as he they can be cocky but he is super nice and awesome. Just awesome, I will refer everyone I know who need ortho consult to Super Doc Here.

Out of the gate: Dr. Ma is Ridunculous!
In my maniacally thorough quest to find the Best Orthopedic Surgeon around, I solicited recommendations from my primary care physician (Adler, Chief Medical Officer at UCSF), my allergist (Gundling, Allergy Practice Chief), and a close friend (Will Wood, PA and medical rockstar). All recommended Dr. Benjamin Ma.
Other ortho specialists had a hard time replicating my knee pain. But Dr. Ma asked me a couple of questions and pushed his thumb into my knee exactly where it hurt and said, «Is this where it hurts.» Ouch! Yes! Skip to the end: Dr. Ma performed textbook-​perfect surgery and it completely fixed my knee. A+!
Fast forward two years. Now I had shoulder pain. Tried cortisone shots twice via Dr. Ma which yielded excellent short-​term results, but eventually he surgically fixed that as well. Perfecto.
This guy is my favorite doctor. Of all time. In the world. He’s personable, friendly, interested, engaged, efficient and intelligent. If you have any knee or shoulder (or I assume, hip or elbow) pain, this is the guy you want to see.
Bravo, Benjamin!
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Note: Dr. Ma also works here: 1701 Divisadero St., Ste 240, San Francisco, CA 94 115
415−353−7566

April 2008: Me versus pavement. Pavement wins. Shoulder joint destabilized and physical therapy just doesn’t cut it.
December 2008: Dr. Ma versus shoulder. Dr. Ma wins.
He’s pretty much the most badass shoulder surgeon in the city. (I can’t believe I just said «badass» about a doctor, but hey, give the man credit where it’s due.) And on top of that, he’s super nice, and very responsive to questions and emails. He even called me on a Sunday after my surgery to make sure I was doing okay.
I can’t say that I want him to do more surgery on me, but if I had to in a me v. pavement accident in the future, Dr. Ma would be my go-​to guy.