Seebach Lydia M, MD

Dr Seebach is a sweet and wonderful doctor. I did not have an appointment and she took me in on a short notice upon my request.

Rude and distant. Perhaps she once cared about her medical practice, but not anymore. Did not even pretend to care about me or my wife (we went on separate days for a regular physical examination).
Typical inappropriate comment: my wife had to take off her top for the examination. She looked at my wife’s chest, then immediately blurted: «your breasts are really small!» Another inappropriate comment: «You are tall for an Asian!» Apparently, someone removed the filter between her brain and mouth — whatever she thinks, she blurts out a millisecond later. Not that her thoughts are professional to begin with.
Also, her clinic is old and dusty — please dust once a year or so, or you will cause your patients to die of asthma.

Initially I chose Dr. Seebach because of her geographically desirable location near my job in the Financial District. I have now been a patient of Dr. Seebach’s for 4 or 5 years. In San Diego I’d had had the same primary for almost 20 years and doubted if I’d ever find a doctor as knowledgeable, efficient and genuinely warm. Contrary to some of the comments below, I’ve always felt like one of her Top Patients without the saccharin overdose; sometimes direct is just direct. Also her assistant Lucine is exceptional at getting the job done and is also very knowledgeable and helpful. If you’re lucky enough to have her as your doctor before she permanently retires, you’ll consider yourself among the lucky AND healthy.

I thought she was an amazing doctor! I will miss her. She always listened and never pushed unneeded meds on you.

Dr. Seebach has announced her retirement. Unfortunately, all of the doctors recommended by my friends do not accept health insurance. There are now three tiers of medical care in the U.S. HMO, PPO, and VISA.

FYI — She’s now retired

I’ve been seeing Dr. Seebach for the past 4 years. She’s always provided me with prompt service and issued good referrals. She has a nice specialist doctor referral network going one can trust. From my experience the specialists have a nice relationship with Dr. Seebach and respect her.
She’s always there available to speak with. I just left a message last night and she called me promptly the next morning. She evaluates the problem quickly and finds an adequate remedy. She even seems to care about her patients and their lives.
Her office is also great in calling in prescriptions to the Walgrens. It saves a lot of time and hassel to do it by phone.

First, the pluses: You can always get an appointment, a referral, or a prescription, without having to jump through hoops. I think that is the main job of HMO primary doctors these days.
The minuses — as mentioned, her bedside manner is less than warm, and you may need to press a bit to get the level of care you really need. For example, some years ago I went in with debilitating back pain — she told me I had sprained or cracked my cocyxx and to take some advil, and it turned out that I had a ruptured disk in my lower back (she referred me to an orthopod on my second visit).
If anyone knows a great HMO doc, send him/​her my way. In the meantime, I’ll stick with Seebach since I can at least see her. Some people I know have doctors that don’t even see them personally, they just send in their PA.

I don’t know what’s going on with all the negative reviews. I’ve always had a good experience with Dr. Seebach (or at least better than I’ve had with previous doctors).
True, every visit with Dr. Seebach kind of feels like a first. She starts out the visit by having me tell her why I’m in to see her and then list out general concerns. Maybe she doesn’t remember me… who cares? I see her 2 – 3 times a year and she has a ton of other patients. I’m glad that she doesn’t assume that she knows what’s been going on with me, because it gives me the chance to think about my health and update her on the most current developments.
She’s also very respectful, never dismissive, and just generally nice. She’s a cool old lady and very knowledgeable about new developments in medicine. She also gives me a referral whenever I ask for one and she’s given me a ton of samples of a certain med because my insurance didn’t cover it. Love!

Is there a negative star i can give? apparently not. so i’ll just say 1 star. She’s very very very old. that may explain why she cant remember what you’ve been seeing her for, what precription she writes for you, or what she’s seeing you for right now.
With her, i have to suggest the remedy too, and she’ll play along, sweet lady. what good is that. i went for a general, and i had to remind her that i needed a lab test and i literally had to ask for every test — even simple things like blood sugar and cholesterol. When i went for my back problem, i told her abt the shootimg pain i had in my lower back and she told me to have an advil. Serously? i am 26, and i am not supposed to have such pain, right? then i said, thats it? and she asked me if i wanted an x-​ray. i said sure. That’s it. I found a fantastic Chiropractor (Greg Carb) through a coworkers recommendation and he fixed my pain in just a couple of sittings.
i brought up my inflamed knee. she told me to bend it. i did and she said. well you can move it. have an advil if it hurts.
migraines, dizziness & black spots — oh. take an advil. not even a question if i’d suffered some injury or trauma. or what’s causing it. i said i had a migraine and described it — she said — oh its called a migraine.
Birth control — advil? eh — no. i asked her for a brand myself. and she called in the wrong one to the pharmacy.
u get the drift right? i’m not going back

I saw Dr. Seebach in August regarding a swollen knee potentially related to rheumatoid arthritis. Not only did she not listen to any sort of alternative perspectives on care for autoimmune diseases but she had me almost screaming in agony when she drained synovial fluid from my knee. Her hands were shaking, she seemed distant and I had to recommend a synovial fluid screen for RA. Her response, «that’s a good idea, we should run the fluid for RA factor.» As a supposed specialist who has been practicing for approximately 63 years (yes, that is not a typo) one would hope that she would be more open-​minded and adept at simple tasks like ordering labs and handling needles.

I have had Dr. Seebach as my PCP for about a year. I have probably seen her 10 – 12 times this year due to a particularly interesting year, health-​wise. Even with all those appointments, as well as my not-​quite-​normal body structure (i am missing some organs and have one wierdly mis-​shapen one) she can’t ever seem to remember who I am or what I am in for. She also tries to prescribe prescription drugs even when i tell her that I do not want them and her office is damn near totally decorated with freebies from drug companies. She does, however, always seem to get me an appointment when I want it, even at the last minute. She has also given me all of the referrals that I have asked for, even if it took some reminding.

I like Dr. Seebach, although she can be a bit crochety, she is direct and to the point. She answers her own phone and draws her own samples too. You kind of have to love a doctor who answers her own phone.
I will say that she is very direct and her manner can be a bit brusque… so know that going in.
I’m no longer seeing her because she’s geographically undesirable.