Michael Karls, PA-C, MMSc

I waited to be seen for a little over an hour and was told numerous times it would be «any minute». I was in a bit of a jam and had to go to work and had to leave my appointment. I am on a medication that directly affects my hormones and was told I could not renew my prescription until I was seen by the doctor. When I asked to reschedule, they said the doctor will be gone for a month meaning that I will be be without medication for a month. The staff didn’t seem to give a crap about how this would affect my body and overall health. The fact that my health was of no concern to anyone made me burst into tears as I left the office. Michael Karls just rolled his eyes at me and said, «You can reschedule,» as I was leaving. The office staff also didn’t seem to care. I will absolutely never be going there again. I was shocked at how unprofessional that environment was. I would not recommend this doctor to anyone. I’ve never felt so invisible in a doctor’s office before or put in a position where I am looked at as if I am an idiot for being concerned about my health.

Life is too short to have to put up with the office staff. Rudy routinely hangs up the phone. My pharmacist called to complain how rude he was. Oxi just stares at you when you enter the office. Sometimes it takes her 2 minutes to say the word hello. I don’t like how they treat their customers when they do it to me. It’s worse when you are in their waiting room and you see them do it to one person after another.
Mike Karls is helpful and friendly and I wish the office staff followed his good example. I switched to another dermatologist that is even out of my network because of the office staff.

I am extremely upset about my experience with this whole place, and in particular with Michael Karls.
I had contracted a bacterial infection that looks like acne basically. All over my neck and shoulders and head. It’d been going on for months, and finally I saw my GP, and she told me that this was clearly not acne. She stated what seems obvious after the fact, that something that doesn’t go away in a week’s time is something to see a doctor about. The spots would stick around for over a month. And were not typical for me at all.
So I was referred to Dr Ellison.
I called to make the appointment, took the first available appointment. The day of my appointment I arrived at the address my GP had given me, only for the receptionist to tell me that there were no doctors at that office that day. Turns out there is a second location that no one bothered to tell me about when I made the appointment. It was another 15 minutes away, and I got to pay for parking twice! Woo hoo.
When I finally get into my appointment, the doctor introduces himself as Dr Karls. Even though the appointment and referral was supposed to be with Dr Ellison.
I explain to him that my GP did a culture and found it was this not common bacterial infection, but the antibiotics I was on weren’t working. He told me up front he was completely unfamiliar with that specific bacterial infection. He did confer with Dr Ellison, and he’d never heard of it either.
He asked me specifically where it was on my body. I said my neck, my back and my legs. So of course, the first thing he does is check my chest?!! That made me so incredibly uncomfortable.
He did the rest of the exam, took more samples for a culture, and then told me he was gonna put me on another antibiotic because it would work on acne. He seemed more focused on treating it as acne, not the infection. But said it should work on both.
Fine.
I took these once a day antibiotics for a month with absolutely no improvement whatsoever.
I returned on the 30^th day. Again, I was forced into one of these paper gowns and the doctor comes in. I don’t know why that was necessary considering nothing had changed. He tells me that that was the strongest antibiotic they had, and the only thing to do now is try accutane.
Wait. Accutane?
I ask how that would help the infection.
He says. You don’t have an infection.
I said. Yes I do, my doctor did a culture, I saw the results myself.
He says, the culture they did was negative.
I say. You guys got results of a culture from a month ago that showed a negative result and didn’t bother to call me to tell me this?!
Basically. This started an argument between us, and then he busts out with.
«I promise you I’m not withholding treatment»
WHAT?!!
Why would any doctor even have it in their head to say something like that!!!
My response is that I don’t think the results of the culture were accurate and that I’m sure this isn’t just acne. It’s completely different than anything I’ve ever had in my life.
Then the kicker.
He says, «well what do you think I should do?»
That was the last straw. I jumped up to leave.
And he got mad about that and says, «so what, you’re just going to leave now?!»
GRRRRRRRRR
I wasted an entire month letting this infection get worse, because this doctor was treating the wrong thing.
Now I get to start this whole process again with another dermatologist.
My advice is. If you have a medical dermatology issue. Find someone else.

This is good office. I especially like Dr. Samuel Ellison. I do not go to a doctor to be entertained, but rather for results. This I get from him.

I highly recommend Mike Karls! He did the cosmetic procedures of botox and juvederm. I was apprehensive about the procedure and he put me at ease. He has a gentle touch and a great eye for sculpting the Juvederm filler. I would definitely see him again.

Mixed feeling about this office… Michael Karls is great. Friendly manner, to the point. Never had an issue. However, the office staff leaves something to be desired. They are rather rude, and act like you are an inconvenience. The receptionist doesn’t make eye contact, doesn’t say thank you, and just looks generally annoyed every single visit I have gone to. Whenever I call and leave a message, I never get called back. When I do manage to get someone on the phone, they are often rude and short with me as though they would rather be doing anything else except assist a patient. I continue to go there because I like Michael and don’t want to find a new dermatologist but I dread interactions with the rest of the staff.

See below

Mike Karls is kind, professional and excellent at his profession. Do not hesitate scheduling an appointment with him, you will be glad you did!

I had softening from planters warts for more than 30 years and finally M. Karls after a few years of tring different cures he clear me from them. I am forever great full.

I will leave the quality determination to the reader.
My experience with this office:
First time patient by referral.
Went to my appointment, not a busy office, the lady at the front desk did not look up and make any eye contact with me and said «name please». I paused and said what?, she still did not look up at me and said again «name please». I said «good morning» she still did not get it and said «name please».
I then met a nurse type and he was very nice, personable and got me to the doctors exam room. I got into a very paper flimsy back tied gown.
I have sun damaged skin, that’s why I went and some glut/​back ACNE.
Michael Karls P.A. comes in, exams me in ~ 5 minutes and informs me that I do not have skin cancer, trouble is, I have very clear spots on me that certainly require more investigation and comment. he did say he wanted a follow up. I told him I had a few skin tags, he said «we will have to do those next time».
He made it very clear that there was NO TREATMENT for my skin damage, no options, no lasers, no procedures, no lights, just creams and «nope, cant fix that». He then prescribed a few topical things that would’ve cost me $ 400.00 to fill once.
Needless to say, Me: Going to get a second opinion.

Wow! I’ve had outbreaks of psoriasis all my life (of course, it runs in my family) and it usually takes weeks, if not months to get rid of it. This time, a friend recommended me to Mike Karls in the Castro, and would you know — with in a week all my psoriasis was gone because of Mike’s treatment! I say again Wow! I’ve never had it disappear so quickly! Thanks Mike! I know where to run to if/​when I have another skin problem!

I had an appointment with Michael Karls today and I am so pleased with the experience. I had a painful condition that needed immediate attention. I phoned Michael’s office on Wednesday and his helpful staff made an appointment right away.
Michael has such a personable yet professional demeanor. He actually communicated what the condition was and how he would remedy it. It was so nice to have someone actually spend time explaining my condition, then perform the procedure.
I highly recommend Michael Karls — PA. He clearly cares about his patients and does not treat them as «another number in the medical system». If you need dermatological work, he is the guy. Thank You.

In my opinion, Michael Karls, PA is an incredible dermatologist for the following reasons:
1. He is extremely knowledgeable in both medical dermatology and cosmetic dermatology. Not only is he up to date with recently published scientific literature, but it is also obvious that his experience has translated into incredibly intuitive medical judgment on a case-​by-​case basis. We are all different individuals and not diagnoses, so I consider this a huge asset in a physician/​PA.
2. He runs clinic very efficiently, but I always feel like he gives me as much time as I need. During the appointment, he gives you his complete attention and takes the time to answer all of your questions thoroughly. He will even indulge my curiosity for the scientific rationale.
3. He is down-​to-​earth, understanding, and makes you feel very comfortable. This makes it very easy for me to talk about my skin issues and ask questions. He is also empathetic toward my distress about the appearance of my skin because, although it is not a serious health issue, it still makes me insecure and affects my quality of life.
I would recommend this guy to anyone looking for a dermatologist.
Thanks Dr. Karls!

Mike Karls is the best! I have a nasty case of the elevens that I’ve been assaulting with botox for years with mild success. Mike’s injection style was totally different, and smoothed out those little buggars for a solid six months. Before I started going to Mike, I was lucky to get three months between injections.

Michael Karls is great! He actually sits down and explains the science behind dermatology stuff, so he’s great for you enginerds out there.

Went back to see Mike. Another great visit.

Michael Karls is a caring, friendly and attentive doctor who is very interested in helping his patients. The staff there are always friendly and your appointments are always on time. I’ve never had to wait more than a few minutes from my scheduled appointment time to see Dr Karls. Highly, Highly recommend him.

I really enjoy Michael. He is very patient friendly, gives great information, and respectful of your time.
The only area for improvement is one of their female front desk person is always moody and is my least favorite part of the office visit.

I had an annoying acne breakout and went to Michael Karls based on other Unilocal reviews. He made me feel extremely comfortable and took care of all of my issues to my complete satisfaction. He definitely made me feel comfortable and had very relaxing bed side manner. I highly recommend.
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I have gone to Michael Karls twice now and have been very impressed with the entire practice.
He is personable, competent and has helped me a lot.
I have been very impressed with his office so far.