UCSF Hand & Upper Extremity Surgery Center

Dr. Amitharajah was the 5^th (fifth!) doctor I saw for a condition that confounded the previous four doctors. Dr. Amitharajah (and an attending student!) correctly diagnosed me for the first time with Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD /​CRPS). Her diagnosis enabled me to get the help I needed to begin to get well. I’m extremely grateful I came here and would recommend her to anyone in need of good medical care.

I got the worst treatment from Dr. Mohana Amirtharajah
I have pain in my wrist for over 2 months now, at first it was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and I was told to walk around with a thumb stabilizer.
After two months they decided it’s not carpal tunnel syndrome — they told me it’s de quervain’s tenosynovitis and they gave me a shot of steroids into my wrist! I walked around for another month and the pains are still there.
I went there yesterday and the doctor said only thing we can do is to have a surgery.
They never did an X-​RAY or an MRI scan !!! How can you tell somebody that he needs a surgery before you do any scan!!!
When I asked Dr. Mohana Amirtharajah why she never did any scans (remember this is ongoing for over 3 months now) she said and I quote «I had the same thing on my wrist and it worked for me so there’s no need to do the scans»
This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard!!!
I started researching online about the syndrome and there are a lot of people that physical therapy helped them — I was never offered to do that !!!
I AM NEVER GOING BACK TO THAT DOCTOR !

Just finished seeing Dr Amirtharajah about my hand/​wrist pain. She’s great. I never felt like she was rushing to get to another patient. She took her time and listened to my concerns.
I thought I would be sitting around for hours but I was in and out in about an hour (which is good considering I had to fill out paperwork, get x-​rays, etc).

UCSF’s Hand and Upper Extremity Center has been awesome.
First off — they run a tight ship. If you have an 8AM appointment it means you’ll be signed in and off to radiology (or whomever you need to see first) at 8AM. No sitting around for hours. When that initial work-​up is done, you’ll be brought to an exam room and see your doctor pretty much immediately… again, no twiddling your thumbs.
My initial visit went like clockwork. Follow-​up phone calls to gather my medical history before surgery and to give me instructions were equally clear and timely.
I went in for surgery yesterday morning, and it was more of the same. Accurate scheduling, good communications, and everyone from my anesthesiologist to surgical nurses, resident, surgeon and recovery nurses were *great*. No B.S. Good humor. Nice work all the way around. It’s been a long time since I felt like a medical org respected *my* time — instead of just their own. I actually *enjoyed* my surgery date.
They were very helpful in answering my pre-​surgery questions via email in the weeks leading up to it. They’re also great at giving you (digital) copies of your records if you ask for them. Rather than having me fill out a mound of paperwork and then waiting weeks to get my records to me – they burned them directly to DVD in about 5 minutes.
A RARE experience in the health care world, to be sure. Dr. Mohana Amirtharajah has done a great job being friendly, straightforward and thorough.