Dr. Gregory Masters, MD

I had a meniscus tear and I went to see Dr. Gregory Masters at Kaiser Permanente. He did not suggest surgery at first but he wanted me to do physical therapy instead. I did that for several months. Only when the physical therapy did not help, he then we entertained the idea of doing surgery. Before the surgery, I was sent lots of documents to tell me what I needed to do before the surgery and after the surgery.On the day of the surgery, I was very impressed by Dr. Masters who came and had a lengthy meeting with me to answer all of my questions. His team was incredible. Not only were they professional but very friendly. Dr. Masters did call me in a few days to make sure that I was healing OK and to see if I had any questions. I recommend Dr. Master 100%. He is simply the best. His team is also incredible.

An Honest Review: Context: I am a 38 yo M who was in a bicycle accident and suffered a separation of my right AC joint. I am a right handed surgeon. I am a high level triathlete. My wife is a physician at Kaiser I have many connections to Kaiser physicians through friends and family. I also have several connections to outside orthopedic surgeons who have all been giving me advice. I have a type III AC joint separation. This level of injury is a little debatable on if it needs to be fixed or not. I’d say most people do not go for surgery. After all of my research and discussions with orthopedic colleagues I was still 50/50 on if I should get it fixed. I originally had an appointment scheduled with Dr. Crow at SJ, but cancelled as SC center was closer. Several friends within Kaiser had recommended Dr. Master’s for this type of injury. I heard he was also into endurance sports and I was very excited to be able to consult with him. I thought he would totally understand my condition and help walk me through treatment and recovery. I thought this was my guy… Phone Consultation: Dr. Masters called me on time. He introduced himself. He started the conversation by asking me why he had to call me because he saw that I already had an appointment with another Ortho Surgeon at Kaiser. I explained to him that he came recommended so I cancelled that appointment and wanted to discuss with him first. He continued to say that he was doing me a favor because one of his colleagues (a mutual friend) had asked him to call me. (Great, thanks) I believe Dr. Masters asked me about my injury and when it was. But I don’t recall him asking anything about my profession, my hand dominance, my hobbies, my goals, my pain, my function. He did not do a thorough history of my other medical comorbidities, medications, other surgeries or allergies. He continued by saying based on my images my injury is a separation of the AC Joint. He went on to describe a very basic explanation of the injury. He described my injury as “anywhere from a Type 1 to a Type 3 separation”. (I thought this was funny because it was clearly not a type 1 or 2). I asked him if he looked at the images and then he stated “yes, well I suppose its not a type 1 because that would mean the joint would not be separated” While backtracking, he began to say that this is non-surgical and there is really nothing to do at this point. I had mentioned something along the lines of “what are my surgical options” and he flat out said there are no surgical options and that he has nothing for me. He then continued to go on about some NFL player that had a similar injury and was fine after some physical therapy. At this point I had mentioned I am a surgeon, and a triathlete etc. and I think I asked him again about the possibility of getting back to as close to 100% if possible and I am willing to explore different options. He stated there is no such thing as 100% in medicine (know your audience. I am a plastic surgeon and I know about setting realistic expectations). The conversation began to get a bit heated as he was talking over me and being “big tough guy old school ortho surgeon type”. I decided to thank him for his time and express that I really thought we would connect and I was disappointed. I had high hopes for this consultation. I really thought Dr. Masters could relate and be personable and empathetic but he fell far short of any of those expectations. I was really hoping he would discuss more about all treatment options, the pros’ and con’s and what recovery would look like with surgery vs non-surgery. I would have loved to hear his and his patients experience with surgery vs non-surgery. The risk profiles with those surgeries and why he chooses one over the other. I was open to all options and NOT dead set on surgery. I am a logical person and just wanted the treatment plan to make sense for my life. Even if we eventually ended up non-surgical , as a patient, it feels better to understand why and have shared decision making with the surgeon. It is such an outdated mentality for doctors to just dictate treatment plans, particularly in controversial issues like Type III AC joint separations. Now I get it, I can’t force someone to operate if they don’t truly recommend it, nor was I trying to. But, I think he lost an opportunity to educate, advocate and form a good patient/doctor relationship that is so vital to being a great caregiver. I must also state that I do not enjoy putting negativity out on the internet and or surveys. After my poor telephone consultation with Dr. Masters I actually called his office back. I thought perhaps he was having an off day, or there was something else bothering him. I thought I would rather discuss this with him than write about it on a survey or review. I left a message with his staff for him to contact me back. I have not heard from him. If you see this Dr. Masters, call me. I will gladly take this review down. I have no ill will towards Dr. Masters. I am sure he is a fine surgeon. I am only writing this to inform people of this inadequate experience.

We were referred to Dr. Masters by another surgeon when my son needed ACL surgery. He discussed our options, listened, explained the procedure well and answered our questions. He provided excellent follow-up care and referred us to an amazing PT. Our son recovered very quickly compared to other patients in his PT group who had other surgeons. Ten years later his knee is strong and pain-free with barely a scar. My son returned to Dr. Masters for a torn labrum received during the firefighter academy with equally excellent care and results. Highly recommend!!

My personal experience with my scheduled surgery that never happened. Questionable priority of his patients. Don’t question him or the answer will be to blame the patient or blame another department. At the end of the day it is pretty much reschedule with me or don’t, he doesn’t care as he is already on to his next patient. If you are a one star patient then understand he prioritizes to his 5 star patients. Make sense? Yeah it doesn’t, I know. I have the right to share my one star experience.