Dr. Douglas Chang, MD

I am an internal medicine doctor, so I knew a fair amount about my shoulder injury before contacting orthopedics at UCSD. Instead of sending me to a surgeon, they sent me to this PM&R doctor. He was over half an hour later to our appointment. He could not do any physical exam maneuvers that elicited the pain, which begs the question of how he can diagnose the problem. My PT did a far superior physical exam and gave me a much better idea of what was going on. At the end of the visit, Dr. Chang could not determine if it was joint or rotator cuff (it is joint, almost certainly a labral tear) and recommended randomly getting steroids shots to determine 'where the issue was'. He was reluctant to order more imaging. Getting an MRI or MRA is standard in this situation. I finally convinced him to order the MRA, but he and his office have been unable to do prior authorization for this image for 1.5 months now. My insurance company still has nothing from this. Useless and dangerous doctor.

If I could leave negative stars I so would. This unprofessional worst doctor I have ever seen in my life literally would not even listen to what my concerns were. Stormed out to get an X-ray and then lied on my medical file about me being reluctant to move my foot. I couldn’t move my foot because of debilitating pain and was in a wheelchair mind you. Oh and he told me to go walk on my foot that has been getting worse for the past 10 days, he refused to do any imaging to understand the root of the pain (my foot is 2X its usual size). Don’t waste your time go somewhere else. Made swear off uscd.

I was blessed to find Dr. Chang. Not only does he listen, but he engages you in your own decision making process. After a horrible experience with another ortho at a different facility requiring additional surgical procedures and being misdiagnosed because of ego, I was left feeling constant pain and pretty much defeated and convinced my only option was additional surgeries. Dr. Chang not only hears you, he keeps you informed of everything along the way, including potential alternatives which could totally prevent additional surgeries. At present, I am going through one of these alternative treatments and it is extremely helpful and he does not believe I require any other surgical procedures. He has access to treatments my other ortho never even heard of, which is quite shocking to me! Be sure to explore all ortho's, and make your final decision to be with Dr. Chang :).

Confused by the low reviews. Dr. Chang has been great with me. Spends lots of time listening and trying to figure out what's wrong. Good treatment plans for injuries. All around great doctor.

He did not answer patient questions and ignore request. He is totally a joke for the UCSD reputation. Do not waste your time with him. I switch to other health care before him.

This doctor does not advocate for his patients. Refused to do peer review with my insurance company, which has become common practice. Final straw with UCSD Orthopedic Dept.

One of the worst MD's I have ever seen. After making me wait two and a half hours, comes in the room in a huge hurry, doesnt listen, does no physical exam, and tries to rush me out. Had the most bizarrely adverserial condescending attitude, had zero interest in figuring out the cause of my pain, basically said the only thing he does is surgery, when the website claims he is into Physical Med. Ordered no follow up imaging. Useless and arrogant.

One of the worst doctors I have ever seen. He was so bad I swore off UCSD Health as a result.