I had an awful experience with Dr. Ellison. I must agree with all of the negative reviews on here, and my experience was SO unpleasant that I have to post this on both instances of his practice on Yelp (Ocean and Castro). I am not the type of patient that needs to be coddled, or treated like family; just treated with respect and listened to. The first thing Dr. Ellison said to me was "I don't do lists...you'll have to make a separate appointment for every question you have." This was bad enough (I had never seen a dermatalogist before and had three or four questions), but he was unfriendly, didn't listen, rushed me, and actually left the door open at one point when examining me. In short, he made me feel like crap. His staff, while very nice, seemed almost intimidated by him. I am not overly sensitive but I seriously felt violated by this appointment. I would never go back nor refer him to anyone I know. read more

I totally agree with everyone that has given him 1 star. scary, not personable, spends the bare minimum with patients. he automatically takes a guess at what it is and "here's a prescription, it should clear up in a couple days." i also got steroid shots for my keloids...damm he acted like it was simple! yeah simple for him because he's the one whos doing it. good lord....my sister was going to him at one point as well and the staff said she missed her appointment and said it was her fault-well in fact she had the appointment card which was the correct day and time she showed- they had it wrong in their book! idiots......since my last appointment with dr. ellison i've gave up and moved down the street to dr. lawrence cheung-great dermatologist!! read more

Dr. Ellison is one of the best, if not the best, doctor we have ever been to. He is an old-school doctor who really knows what he's doing. My husband went to see him about a growth on his back that his general M.D. dismissed as "nothing". Dr. Ellison did not think it was nothing. He did a biopsy and sent it to the lab. Turns out it was fairly advanced melanoma. He then referred us to an excellent doctor for the next step. My husband had surgery and is being treated and is doing fine today, thanks to Dr. Ellison's experience and thoroughness. He saved my husband's life. His assistant, Rudy, is also excellent and was very helpful to us during this stressful time. I went to the doctor myself yesterday for a growth that I wanted him to look at. First of all, I love that he respects his patients by taking them on time, unlike many doctors today. He looked at the growth and explained to me the three signs to look for in cancer. He has a calm, gentle manner. He scraped it off and sent it to the lab but said, regardless of the outcome, it is removed from my body. We are very grateful for Dr. Ellison. Doctors like him are few and far between these days. read more

Now, if you're the kind of person that needs your doctor to talk babytalk to you and coddle and cuddle you and pretend you're the sweetest, most important thing that's ever walked into his office, this is not the dermatologist for you. But if, like me, you can see right through sugary bedside manners and you are tired of dealing with doctors who are anything BUT straightforward and no-nonsense, then Dr. Ellison is your man. I've never been to a dermatologist before, even though I have lots of crazy moles that have popped up rather nefariously over the past years, my primary care docs have always been dismissive of my desire to at least get them checked out. So I took matters into my own hands. I walked in after a 5-minute wait. He shook my hand and I told him my situation and expressed my fears. He calmly told me under which circumstances I should and shouldn't be alarmed, and then, ever so formally in his elderly gentleman voice, said, "Now, direct me to your moles" (he really said this. how awesome is that!?). I found him to be professional, courteous in an old-school I'm-the-Doctor way, and willing to work with me. He said that my moles were not cancerous, but that we should keep an eye on them. I explained my insurance situation: that I don't know for how long I'll be able to afford Dr. visits and lab work. He understood instantly, saying that he could certainly see the need to err on the side of caution and that we also needed to take my peace of mind into consideration as well. So after a quick numbing, he took a sample out of the front of my shoulder, and then proceeded to stitch it up. He explained everything he was doing as he did it. He took extraordinary care to stitch me up well, too, saying "I'd hate to leave a scar on someone so young as you, and especially here [on my shoulder] on such a prominent place for a young lady." As he was applying the bandaid, he said "there, after it heals it will just be the faintest line. See you in two weeks." And they handle all the insurance stuff. I didn't for a moment feel uncertain about his competence or professionalism, and he was courteous and formal from start to finish, which I really, really appreciate because this is truly a new experience for me when it comes to doctors. He gets five stars from me. read more

Checking yelp for everything I do, I was weary that my primary doctor referred me to Dr. Ellison. However, I'm here to defend his practice. I got an appt the week after I was referred. No problem. When I got to his office, the receptionist was very nice and accommodating. I had forgotten my insurance card at home but she said, as long as I get it to her via fax asap, all would be forgiven. I was grateful because the signs posted clearly said I'd have to reschedule if I didn't have my insurance card. I sat down, picked up a magazine, flipped a couple of pages, and my name was called. Dr. Ellison came in within 5 minutes and asked how he could help me. I showed him my growing mole and he jumped right to a solution - literally pulling up some meds. He told me to relax and that it'd sting a bit. I didn't realize he was treating my mole until he told me to lie down. He administered the numbing med and it stung like a bee! He shaved down the mole (I didn't feel a thing), zapped it close, and placed a bandaid on the site. He said he'd send it to the la-bor-a-tory (hehehe) and call me in 2 weeks. He calmed my mind telling me it's nothing to worry about, it's most likely not malignant, and moles are common - I didn't do anything wrong to cause it. "Post-op" care was neosporin and a bandaid for 3 weeks. I couldn't complain with those rules. I was in and out of there in literally 5 minutes - moleless and happy. Dr. Ellison is a sweet, old school guy. I had a great experience with him and hope others will too. read more

Good Dermatologist While his appointments may be quick, he gets the job done. I no longer have any acne on my face thanks to his prescription and follow up. Isn't that what a dermatologist suppose to do? I went in the other day and they didn't have my appointment on file. Looks like the person who scheduled the appointment, who was really rude, didn't schedule my appointment for the time that I stated. Not a problem for Dr. Ellison. He took me for my checkup regardless. I didn't even wait long even though I technically didn't have an appointment. The thing that I like about Dr. Ellison is that he's straight to the point. He's not going to BS you and will just tell you what he thinks is the problem. He is the first dermatologist I've been to so I can't really compare to others but so far my experience with Dr. Ellison has been positive. He prescribed me a pill to take once a day and an overnight creme and my acne has not come back. Can't be happier than that. The medicine is pretty expensive, so expensive that my insurance company would not pay for the prescription so Dr. Ellison ended up prescribing me something less expensive that my insurance company would take. Not a problem. Overall, a good experience so far and will see him the future. read more

I have now seen the Dr 2ce. Well, once him and once his associate who is actually not a doctor, but a senior assistant. I came in for a few skin tags that I had on my face and a broken capilary. The "assistant" looked at them and suggested we shave them off. It burned a tiny bit and the one under my eye left a blue mark for a few days, but my face looks great (one week later) and the experience was very positive. read more

"GREAT!!! Great!!! great!!! Very professional, compassionate, and friendly...and a great staff. Dr. Ellison made me very relax and comfortable. And, most importantly, his explanations were very clear and he did his job. It was overall a very good experience. read more

This office just absolutely SUCKS! Even our local pharmacy knows him by his first name and his reputation of prescribing medicines that are EXPENSIVE...no generic versions and fast diagnosis and not too friendly. My husband has gone to him 2x and he seems like he doesn't have an answer to a recurring skin rash problem and just keeps on prescribing his EXPENSIVE creams...so nope...wouldn't recommend this office/doctor read more

Agreed, this office represents the worst in insurance gouging cynical medicine. I had two conditions I needed help with but was told by Dr. Ellison that "I don't do laundry lists, you'll have to make a second appointment." I didn't accept that answer, but after getting a prescription for an eczema I've suffered intermittently for decades now have been told I'll need to schedule a visit every year or he won't renew the prescription. This is how medicine games the system, they couldn't care less about the patients actual well-being and in my case uninsured status. read more

Don't ever go here. I had absolutely the worst experience and worst customer service ever. I went in for a small abcess which resulted in a HUGE accident. The staff were completely unhelpful and evasive in regards to it. read more

After three visits to him, I will never go back. I first went to him a few months back for two reasons. I needed a wart removed and also had a fungal infection I needed looked at. He actually seemed amazing at first. He was very nice, and noticed I was very nervous about the wart removal and he took his time and assured me it wouldn't hurt and he was right, it didn't. I was very impressed. But in reguard to the fungal infection....not so much. I had told him at the start of the visit that I had already tried Lotrimin and Tinactin and other over the counter medications. For the fungal infection he prescribed me Clotrimazole cream. That cost me 60 bucks as it was not covered by my insurance. Later on I find out that Clotrimazole is actually just Lotrimin. I could have got at walgreens for 10 bucks.,..which I had already told him I had already used and it did not work. On the follow up appointment, he actually removed a mole I had on my back, and when I told him that the prescription was not working he actually snapped at me. "I am already doing an extraction, I can't do everything in one visit, I am not superman." His tone was very agitated and harsh, and really caught me off guard. After questioning his prescription his whole mood had changed and so had his bed side manner. He was no longer calm and patient and gentle like he was in the first visit. I understand that mole removal can be much more painful than a wart but wow....He didn't seem to take any precautions at all with the numbing. He did't wipe me down with alcohol first or anything it was literally just lift your shit and he jabbed me with the needle. It was really painful, and I didn't expect the shot at that time. He then just walked out of the room didn't say anything. I was openly bleeding from where I got the shot and bleed all over my shirt and the table I was laying on. He finished the mole removal, and at the end of the visit when I was asking about the prescription again, he reluctantly looked at the fungal infection. He then told me to keep using the prescription ( I did not know it was essentially just Lotrimin at the time) and come back in two weeks if it was not better we would do a skin scrape. I came back two weeks later and he looked at it again and just said it was not time to do a skin scrape and wanted me to come back in a month. To me this was ridiculous. Three visits and the only thing he had done for the fungal infection was prescribe me something I had already used, and made me pay 5x more than it would have without the prescription. He is rude, and needs to get his ego checked. If he can not take somebody questioning his prescription choices then he needs to get into a different career or just retire. read more

I think Dr. Ellison & his staff have been reading, I visited him today & staff is excellent & helpful. Dr. Ellison is an old school doctor from a german background. He isn't Mr. Personality, but good enough as he is a professional person. He definitely knows his stuff & would recommend his services to anyone. read more

I can not find the words to express what a negative experience it is seeing Dr. Ellison. It is hard to believe he is still allowed to be in practice. The entire office staff at 45 Castro location, (PAs, Nurse, receptionist) are extremely dysfunctional; seemingly unable to communicate with one another. They are also always explaining loudly to Dr. Ellison how to use the computer programs and applications that are now ubiquitous to a medical practice. This is clearly a case where a Dr. has far past the point of retirement. The final straw for me was when he went off on me, literally shouting "I am not your punching bag and I won't stand for it". He said this in response to my questioning why his office was one month late (I have the time stamped PDF from UCSF lab) getting lab results to me and the necessary prescriptions. I had to call the office 3 times asking for the results and each time they told me the PA would call me back and the 3rd time I called they gave me misinformation telling me the diagnosis was different that what the report said. Another visit, after removing a skin cancer, he sutured the excision using one continuous thread instead of six individual stitches. As it was on my shoulder (which gets a lot of stress getting dressed, etc.) the stitches broke within 24 hours but I didn't know it because I kept it covered. The result is that it healed as an unsightly, large, bumpy scar instead of a clean line. Finally, one of his PAs, Mike Karls (I'll yelp him separately) examined some areas on my face I was concerned about and said "nothing to worry about, just keep going back to your cosmetic dermatologist for laser treatment". He did not do biopsies and I left his office feeling relieved only to discover many months later that the areas he examined were in fact melanoma for which I have had to undergo several reconstructive surgeries. Even Dr. Ellison agreed that his PA should have biopsied the areas. Stay Away from Dr. Ellison and his PAs. read more

Don't believe these negative reviews. I recommend Dr. Ellison to anyone and everyone. He diagnosed and cured me from a horrible skin infection when other physicians didn't know what to do with me. Dr. Ellison is professional, kind, a good listener, funny, and extremely knowledgeable. He knows his specialty. From the moment I left his office, I felt confident he was going to take good care of me and he did. read more

Dr. Ellison had to freeze a wart off of my very frightened 8 year old and he could not have been more accommodating. He was both patient and understanding. I appreciated Dr. Ellison's bedside manner with my son and will go back to him for any of my families needs. read more

Dr. Samuel Ellison was the first dermatologist I had ever seen. From a patient standpoint I was very unsatisfied at the way I was treated. Each time I went, I had to wait for at least 30 minutes and when I was seen, I felt rushed. On one of my visits I had taken time off from work to see Dr. Ellison and when I had gotten to the office the receptionist had told me that my referral letter had expired and that I couldn't be seen without an updated letter! I had scheduled this appointment a month in advance and had asked why they hadn't called me beforehand so that I could make arrangements to have my physician send an updated referral! I was very aggravated because I had taken time off of work for this appointment. The receptionist looked at me and told me that they get really busy and they cant double check on patient files. Talk about bad customer service! I gave her my two cents and never returned back! read more

I came to see Dr Ellison to have my skin tag removed. He took me in almost immediately and did not make me wait long in the room by myself. He had a pleasant personality. He anesthetized the area, snip, and cautorized the area. Gave me some aftercare instructions and off I went. Quick and painless but I have not uncovered my bandages yet. Let's hope it heals well without much scarring. read more

All good with Dr. Ellison, except for the lab fee. Altho I'm known as part of the Brown & Toland group, the sample was sent to a lab which got me an unnecessary $300 fee. "We'll have that checked out" should ring alarm bell$. "Where? In plan?" is the good response. If you too are B&T, the only right answer is LabCorp; otherwise, get out your checkbook. read more

Like other reviewers, I found the doctor's bedside manner curt and gruff. More importantly, though, the doctor told me his diagnosis without examining me or asking about related medical history. I can tolerate lack of bedside manner (par for the course these days), but I cannot go to a doctor who fails to conduct careful diagnosis. read more

Good listener, extremely knowledgeable, excellent bedside manner. What more do you want?