Dr. Schakel is an excellent physician who really helped me. Unfortunately he has recently retired.

I've been seeing Dr. Schakel since the late 90's! He is kind and very experienced! He is consider the top expert in our area for foot and ankle challenges..including bad accident cases. A podiatrist had recommended that I have surgery to remove a bone spur on my big toe. Dr. Shackel proved to me that I didn't have a bone spur by x-raying the other foot's big toe and they both had a slight bump but no spur(s). He successfully treated my elderly mother's plantar fasciitis enabling her to walk pain free and avoid having to use a wheelchair. I have seen him for other joint problems too! read more

I visited Dr. Schakel to discuss a painful problem with the big joint of my big toe. The joint has been swollen, stiff, and increasingly painful for a couple years. I discussed this problem with three other foot doctors, and they offered no good solutions. Dr. Schakel said I have bone spurs on the joint because the cartilage is totally worn out. Like the other doctors, Dr. Schakel said shaving away the bone spurs or installing an artificial joint would not likely solve my problem. But Dr. Schakel suggested possible solutions the others didn't mention. The one I tried was great and very simple. He recommended I get shoes with a rocker sole. (I think that was the right word. Basically this is a rounded sole that lets me take a step without bending the big toe.) I am now able to take long walks without limping or significant pain. He also mentioned two other possible solutions: using a stiff carbon fiber insert available on Amazon, which prevents the toe from bending, or fusing the toe joint which also keeps the toe from bending. It's good to know that these options are available if the rounded sole no longer provides relief in the future. I got three pairs of ASICS Glideride 2 shoes, since my dermatologist recommended having three pairs to rotate to help eliminate athlete's foot. These shoes are great (I tried a different model of rocker sole shoes that weren't as good), and the advice from Dr. Schakel was excellent. Thanks a lot! read more

Mark E. Schakel, M.D. - rocker sole ASICS shoe - Sports Medicine Near Me - Santa Rosa, California

Dr. Schakel is a tremendous foot specialist and surgeon. He repaired a very tricky achilles tendon tear which I could not walk for weeks. I'm doing great now. Dr. Schakel is a super guy and his assistant Pam is awesome. read more

First of all, Dr. Schakel is a terrible doctor. I went to him because my lawyer said he is the most well-known doctor in Sonoma County. But he made a mess of my foot by hitting a nerve during a surgery. I had to sign on the contract before the surgery, so I can't even sue him. Every time I saw him, I was very depressed because he is not caring at all, and he kept saying the surgery was the only my option. He advised that because he can make more money operating surgery. For the surgery I needed to get there by 7a.m., but he was over an hour late, and he didn't even apologize. Then, before the surgery ended, the anesthetic ran out so I was grunting in pain, but he did nothing for me. It hurt so much. After the surgery I have even more pain in the foot. Now I am permanently disabled. But I was fed up seeing him. So I changed to a different doctor who is a lot more caring. I really regret choosing Dr. Schakel. DONT' GO TO DR. SCHAKEL!!! IT'S A NIGHTMARE!!! read more

...And now that I've had my foot surgery, here are my additional comments: "Dr. Schakel is great! He has a wonderful personality and spends time with me and my questions regarding my feet. I'm recovering from bunion surgery on my right foot I had on 10/17/19. The healing is going well and I wonder why I put this surgery off so long. I have great respect for him and have recommended Dr. Schakel to my friends and family who are looking to have a foot/ankle issue taken care of. Thank you, SRO, for being here for us!" read more

I was referred from Dr. McDermott at SRO to Dr. Schakel. I was having incredible pain in my heels for six-months. I went to see Dr. Schakel who was very pleasant and understanding. One of the first questions he asked me was I a runner? I have been for 10 years and he said about 8% of plantar faciitius was due to a running injury. I told him I wasn't able to run for the last 4 months. He got right on it and gave me a treatment including stretching the calf, loosing a little weight, purchasing better running shoes, icing and more. Within a few weeks my pain was gone. I am back running and although I can't do the large marathon runs I still enjoy a 6 mile run a few times a week. Thanks Dr. Schakel and staff. read more

Dr. Schakel was an excellent doctor for me. I injured my ankle falling down some stairs and was in extreme pain for 3 months. After a pretty simple surgery by Dr. Schakel I was pain free and I could do all the things I did before I was injured. My primary care doctor who referred me was absolutely correct, Dr. Schakel is an incredible foot and ankle orthopedic surgeon. He has great bedside manner and sense of humor. Dr Schakel's medical assistant Pam was really helpful through this entire process. She is very understanding and empathetic. read more

I was referred to Dr Schakel actually by the receptionist for another orthopedic surgeon in town. Whoever left a bad review for Dr S is crazy. I went to Dr Schakel while I was still healing from a broken left foot and his care was amazing. He was steadfast about me pursuing physical therapy ;even though I wasn't sure if PT would work for my condition, I went as per Dr Schakel's prescriptions, and it is working. Dr Schakel is THE BEST as far as foot and ankle injuries and care are concerned. By the way, the front office staff, nurses, and radiologists at "The Bone Palace" are all very helpful and courteous. For anyone experiencing foot and/or ankle trauma, Dr Schakel is THE MAN read more

Major Foot Surgery that took 9 months of three times a week wound care. He was very attentive and treated me personally three times a week for 6 months and then once a week for the following three months. I am very pleased and grateful for his astute attention to my case. read more

Dr. Schakel was referred to me by Dr. Bennette after I had a pretty nasty fall while hiking and broke my ankle in several places. I was in a lot of pain and the ER told me I most likely would not walk for quite some time. Dr. Schakel is an expert in foot and ankle injuries and assured me he would get me back on the trails in no time at all. He explained everything to me in detail and I agreed to surgery. I was on crutches for 6 weeks and then began to heal pretty quickly. I was literally on the trails hiking in 2 months. It feels as good as new. A great thank you to Dr. Schakel and his assistant Pam for making a stressful experience one that was tolerable and successful. read more

18 months ago my review would have been five stars. I thought Dr. Schakel was great. It was then that I had a cheilectomy on both feet at the same time. Over time, after the surgery, my foot pain got worse. I had pain that I didn't have before the surgery. I did not blame him for that. I didn't think he had done anything wrong. I felt it was just the severity of my problem and that we needed to pursue other therapies. Every three months when I would see him for a follow up he would reassure me and tell me that it takes a full year to recover from foot surgery. That gave me hope. But the one year mark came, still in pain, I had another follow up with him. He walked in the room and very rudely asked "Just how much pain are you actually in?" I'm in my 50's and I told him that I'm very worried about my future as I get older, how active I'm going to be able to be at this rate. I asked him for an MRI so we could see exactly what was going on with my feet and come up with another plan. He reluctantly agreed to do the MRI and told me that they would call to schedule. His whole demeanor changed with me. It was as if I was out of time, his time. After the one year mark, he was done with me. I waited three weeks for a call to schedule the MRI and never heard from them. I left a voicemail on his medical assistants line and still never heard back. I established with another doctor and couldn't be happier. On May 10 I had a fusion and am on my way to being pain free. I'm waiting to do the other foot soon. The way I look at it is, they lost out on two surgeries, which are money to them. All because he couldn't be bothered anymore. His loss! read more

Dr Schakel is a great foot and ankle doctor. He is one of only a few orthopedic docs who has a fellowship in foot and ankle orthopedic care in northern California. He has studied with some of the best surgeons and now offers his expertise to the north bay region. He is very thougrough and explains the medical issues with patience and preciseness. When it comes to feet and ankle problems he is best. His assistant Pam is great too. read more

He is a terrible doctor. I would give him a zero stars if I could. He is very well connected in Santa Rosa and very lucky not to have other doctors to compete with him in this town. He operated my bunions in both feet in 2011. He insisted in " just shaving them" without performing a full correction of the bunions anatomy. The pain after the surgery never went away and he kept me going to a bunch of follow up visits for a full year, just to hear him saying: " give it more time, come back in a few months". I got tired of going back to his office and stepping out of there with no solution. I had asked him to remove a callus that I had in one of my second toes. To remove the callus, he cut open the toe and like a butcher, removed the tendons and cartilage that were inside the main joint, now my toe is immobile, inflamed, deformed, and so painful all the time. It is so curved and twisted that I can't wear any shoes and it doesn't perform any functions that a toe is suppose to perform like: bending, flexing, supporting the body weight while walking.The bunions came back and they are bigger and more painful than before because he was so lazy that he just " shaved them". Between the bunions so big and inflamed and the toe totally messed up, I can't wear any shoes and have a really hard time walking. I saw other doctors who don't feel 100% sure a second surgery would be successful because Dr. Schakel just took so much out, that he left very little material left for a second surgeon to work with. Thank you Dr. Schakel for turning me into a handicap for ever and not be able to work nor ever being able to wear high heels shows for any special occasion. You ruined my life! I should have listened to my mother who told me to sue him from the beginning. I didn't know that you have only a year to sue a doctor. He made me waste that first year by making me go back to useless follow-up visits, so the time would pass by on his favor. Please don't go to this doctor. Please go to a doctor in San Rafael or somewhere else. It's worth the miles of driving ... your feet and life are so precious. Angela Guevara read more

DO NOT SEE THIS DOCTOR IF YOU ACTUALLY NEED TO BE TREATED!!! I saw the "Dr" on a monday. Was told I was to be scheduled for an MRI to asses a previous surgery. Two weeks later, I called THEM to see what was going on and was directed to voicemail that said they would respobd within 24hours. Another week passes, I left another message, three days later, still nothing. This guy is a joke. read more

This Dr took on my ankle. Many Drs. looked at my ankle and could see the pain I was in but would not even try to help me. The other Drs. said they could not guarantee the result. I know I could not live with the pain. It took two surgeries and my ankle is not perfect but I can survive. I have been told the ankle and the foot are the hardest ortho surgeries. I would trust Dr. Schakel to do his best and to tell you the truth. Sometimes people forget how bad they were and think a surgery will make them perfect again. read more

Dr. Schakel is a very busy MD. I saw him for my leg and he did some injections. He thought surgery was a good idea and without a second opinion (which I now obtain), he operated. Was it helpful? About 20 % better. It was suggested about 4 years later I try a different kind of surgery in the same area to help me not have a replacement. I liked the idea of not getting a replacement, so I opted for the surgery. This was an extreme mess. The second surgery was not a wise decision on my part, but also with future MD's chiming in (UCSF, for example), it was a poor MD decision as that type of procedure is rarely done, especially since results in medical journals per the other MD's seem to state that this surgery is worthless . Why did he offer the surgery? Too bad. I now face that replacement and am not happy I went through some grueling pain just before a vacation - and the surgery was worthless. I like him as a person, but now I am disillusioned as a patient. I've moved on, obviously. read more