I feel kind of bad about this being the first review for Dr. Johnson (assuming he's not listed somewhere else that I couldn't find; he practices at the Tiburon address also, but there's no reviews at that listing either). As you'll see below, I have only a limited experience with him. Other people have had positive experiences with him ( http://parents.berkeley.edu/recommend/medical/Pedi/sf-other.html ).
My wife and I are having our first kid this fall, and we're trying to decide on a pediatrician. I have some concerns about vaccinations and vitamin K injections, and wanted to see how flexible he is about timing. So I gave his office a call, and he called me back that afternoon (which is pretty good response, I have to admit).
I am sorry to say that I came out of the conversation feeling frustrated and resentful. He barely let me finish my question ("How flexible are you as to the timing of vaccinations?") before launching into a twenty-minute lecture. He dismissed what he thought were my concerns as "make-believe," the product of some non-scientist's "imagination" that is gaining traction in the media and the public only because of the Internet. During his diatribe, I was unable to get a word in edgewise - I tried a few times (to ask questions, not to debate his statements) and he interrupted me each time.
I recognize that he had no way of knowing my understanding of scientific research, and felt he had to dumb things down for me - I'm an IT professional, I do the same thing for my own customers - but beyond that, his attitude was very clearly that I had very little of interest to contribute to a conversation about medicine. "As a person who is involved in medicine every day," he told me, all the concerns about vaccines are hogwash. Hey, that might be, but that doesn't necessarily trump my concerns as a parent - especially to the point that I'm not even able to express them.
Basically what it came down to was this conversation with him was everything I feared it might be in even bringing up the topic. Dr. Johnson was condescending, pedantic, inflexible, and much more interested in talking than listening.
On the plus side, he was polite (other than the interrupting), seemed to have a genuine interest in his work, and seemed to have a generally warm personality. If you're looking for a doctor who will tell you what he believes your child needs according to mainstream medical practice, maybe he's for you. Me, I need someone who I can actually talk to. read more
