Cornelia Pessoa, MD

This place is scary. I met Helen the physician assistant who tried to help. Helen gave me a sample of skin cream and the office called three times afterwards telling me where to buy the cream. Three different web sites and three different pharmacies later, I finally decided to give up.
Their effort of making money from you is too obvious. I would not recommend this place to any one.

I have been going to Dr Pessoa for several years for minor skin issues. She has an outstanding bedside manner and seems to be knowledgeable. Unfortunately her business is poorly run. Every time I have an appointment I have to wait in the waiting room for at least half an hour after my appointment was supposed to start. Often, I’m waiting for 45 minutes or an hour. I started booking morning appointments in order to avoid the backlog. The last time I showed up, around 9:30 am, there was already an angry patient in line ahead of me ranting because she’d been waiting for half an hour «and this always happens at this office.»
It takes several months to get an appointment with Dr Pessoa. If you want an early appointment, her NP has earlier spots but her NP is incredibly rude and condescending. I didn’t normally mind having to book appointments several months in advance but when I had an emergency, I was told the next appointment was in 10 weeks. It’s absolutely ridiculous for a doctor’s office to not have slots saved for established patients with urgent care needs. After about 5 years of seeing Dr Pessoa, it is doubtful I’ll be going back to her office. I need a doctor who doesn’t waste my time and who will give me an appointment within a few days if I have an urgent need. I work in the medical profession and am very disappointed with how her office is run. Its a disgrace and a waste of patient’s time and money.

I’ve been doing to Dr. Pessoa for about 5 years now for non-​surgecial treatments to hide some of my aging. Dr. Pessoa is great! She understands what I want, subtle improvements; no attempts to pretend I’m not getting older (I’m 64) She’s compassionate, competent — of course — and just an overall lovely person.

I booked an appointment with Helen because Dr. Pessoa was not available for months. Helen is such a beautiful person. She’s honest, direct and thorough.
I have three moles that itch and went in to get them removed. Helen looked at them through her microscope and said there aren’t any signs that they need to be removed. She suggested that I put lotion on them to see if that does the trick.
Wow, a dermatologist office that doesn’t go crazy with the knife! That’s so rare and refreshing!
Their rates are fair at $ 120 for the office visit and check-​up and $ 60 if anything needs to go to the lab.
From someone who has a ton of moles and has seen a lot of dermatologists, I can say this one is the best.

Dr. Pessoa is a compassionate and very knowledgeable doctor. She works on my rare and emergent skin disease and does not complain. My only complaint is that it would be easier to get an appointment with Hillary Clinton than it is to see Dr. Pessoa!!! I guess all her patients love her — and there must be a lot of them. She tries to get me in even if she is booked up because my disease can get very bad in no time flat. I see three dermatologists in an effort to catch one who can slip me in on a moment’s notice, but still I often just have to suffer. Dr. Pessoa truly understands my disease and is very gentle but effective.

Dr. Pessoa is a compassionate and very knowledgeable doctor. She works on my rare and emergent skin disease and does not complain. My only complaint is that is would be easier to get an appointment with Hillary Clinton than it is to see Dr. Pessoa!!! I guess all her patients love her — and there must be a lot of them. She tries to get me in even if she is booked up because my disease can get very bad in no time flat. I see three dermatologists in an effort to catch one who can slip me in on a moment’s notice, but still I often just have to suffer. Dr. Pessoa truly understands my disease and is very gentle but effective.

As someone who had a horrific and traumatizing melanoma diagnosis in the past, it’s very important to me to have an honest, positive and supportive dermatologist. My old dermatologist in Los Angeles (Dr. Ramani of La Canada) was like that, but the Nurse Practitioner I saw at Pessoa’s office did not have this personality unfortunately. She greeted me with a cold stare and then examined my entire body with a look of concern on her face. Note to docs and practioners who are dealing with patients who have had skin cancer: have some compassion, have a sense of humor, show some support. I probably won’t return to this dermatologist.

I arrived for my 9:00am appointment 5 minutes early. I was told, when the appt was scheduled, that 9:00am was the earliest time slot available, as they open at 9:00am. THREE people came in AFTER me, and went in BEFORE me! There is one doctor and a nurse practitioner in this office. Explain that. I was finally called in 20 minutes later, only to be told, «The nurse practitioner will see you when she’s ready.» When she’s ready!?! How about «soon», «as soon as possible» or, here’s an idea, when she was scheduled to see me at 9? The nurse practitioner didn’t even know what she was seeing me for. She asked about a minor issue I had mentioned over a year before! Unprofessional. They get one star for allowing me to cancel, after such poor service, and refunding my copay. If you’re a potential new patient… Go somewhere else!

I changed my birth control and developed acne. Plus I never had a formal dermatologist and being a young woman, I needed one!
I had an appointment with Helen. She prescribed me a pill, day cream and night cream.
Everything was working great until my skin had a bad reaction to the night cream.
Then I called and complained about my reaction and Dr. Pessoa wanted to see me the next day.
I really appreciated her promptness about dealing with my issue (my skin was itching and I was taking Claritin to cope).
So I met with Dr. Pessoa, she’s lovely. She gave me small samples of a steroid cream to use until my reaction goes away. Then I need to apply the night cream twice a week.
Anyway, my copay is $ 20 which makes it easy to like this office for my skin needs! The staff is always pleasant too. They even watched me walk to my car at night and yelled goodnight. I absolutely loved that they care about you and want you to be safe. Super awesome.

I saw Helen a year ago.
Coming to this office was my second trip to a dermatologist’s office for the same situation. My first trip was to a different Dermatologist my doctor recommended who was horrible. I was appalled they even sent me there. They were more interested in selling botox services then being able to help me with my skin condition and couldn’t give me an answer to what it was. They didn’t even want to take a skin sample to help find out because it could leave a scar! I had scabs all over my body and was miserable. At this point I could care less about a little scar and just wanted to find out what was wrong with my body and get my life back to normal. I took matters into my own hands and looked on Unilocal saw the ratings and review and made an appointment with this office.
As others have said the wait for Dr. Pessoa was considerably long so I went with Helen and was able to get seen much faster. Helen was great. So warm and friendly. She really cared about what was going on with my skin. She knew what it was and told me but wanted a second opinion so she brought Dr. Pessoa in for one second and the moment she saw my skin she new exactly what it was. The apartment I was living in at the time in Berkeley was infested with rat mites and because the cat was no longer there to keep the rats at bay, I was being attacked and they only pick one person. I was the lucky one. They took a skin sample when they asked if I wanted one just to be sure to make my mind feel at ease. I have a tiny little scar on my underpants line and couldn’t care less. Every time I see it, it reminds me that I was helped to get better and now I am.
I will be making another appointment with Helen today for a bump on my scalp that has been there for a month. My general practitioner said its just a pimple but it doesn’t seem like a pimple and I want a second opinion from someone I trust. I guess I should find a new practitioner.
l I recommend this office for Dermatology and skin situations. They are nice, they care and they help find the answer.

Dr. Pessoa is one of the best MD’s I’ve ever had. She’s been my dermatologist since I was 15. In order to get an appointment you may sometimes have to wait for 2 months, which doesn’t help if you’ve had an allergic reaction to something. I really prefer not to see Hellen. There is nothing wrong with her, it’s just that I would much rather see Dr. Pessoa then the nurse practitioner. Dr. Pessoa is very educated, she is extremely friendly and will give you the right treatment every time. I recommend Dr. Pessoa 100%. I just hope they can do something about making appointments available for their long time patients.

Preface: I saw Helen Chodsky since Cornelia wasn’t taking new patients for a few months and Helen could see me within a week. So, win on her part. BUT.
She had an awful personality and couldn’t relate to me. I’m typically a nice person, especially to those that are dealing with important stuff like my health, but she acted so aloof and condescending. It wasn’t until I pried information out of her during the last 5 minutes of the appointment that we had in common and caused her to crack a smile and warmed up some. Not what you want in a dermatologist.
I missed an appointment because I was out of the state and forgot to give the office a call to let them know, okay — my fault, I know. However charging $ 25 for the FIRST TIME it happens? C’mon. What’s even worse is they sent me a bill with the fee and didn’t include a ‘due by’ date. Ummm, when am I supposed to have this paid? It said they billed my insurance and $ 0 was due so I assumed (hesitantly) that it had been taken care of. One month later I got a reminder to pay the $ 25. Still no due date! Just let me know when I need to pay the thing and I’ll pay it. Don’t keep sending me reminders saying I’m past due when you didn’t even include a due by date to begin with. Get it together.
Not a fan. Will NOT be going back.

I came to Dr. Cornelia’s office with a dermatological issue and felt that I was just sped through to her assistant doctor. Dr. Cornelia was nowhere to be found, despite having asked to see her when booking my appointment. A russian lady saw me who’s name escapes me at the moment. She spent all of five minutes telling me my problem and how I need to fix it in her professional opinion. She spent more time writing the prescriptions and suggesting expensive tests for me to take. When I asked her if the tests were necessary ($ 150) she said in her professional experience she knew what it was but this was standard and I should just do it. Thanks? Way to make a patient feel like he’s just a money bag.
Aside from that the staff was very friendly, even when there was some issues with my health care provider.

Had an experience recently that made me question Dr. Pessoa’s abilities as a diagnostician.

I’ve only ever seen the nurse practitioner for mole checks, but she has always been very thorough. She’s very good about documenting problems and referring to the documentation the next time I come in so I don’t have to reexplain everything. She is also always happy to answer any questions I might have about my skin (which sometimes leads to appointments running late) and I never feel rushed out the door after she’s done checking.
NOTE: The parking lot for the office is cash only.

What I learned from this visit to Dr. Pessoa/Helen’s office? Never squeeze what I thought was a pimple and kept on touching, peeling it. It turned into a nasty looking wart on my cheek.
I thought it’d go away after a while, but when it didn’t after 4 months, I knew I had to seek professional help. So I checked Unilocal and found Dr. Pessoa in the area. However, an appointment with her would take at least 3 months so I opted to see Helen, her «co-​pilot».
The front office looked like the waiting room of a posh spa. It smelled fresh and inviting, not the antiseptic, sterile, institutional feel of a general hospital. I hardly had a chance to sit down and leaf through magazines when I was called to be seen.
Helen and her helpful assistant came into the office and examined what had become a wart on my face. They took photos and looked concerned, wanted to do a biopsy. I was only thinking of the cost, so I asked if I could just go to CVS and get one of those «freeze your wart off» thing. «But it’s your FACE!» they exclaimed, not believing the disregard I have on my own appearance.
Not that I didn’t believe in Helen’s authority, but she did call in Dr. Pessoa right away and took a look at it, trying to convince me to do a biopsy — in case if it’s something nasty. So I went for it. Helen was quite skilled in injecting local anesthesia around it and quickly sliced off the nasty wart. I was sent home with a bandaid and packs of healing ointment.
She then said she would let me know of the autopsy result as soon as it was available in case if I needed to go in.
Like a miracle, the «wart that once was» scabbed over in a day or two then disappeared all together. A week later, I received a personal call from Helen telling me the result of the biopsy was normal.
I am extremely impressed with the service. The staff were all very wonderful. They didn’t recommend products I didn’t need like some dubious spas. Helen’s personal phone call really tipped the scale. It wasn’t some disaffected staff making regular calls with their monotone voice. In addition, as it turns out, the out of pocket cost was minimal, better than any normal office visit. The lab fee was quite reasonable as well. All in all, it was an excellent visit. And I am grateful that I don’t have the «Fu Manchu» look anymore.
Thanks! Not sure I want to go back, but if I have some problems, you’ll definitely be my first choice for dermatologists.

Very positive experience as a new patient. The receptionist suggested I make an appointment with the Physician Assistant, Helen, because Dr. Pessoa was booked out for several months. Saw Helen the next day, and she was nice and very helpful — she is really more like a Doctor herself than an Assistant. She thought my mole was worrying enough to warrant a visit with Dr. Pessoa, and got me an appointment without waiting the several months otherwise required. Came back a few weeks later to see Dr. Pessoa, who agreed it should be removed, and removed the mole that same day.
Professional office, I have found my go to dermatologists!

She’s very personable, but unfortunately her prolonged treatment was horrible and wrong for my child who first went in about a growth on a finger that she diagnosed as a wart. For months, the poor kid was directed by her to see her weekly. The doctor on each visit applied a very toxic substance to it that was extraordinarily painful (burned). The finger got more and more grotesque looking. When I asked her why, she said it was a stubborn wart, and needed more of the «treatment».
Finally I took my child to another derm who said that the finger disfiguration was due to the corrosive treatment that the previous doc had weekly applied over this long period of time. Moreover, there was no wart to treat! (I’m guessing that perhaps there was one at the start, and it was long ago burnt off by the chemical, but if anything, the finger itself was now being eaten away by Dr. P’s continued treatment.) What Dr. P treated on the finger by this time was the visible damage due to whatever stuff she was putting onto the finger.
Happily, eventually after seeing the new derm, who treated the damage from the previous treatment, the finger began to heal, ultimately it totally healed and my child was no longer subject to the excruciating pain of Dr. P’s treatments.
So, all in all the mis-​diagnosis resulted in massive waste of time /​money, needless and massive physical pain, and disfiguration. Plus, I felt really guilty to my kid for not having the common sense much earlier to question this insane and excruciating treatment and subjecting him to having his finger literally chemically burned away.

I’ve never seen Dr. Pessoa because she’s booked pretty solid regarding new patients, but I have seen Helen Petros, her nurse practitioner, twice so far.
Helen is amazing — very friendly, informative but not condescending, and absolutely ready to answer any question. She was considerate of my budget as a student, trying to find medications for my acne that would be effective but wouldn’t break my budget.
A problem I often have with doctors/​etc is that they’re usually so busy that I feel like they’re rushing out the door to another patient as soon as they feel like they’re finished with me, and often I have additional questions that go unanswered. Helen was the ABSOLUTE OPPOSITE — I felt very attended to, she answered all of my questions in detail, and I didn’t feel like I was being rushed out of the room ever.
I agree with one of the reviews above — the place is spotless and the waiting room is very homey, making the whole office very inviting.
In terms of waiting time, I once got there 45 minutes early by accident, and they fit me in within fifteen minutes.
All in all, a great office, wonderful people, and a very personal experience. And my skin is much better!

I usually don’t write reviews on anything, but Dr. Pessoa is so great that I feel like I should!
I have been seeing her for my acne and together we figured out a treatment plan that is keeping it under control. We also discussed new medications together.
I am really conscious about my skin and I always go to her with a bunch of questions. From acne to facial excercise, basically everything I could come up with. She always makes sure that she answers all of my questions (patiently) before she leaves.
I have also done an in-​office chemcial peel there, and she had a bed side manner that I really liked.
She has also requested an authorization from my insurance to cover a medicaiton that it normally wouldn’t cover. I really thank her for the extra time that she had to spend on me.
Even though there are skin care products sold at the reception desk, she doesn’t make you buy them, which some dermatologists do.
I don’t think I can find a better dermatologist, so I don’t mind paying out of pocket for the visits.
Oh, by the way, the office also has many skin care product samples and coupons from different brands, like Eucerin, Cerave, and Neutrogena, for patients to get for free. Who doesn’t like freebies?

I recently went to see Helen, who I think is a Nurse Practitioner in this office (I should have paid better attention to the name). It’s a longer wait to see Dr. Pessoa, but Helen spent a lot of time with me answering my questions. I was really impressed at the amount of attention she gave me. I’ve just started taking her advice, so I don’t know if it works yet, but I was glad she gave me information I could actually act on (though having to toss most of my cosmetics is not so jolly!). I would definitely give the office a try again, if I have more problems.
I did have a minor issue with their office’s billing – my insurance company had some question, and claimed the office was slow in sending them the information they requested; the office sent me an additional bill, instead of dealing with the insurance company first. it was finally resolved, and I didn’t have to pay extra, but I thought they could have done a better job telling me what was going on.
Update: I think Helen’s advice on the whole has helped, but the makeup line she recommended didn’t work for me; I had to do a bunch of internet research, but I found some other extra-​hypoallergenic brands that are okay.

I, too, am a huge fan of Dr. Pessoa. It’s funny because I needed a dermatologist and picked her out of the Yellow Pages. What a lucky score to pick such a good doctor!
She has an excellent bedside manner. Whenever I’ve gone to see her she’s been very caring about helping me clear up my skin problems. The other thing I LOVE about her is that her rooms are always very clean and organized. Even her waiting room is a lovely place to sit.

I came here to remove my milia. It costed only 80 dollars for a consultation and 120 for the actual surgery. After applying retinol for about two months, it was virtually painless to remove the milia. Dr. Cornelia is friendly and her rates are reasonable.

I saw Dr. Pessoa for 3 years in college until I moved after graduating. I miss her! She’s the best dermatologist I’ve been to.
Good (+5 stars):
— Very knowledgeable. Kind and upfront.
— Thorough and seems to genuinely care
— Prescribes conservative yet effective treatments. Nothing fancy or costly.
— Explains what she wants you to use, and (if asked) why she thinks it’ll work.
Highlights: She helped get my acne under control and treated a very angry allergic reaction to a piercing. Also, Dr. P identified my seborrhea and a poison oak rash that magically showed up on my face and eyes (the MD at our student health center couldn’t figure either out).
Bad (–0.5 stars):
— Runs about 10 – 20 minutes late
— Difficult to get an appointment – had to wait over a month each time, but I guess there’s a reason why. She has an associate that’s okay, too, if you can’t wait
— — -
I’m rounding up to five stars. She’s lovely.