Brent Rathbun, MD

If I could give Dr. Rathbun ONE MILLION stars, I would. When we first moved to San Diego 10 years ago, my husband and I chose him as our Primary Care Physician because of the convenient location of his office. We did not know him and we were not referred to him by anyone… but boy, did we hit the jackpot when making that choice! Over the past decade, Dr. Rathbun has given our family superior care. He is compassionate, caring and respectful. He is extremely knowledgeable, yet practical. He is not an alarmist, and in fact, works to calm fears. I can not imagine him saying anything even remotely similar to what the first reviewer wrote. There must have been some sort of miscommunication during that reviewer’s experience because in all the years I have known Dr. Rathbun, he has only shown sincerity and empathy when discussing our family’s health challenges, which includes cancer. Dr. Rathbun speaks slowly, and tries to make sure medical jargon is not overwhelming. He is extremely good at putting technical terms into words patients can understand. When our kids were born, we were thrilled they could see him too, since he is also a pediatrician. Dr. Rathbun also treats my parents as well. When they were here visiting from out of town several years ago, my elderly father caught a bad cold, and Dr. Rathbun gave him excellent care to make sure he didn’t have pneumonia. While my mom was visiting a couple years ago, she experienced chest pains. Dr. Rathbun made sure she got complete care and she was diagnosed with advanced heart disease. She had the proper procedure done and we now know how to manage her care to keep her heart-​healthy. Dr. Rathbun is so patient with my parents– they tend to ask a lot of questions and jump around from topic to topic– but he skillfully keeps them focused and kindly addresses all of their concerns. I also appreciate that he is conscious of time, because he tries to stay «on schedule», which I feel shows his respect for all of his patients. He’s not the type of doctor who feels like his time is more valuable than yours. If I have to see him on a lunch break from work, I know that I usually won’t have to wait too long in the waiting room. I feel like Dr. Rathbun treats patients with the same care he would want HIS own family to receive when they are seeking medical care. I have since referred several people to him– including the elderly father of a friend of mine who is VERY difficult to please– and he loves Dr. Rathbun as well. I feel very blessed to have Dr. Rathbun as our doctor– serving three generations of my family.

I just stumbled across this page and noticed the first review. I have a feeling the reviewer is confused about what Dr. they actually saw. Dr. Rathbun has been my 10 year old son and 4.5 year old daughter’s Dr since infancy. He is so patient, calm and thoughtful. My kids adore him, as do my husband and I. He truly cares about his patients, which isn’t so common these days… I would never give him less than 5 stars!
Anyone who chooses to go to him is doing themselves a huge favor!

Dr. Rathbun is an excellent doctor, caring, professional, warm, understanding and very knowledgeable. I was referred to Dr. Rathbun MANY years ago when my current PCP moved to Texas. I have been nothing but pleased with him. He takes the time to respond to you should you have questions or concerns. HIs nurse is wonderful as well. The front office staff is not just staff. When I walk in the door they say hi to me by name before I check in. I feel very fortunate to have found Dr. Rathbun as well as all that work at the Carmel Valley Sharp Rees Stealy office.

***please note: I am re-​posting this review because Unilocal’s filter unfairly hid my review, apparently thinking that it was bogus. I can assure you I am not related to the doctor, he’s not my friend, and I have nothing to do with his business! I put a lot of time and thought into this review, and I only did it to tell the truth.***
I could not disagree more with the firsrt reviewer. I think Dr. Rathbun is outstanding.
Dr. Rathbun has been my family’s physician for half a decade now, and I have nothing but good things to say.
Dr. Rathbun has a quiet and gentle manner that puts children (and nervous adults) at ease. He is never pompous, abrupt, or condescending, which are traits one unfortunately sees sometimes in doctors who graduate from the best medical schools (Dr. R went to UCSD). Instead, he is patient, courteous, and calm, and appears genuinely concerned about his patients’ well-​being. In my experience, he approaches the patient’s concerns with the seriousness appropriate to the occasion, but is never without a genuine smile and a bit of humor to lighten the mood.
The first reviewer said that Dr. Rathbun rashly blurted out to her mother that she «may have cancer when there was nothing to indicate this.» I mean no disrespect to that reviewer, but I find that very hard to believe; it just doesn’t square at all with my experience.
Here’s an example: in infancy, my daughter experienced a series of unexplained ilnesses and multiple bouts of pneumonia. People started throwing around the «C» word, so when I approached Dr. Rathbun about an underlying cause, I was really scared. (Dr. Rathbun had already suggested we consider a more comprehensive approach to find out what was going on.) Dr. Rathbun was not alarmist at all. He calmly listened to my concerns, reviewed my daughter’s medical history, then helped me formulate a plan for invesitgation and eventual diagnosis.
Happily, it turned out she does not have cancer, but a condition that more or less resolves itself by adulthood and can be managed in the meantime with proper prevention. Throughout the diagnostic process, Dr. Rathbun was always available with a calm, practical, and reassuring response to the changing information.
Here’s another: a while ago, I began experiencing pressure and pain that started to interfere with my ability to run and carry the kids. Being a lifelong runner and a mother, I was worried. Of course when I finally went to see Dr. Rathbun, I was worried about the big C. As always, Dr. Rathbun calmly and patiently listened to my symptoms, asked pertinent questions, conducted a thorough exam, and then devised a plan of testing and diagnosis, starting with the simplest and most obvious and working up from there. Never once did he say, «Oh, my God, I think you have cancer!» or anything so ridiculous. He must have read that fear on my face, though, because at the close of the visit, he said with a smile, «And no, I don’t think it’s cancer. Nothing in your symptoms or your exam suggests that.»
Finally, even my husband, who HATES going to the doctor and avoids it until a body part is falling off, likes Dr. Rathbun. He was a little leery before his first visit; he said, «Isn’t he a baby doctor?» But after Dr. Rathbun helped resolve a long-​standing elbow problem that had plagued him for months and interfered with his push-​ups, he agreed that Dr. Rathbun is pretty great.
In short, in my opinion Dr. Rathbun is an excellent pediatrician and family practitioner, and I would highly recommend him.

Dr. Brent Rathbun is the primary care/​internal medicine doctor for my husband and me, and he is also the primary care/​pediatrician for our two children (toddler and preschool ages). We have all seen him since January 2010. We love him! He is very careful and thoughtful, professional, kind and calm. He spends as much time as we need with us each visit. He is very responsive and reliable when we have a sick child or serious medical concerns. He is hesitant to over-​prescribe medicines or to prescribe unnecessary medicines, which we like. He seems extraordinarily knowledgeable, and we trust him completely. All four of us adore him. We can’t say enough! He’ll be our family doctor for as long as he’ll have us. We highly, highly, highly recommend him!

I was not impressed with his diagnostics skills. He actually told my sister that my mom may have cancer when there was nothing to indicate this. Since then, my mom has been a nervous wreck and now so afraid that she may have cancer even though ALL the tests were negative. I hope this does not happen to more patients