Dr. Kanade Shinkai- UCSF Dermatology

I’ve been seeing Dr. Shinkai for 5 – 6 years and wouldn’t think of giving her less than 5 stars. Exceptionally professional and knowledgeable with a good sense of humor.

I have seen Dr. Shinkai for a skin problem for several months. She properly diagnosed the problem and has been working with me to correct it. To date, all is going well.
Dr. Shinkai seems very knowledgeable and has excellent people skills. She has made room in her busy schedule to see me even though no regular appointments were available. I highly recommend Dr. Shinkai to care for dermatological problems.

Very professional and courteous staff. I have never had to wait more than a few minutes from my appointment time. Dr Shinkai is the best!

I have gotten amazing care from Dr. Shinkai. She is very professional and thorough and has a great bedside manner. I have been seeing her for more than 2 years and would highly recommend her to anyone looking for a dermatologist.

I’m very surprised at the reviews Dr. Shinkai received below. Other than the waiting time issue, I have always had a positive experience at her office. I’ve been a patient of hers for about five years.
A few years ago after my husband died, I broke out with a rash around my nose. I thought it was irritation from blowing my nose. After it didn’t clear with otc remedies, I made an appointment with Dr. Shinkai. She assessed the area and determined that it was a bacterial infection. She diagnosed both a systemic and topical medication that completely cleared up the painful and unsightly infection. She even gave me her email address to let her know how the treatment was going. When I let her know the treatment was successful, she wrote back to say that she was relieved and that she truly does lie awake worrying about her patients. I think a lot of her!

Since I was very young I’ve had various autoimmune skin disorders. At the end of the year, when I broke out in an unexplainable rash, I had a strong feeling my autoimmune disorder was acting up. After researching various doctors I had chosen Dr. Kanade Shinkai at UCSF because, according to her page on the UCSF website, she specialized in autoimmune skin disorders.
At my first appointment I began to tell her my history of autoimmune skin disorders and how I had had lichen planus about 15 years ago and how I thought I was having another bout. She cuts me off and tells me that she «wasn’t interested in writing a paper» about my skin, what she was most interested in was making me comfortable.
She was convinced I had scabies, even though my husband did not have symptoms and the rash was also on my face. After my test for scabies came back negative, she suggested I might want to go ahead with the scabies treatment anyway, which I refused.
My skin got worse over the weekend so I went back to Dr. Shinkai a second time and once again she tested me for scabies, which came up negative. Once again she suggested I do a scabies treatment, which I once again refused.
I went to a different doctor after that and was diagnosed with lichen planus — the very same autoimmune skin disorder I told her I thought I had at my first visit!
What doctor worth the paper their diploma is printed on is not interested in taking a new patients medical history? I was not expecting her to «write a paper» about my skin, what I was expecting was for her to listen to me and make a reasonable diagnosis given my medical history and my symptoms. If you expect the same from a doctor — go someplace else!