UCSF Memory and Aging Center 1651 4th Street, San Francisco, CA 94158

"My experience with MAC is mixed. As a research participant, I would say that the access to commercially unavailable or unaffordable testing batteries at this research facility is phenomenal. Even the MDs confessed themselves that they usually preferred their "research rotations" over clinical assignments. On the other hand, I've had three different physicians trying to send referrals to MAC for new patient consultation with zero response. All three referrals were sent 5 months ago with continuous attempts to follow up directly from referring physician's office. None received any reply whatsoever. In a region where primary care resource is extremely limited, the UCSF MAC's ineffectiveness in processing their incoming referrals undoubtedly caused huge waste of medical resource. For those who are desperately wanting to be a patient here, my advice is to (a) seek care in other tertiary center esp with research collaborations with UCSF MAC (hint: Google scholar search for MAC co-authorships), OR (b) set up a research chart at MAC if you can, and push for a cross-referral from research to clinical side if you must go to UCSF. But honestly, there isn't any "secret treatment" at UCSF MAC that are not also available clinically at other clinics/facilities that are a whole lot easier to access. UCSF MAC's strength is in its research and that is what sets this place apart."

"I saw a Dr Mary DeMay at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center for my exhaustion and memory issues. Dr. Mary is awesome! She's very thorough and sympathetic and sincerely cares about her patients! Even though it turned out that my memory issues are not stemming from neurological problems, she wants to continue to see me to try to figure out what IS causing my problems! Most doctors just pass the buck to the next doctor but she is not giving up on me! She is still trying to figure out what's causing my extreme fatigue, excessive daytime sleepiness, and cognitive difficulties, even though it's not her area and she could've just passed me along to the next dr! Also, the staff at UCSF are all very warm and friendly. They're very competent and up on everything in your chart and call if there's one thing missing/needed! I have nothing but great things to say about UCSF Memory and Aging Center!⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐☺"

"If you get referred here I would ask for a referral elsewhere. My mother was diagnosed with frontal temporal dementia. We were told by the neurologist that we would need to get testing and bloodwork done by their team. We were never able to schedule these appointments because they tell you they have to call you to schedule the appointments. They never called, I called everyday for weeks and left messages. They basically give you a diagnosis and tell you that there's no real treatment (which is not true in most cases) and then you can't schedule any follow up appointments. We are getting treatment at Hoag Hospital in Newport and have had a wonderful experience and a treatment plan in place. DO NOT GO HERE, THEY WILL DO NOTHING FOR YOU"

"My father was diagnosed with LBD. UCSF didn't do a damn thing and all they wanted to do was to conduct research and for the medical students to learn from my father's condition. The team of doctors and therapists at UCSF Memory and Aging Center promised us so many things when we first took my father there, like providing us more help and getting reliable caregivers that were trained in dealing with LBD. Non of those promises were fulfilled. They placed my dad on different medications that made his condition worse. My fathers hallucinations became worse and he would constantly hear and see things. We would call and beg his doctor to help us and she would never return messages or calls. If you or your loved one has LBD, my suggestion to you is to make sure you do not become UCSFs lab rats so they can test their meds and conduct research for their own benefit. Try to stay away from the poisonous medications and take the holistic route because research and finding a cure for LBD is decades behind and the team at UCSF will just give you empty promises to keep you coming back."

"Quick to test and diagnose, but slow to treat. And very poor prescription management. The department took well over a year to specify the degenerative brain disease; in the meanwhile my wife's cognition continued to decline. It seems to me that some guess based on early tests as to the cause of the dementia would have been worthwhile; so some sort of therapy could begin. Even if they were all wrong at the outset, not likely as there were early symptoms, the upside gains in remission or even reversal would have been worth the downside of prescribing the wrong meds/treatment. Finally, more than a year and a half after the first set of tests in June 2012, a diagnosis of the disease was forthcoming...LBD. And turns out that's treatable, not curable, but treatable. As part of the treatment, my wife had to wean off Concerta, a class II controlled drug. Simple enough, just write a script for a lower dosage over a shorter time. Meanwhile she starts the therapy drug, Aricept. What a mess. First the Dr. tried to call in the change for the Concerta...a Class II drug, even I know you can't call in a script for a controlled drug. So after that failed, he wrote and mailed a written script to the house. Upon receipt I took the script into CVS to have it filled. They rejected it. Why? It was not dated. OK. I dated it and took the script into RiteAid to have it filled. They rejected it. Why? It was written on the wrong prescription form, which had to be a C2 form as this was a Class II med. Two rejections for two different reasons by two different pharmas, but from the same Dr in the Center. One would think a neurology department would know something about how to write a proper script for a med that treats brain disorders. But apparently UCSF MAAC does not. Unfortunately they seem to be the only game in town."