I was in a bad car accident: head-on, high speed collision. My knee was rammed into the dashboard at ~ 60mph. I couldn’t walk on that leg for a couple of weeks; was only able to limp on it for the next couple of months. My doctors and I decided to wait and see if the situation fixes itself. After about six months, the knee, although fully functional for things like walking, jogging, and even some sprinting, still wasn’t good enough to lift weights. The “wait and see” period has expired and it was time to find a surgeon to figure out what’s wrong and fix it.
I discovered that a small yet notable fraction of surgeons would not even speak to me because my injury is the result of a car accident. It could potentially lead to them being subpoenaed if said car accident turns into a law suit and/or a court case. One surgeon I contacted didn’t mind however, requested that I pay 100% of all costs up front and file for reimbursement with my insurance provider on my own. I understand that doctors didn’t get into medicine to waste time in court however, the sheer commonness of the refusal to treat based on the circumstances of the injury borders on unethical; in my view.
Needless to say, Dr. Khan didn’t bat an eye, didn’t ask whether the case was settled, didn’t care about much else than the physical (as opposed to legal) circumstances of the injury. He listened to my story, asked about my PT, examined the knee manually, asked me to do a few simple movements, and took an X-ray, which immediately revealed the reason for the pain and debilitation.
Contrary to the surgeon lore, Dr. Khan didn’t say: “Oh yeah, you need surgery” two seconds after looking at the X-Ray. In fact, he spent about 10-15 minutes trying to understand why I wanted the surgery if the knee doesn’t bother me during regular activity. I explained that I’m an avid sprinter and weightlifter. He then proceeded to cover a couple of non-surgical options. I asked numerous questions about success rates of various procedures, recovery periods, and expected results. Dr. Khan answered all of my questions and gave hard numbers, not the usual “the chances are pretty good.” At the end of the initial appointment, we shook hands and Dr. Khan said that should I call his office and schedule another appointment if I elect any of the procedures discussed. What I’m trying to convey in this paragraph is that Dr. Khan didn’t rush to surgery just because he’s a surgeon and I came in wanting one. He diligently studied my case so as not to perform an unnecessary surgery. After an MRI, we met again and he was able to lock down the type of the procedure required.
It has been two months since the surgery. My knee is already better than it has been any time since the accident and keeps progressively improving. Every week I gain strength and range of motion.
Dr. Khan is an excellent surgeon and I highly recommend him and his practice.
-Jolly R.
Dr. Khan saved me from being paralyzed.
I had been to an emergency room and two doctors complaining of a sudden inability to walk and numbness in my wrist and none of them did much for me. In contrast, Dr. Khan worked to determine the cause and manage my pain and immobility despite my odd insurance. An mri revealed that my spinal cord was completely crushed. Just after giving me this news, he told me that he had already scheduled a surgery with a specialist in whom he had the most confidence and I felt certain I would be i good hands.
In the weeks leading up to surgery, my body increasingly paralyzed. If he had not scheduled the surgery in a timel manner, my spinal cord damage could have left me that way. Instead, one year later, I am climbing, hiking, lifting weights with very few limitations.
-Phillip M.
Dr. Khan is amazing! He performed successful reconstructive ACL surgery on my left knee in August 2013 using a cadaver graft. I deducted one star for my experiences at Dr. Khan’s post-operative appointments. Granted he is a very popular and busy doctor, but I almost always felt rushed out of his office after waiting for long periods of time in the waiting room despite having an appointment. I would regularly wait close to an hour, just for him to shake my hand and answer a couple of questions.
Regardless, he still gets four stars because it is two years after the surgery and I feel great! I am back to playing basketball thanks to the magician they call Shabi Khan!
On a side note, I highly recommend NOT choosing POA’s rehabilitation program. The physical therapists there are awful, condescending, rude, and reckless.
-Mahmoud E.
I’ve been a patient of Dr. Khan’s for many years and I think he is a great doctor. Dr. Khan has been working with me regarding my back pain and within a matter of one office visit, and a procedure later I am pain free. I feel like he really cares about it his patients and does his best to help you.
I’ve seen most Doctors, as well
As Physician Assistants at Peninsula Orthopedics Associates and have no complaints at all.I just spoke with Jennifer at the office and she is great too. I had to get something taken care of and she helped me immediately, resolving my problem with the snap of her fingers. I really appreciate her making me feel like a priority and seeing to getting things done and not passing it on to someone.
-Val B.
Dr. Khan preformed shoulder surgery on me about a month ago and from the first time I saw him and last week when I stopped by he has been fantastic!
The surgery went great and his follow up care has been great.
He called me a few hours after my surgery.
Top notch care!
Highly recommend him.
Thank you!
-Matthew F.
Dr. Khan has performed 2 surgeries on my brother, wrist and achilles tendon. He is by far, one of the most pleasant medical professionals my family and I have ever met. You meet these professionals in the medical industry and you get the feeling that they really could care less about you, you’re just another patient.
The staff working there is very nice as well, a girl by the name of Sophia/Sophie had a great energy about her that made an impression on me.
Overall, my family is very blessed and thankful we found Dr. Khan, despite the circumstances in which we had to see him. On behalf of my family, thank you Dr. Khan.
-Aaron C.
Where do I begin? Indebted to Dr. Khan and his staff. Though the office is VERY busy and it’s not difficult to feel like a # with a big file, Dr. Khan certainly delivers above and beyond what normal care is these days. His bedside manner, extra care, and true healing abilities certainly set him apart form the umpteen surgeons I have seen in the past two years. I even changed my medical group and primary care physician just to become his patient, and it was well worth it. Thank you Dr. Khan!
-G N.
In the words of James T. Kirk: “Khaaaaaaaaaan!”
And I yell that at the top of my lungs , from the highest mountain, with the deepest admiration.
Because unlike the Khan in the Star Trek movie, THIS Khan RESCUED me from The Planet of Hip Pain, from which I thought I had been marooned for all eternity by Dr. Saffron at Stanford.
All sci-fi puns aside, I will give you my review in a nutshell and my long review.
In a nutshell: Dr. Shabi Khan is TERRIFIC, and DO NOT HESITATE to go to him. He fixed the torn cartilage in my hip and shaved down my bone spur one year ago. I have been fantastic ever since. Able to do everything I did before. Dr. Khan gave me my life back. If I ever have another hip, knee, or shoulder problem, I will definitely go to see him. I wish there were more Dr. Khans in this world. Has Dr. Saffron told you that he won’t operate on you? Sheesh, FORGET HIM! Go see Dr. Khan. He will fix you!!!!
Long Review
One day, out of the blue, my groin/inner thigh began hurting. I thought I had somehow pulled a muscle. To make a long story short, an MRI eventually revealed that I had torn the cartilage (labrum) in my hip. It will not heal by itself; you need to have it fixed. My regular orthopedist told me that this is a very specialized arthroscopic operation, and only a few doctors in the Bay Area do it. He recommended Dr. Saffron at Stanford.
It took a month to get an appointment with Dr. Saffron. I fully expected him to tell me about the surgery he was going to do. Instead, he dropped a bomb on me. He told me that, based on the x-rays he’d done that day, I had too much arthritis in the hip to operate. “Save yourself the trouble,” he told me, “and get a hip replacement instead.” WHAT??!! I’m only 52 years old and you want to saw off my hip joint? As you can imagine, I was totally shocked and began sobbing right there in his office.
Who would do the replacement? He recommended Dr. Goodman. So I made an appt with Dr. Goodman. That took another month of waiting. When Dr. Goodman saw me and did a mobility test on me and looked at my MRIs and X-rays, he said, “What are you doing here?” I wasn’t a candidate for a hip replacement. But nobody at Stanford would operate on my hip to fix the torn labrum, because they all go along with Dr. Saffron’s opinion. (I liked Dr. Goodman, by the way. He seemed like a very good doctor and has a good reputation for hip replacements).
Anyway, that left me between a rock and a hard place. Here I was, at age 52, doomed to a life of pain and hardship until my hip got so screwed up that I would eventually need a replacement. And who knew how long that might take — 10 years? Just go home and suffer. I had already done physical therapy and it was obvious to me that the only way I was going to get better was to have the the torn labrum fixed and the bone spur removed.
You can’t imagine how depressed I got. Seriously, I had to get on an SSRI. I found Dr. Smollens here through Yelp and made an appt with him. He is a pain management doctor. Dr. Smollens was very compassionate and recommended Dr. Khan.
I had never heard of Dr. Khan. I had already seen Dr. Sampson in San Francisco, and he was willing to operate on me, but he doesn’t take insurance and I couldn’t afford his $35k fee. I didn’t know who else around here did arthroscopic surgery on hips. I was looking specifically for a hip specialist, and Dr. Khan did shoulders, knees, and hips. But I figured that since I had to look outside of Stanford, I would give Dr. Khan a try, especially since he was covered by my insurance.
Within 5 minutes of the appointment with Dr. Khan I knew that I had found my surgeon. He was compassionate, knowledgeable, and told me that he does 2 to 4 hip scopes per week. He had been doing it for more than 10 years. That seemed like enough experience for me. Plus I just got a good feeling from him.
Two months later, I had the surgery. I have had a few surgeries in my life: foot, shoulder (calcium deposits), and sinus. All were miserable recoveries. I expected that recovering from hip surgery would be even worse. But in all honesty, it was the easiest recovery that I’ve ever had. I was only on crutches for 3 days! THREE DAYS! After that I was walking on my own. I didn’t need to take narcotics. The pain was easily controlled with Advil and Tylenol in alternating doses.
I didn’t need physical therapy afterward. I already knew the exercises and stretches from earlier in the year. I just carefully did them at home, slowly working up my endurance and flexibility.
Dr. Khan is great. His Surgery Center in Daly City is great. All around, it was a very positive experience. And what’s more, other doctors go to him. My dermatologist told me that Dr. Khan was going to fix her shoulder. Sometimes he may seem rushed, but that’s only because he’s busy. He knows his stuff! So don’t hesitate. If you’ve been given the run-around by Dr. Saffron, or can’t afford Dr. Sampson, definitely see Dr. Khan. HE THE MAN!!
-Gomez B.
The absolute best. I have been seeing Dr Khan for years for many different reasons. He is an outstanding physician and surgeon and has the best bedside manner of any doctor I know. Pay out of network extra to see him because is the best!
-Kristene C.
I cannot speak for other reviews here but must say I had a great experience with Dr. Khan today. I have had only two orthopedic doc’s over the past twenty years and Dr. Khan’s professionalism and bedside manner fit right up there with them. Dr. Khan took his time and was not in a rush out the door. He took the time to explain my knee issues and I feel at ease going back in two weeks for a consultaion.
-Rick P.
Dr. Khan is the best orthopedic surgeon I have been to – ever! As a parachutist and free flight enthusiast, I have attained several major injuries that required orthopedic care. Of those injuries, Dr. Khan fixed both my shoulders – torn labrums in each with additional bone growth due partly to genetics and partly to trauma over the years.
Dr. Khan successfully diagnosed both shoulders and I had surgery on both over a two year period – the smaller tear progressed over time and we kept a watch on pain levels and discomfort to determine the proper time to operate on the 2nd shoulder.
I have also referred 4 other people to him and they all had great experiences. Yes, you have to wait, but would you rather walk right into the office of a shitty doctor that is going to misdiagnose and cause you months or years of pain and time, or would you rather wait an hour or two in order to live pain free after a painless surgical procedure by a highly sought after doctor? Your choice.
-Jim J.
As of today, it’s been 2 weeks and 1 day since my knee surgery, and I couldn’t be happier with the result thus far. I originally hurt my knee over 15 years ago playing volleyball and it’s been slowly getting worse over the years so I figured it was time to see if it could be fixed.
I found Dr. Khan to be very friendly and genuinely interested in figuring out what was wrong. After explaining my story to him, and answering his questions, he sent me across the hall for x-rays. He then read the x-rays right there in the same exam room and determined that I should get an MRI because my issue was not a bone issue. I went across the hall and made an appt for an MRI for a few hours later that same day, in the evening (so convenient to get it all done on the same day and in the same building!). The following week, I went back to see him again to get the results of the MRI – he found the problem! Plica syndrome and meniscus tear. He recommended arthroscopic surgery, which I scheduled.
My experience with his office has been mostly great. For one of my appointments, I had to wait over an hour (which sucked) but honestly, the minute he came into the exam room that day, all my irritation just melted away because of his great bedside manner and apparent excitement at fixing me. The office sends appointment reminders via email and phone message, and you can fill out all your forms ahead of time, thus lessening the paperwork when you are there. They were also totally on the ball with filling out all the required paperwork for my disability leave from work. Ray Khan, Dr. Khan’s assistant is also wonderful, and patiently answered all of my questions. That guy has a great personality
My experience with the surgery center was wonderful. Everyone was very nice, explained everything (I had a lot of questions – first real surgery), and my anesthesiologist, Dr. White, was particularly good. I was scared of waking up early, and he assured me he would be there the whole time and would see to it that that didn’t happen. When I woke up in recovery, I saw him and he said “I told you I wouldn’t let you down!”
Dr. Khan himself (not his staff) has called me multiple times since the surgery to check on me, even giving me his cell phone number. In this day and age, I never expect to talk to my doctor unless I’m in his office (is that sad or what) so this was a refreshing breath of fresh air.
So even though I still have a ways to go before 100% recovery, I would already recommend Dr. Khan to anyone that needs a knee fixed.
-Jen M.
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