About The Office

Location

The practice is located within the San Marcos Ambulatory Care Center, in San Marcos, directly across from the California State University at San Marcos and adjacent to the new shopping center (Longs' Drugs and Ralph's Supermarket).  The address is: 120 Craven Rd (the corner where Twin Oaks and Craven meet). There is a large Palomar-Pomerado Health System sign on the Twin Oaks side of the building.

It's location - just a minute or two off of the Twin Oaks exit on Highway 78 - makes it extremely convenient to reach from most parts of northern San Diego County. We are just minutes from the Escondido, San Marcos, and Vista industrial regions!

We occupy suite #101, the very first suite on the left upon entering from the building's main entrance - very convenient!

Office Hours

[NOTE:  We no longer offer walk-in hours between the hours of 1 - 3 PM. Please click here for details and read the news for 8/4/03]

Please note that the office is physically closed for lunch between 12 noon and 1 PM, but the doctors are still available by pager for emergencies.

Whenever not in the office, each doctor is readily available by radio pager. Also, please note that Dr. Pearson assists in surgical procedures at local hospitals.  These may occasionally necessitate the rescheduling of an office visit (however, a back-up physician is always available if you absolutely have to be seen that day). House calls are available for seniors (and other patients) for whom getting up and around is a problem.  These cannot be scheduled during normal office hours, however, and are performed only when the doctor's schedule permits. 

"Open Access" Scheduling. We appreciate that urgencies/emergencies may arise unexpectedly. It is our belief that injured/ill patients deserve to be seen when they need to see the doctor the most - not 3 or 4 weeks later! For this reason, we practice "open access" scheduling.  A relatively new concept in medical practice, under "open access", the majority of daily appointment slots are left open to permit same-day visits with the doctor!  Our staff will do everything that they can in order to work you into one of these open slots on the same day that you call.  There is no longer any need to schedule an appointment  a few weeks down the line in order to hold an appointment slot open for "just in case." [This is the reason why most doctors office double and triple book patient slots. Like the airlines, they anticipate a certain percentage of "no show" patients. The downside to this method is that if everybody does actually show up, you either wait a lot longer or spend less time with the  physician.]

This is how it works: simply call the office after we open at 8:30 A.M. on the day that  you wish to come in and we will schedule you for an appointment on that same day. Be aware that appointment slots may fill faster during certain times of the year so it's always best to call soon after 8:30 AM if you can (we often have 3 staff members scheduling appointments at that time). Be aware that calling for an appointment later on (e.g. in the afternoon) may be too late to be seen that day for minor/routine ailments (although we will work in emergencies). Open access helps avoid the double-booking scenario described above and ultimately makes our practice more efficient. Our experience with open access has been overwhelmingly positive as our patients really appreciate the opportunity to be seen when they are sick. [Do we ever make exceptions? Yes. Under certain circumstances, we will permit someone to schedule an appointment in advance (e.g. well-woman exams, seniors with transportation problems, etc). If circumstances appear to warrant it, we will schedule you.] 

Note that we do pre-schedule the earliest appointment slots (and some others later in the day) to accommodate routine re-checks or physicals, but the majority of appointment slots are for same day appointments. 

We do our best to provide quality medical care to the thousands of people who want to see us and recognize that it's impossible to please everybody.  We pride ourselves on giving our patients the attention they deserve  and not the typical 8 minute visits found in other offices. There may be unavoidable waits as issues often come up during patient visits that could not be anticipated.   If any of the above poses problems for you, please feel free to investigate other physicians in the area who may be more amenable to your schedule and preferences.  We believe that everyone should be happy with their choice of physicians.

Don't forget that office registration and history forms may be downloaded from this site and completed in advance of your visit (Click on "Patient Forms" above).

Be aware that accidents do happen. As we specialize in injuries, there is always a chance that one of these may require immediate medical attention resulting in some additional waiting for scheduled patients. Therefore, if this is a concern for you, you should NOT select Dr. Pearson as your primary care physician. (If you have any questions about this issue, please do not hesitate to discuss this with our staff.) 

After Hours Care and Weekend Care

True medical emergencies:  dial "911" on your telephone for emergency medical services (EMS) response. True medical emergencies include complaints of severe chest pain, difficulty breathing, seizures, severe abdominal pain, uncontrolled bleeding, or broken bones that pierce through the skin. Do not attempt to drive yourself to the hospital under any of these circumstances!

Otherwise:

Private Patients:  if you are injured or feeling ill after regular office hours, always call the office first at 760-591-0955  and follow the instructions in order to have the doctor paged. For many common conditions (e.g. urinary tract infection), the doctor might be able to assist you over the telephone.  If the situation is more serious and warrants further investigation, he may meet you in the office, refer you to a local urgent care, or refer you to the emergency department of the local hospital (depending upon circumstances). 

Even if you are absolutely sure that you will have to be seen at the hospital, it is important to call the doctor beforehand, particularly if you are part of a managed care health plan.  Many of these plans require authorization of your primary care physician in order for emergency department visits to be covered.  If we do not authorize your treatment prior to your visit, you may get stuck with a very big bill. Also, calling your physician first enables the doctor to make appropriate arrangements that might cut down the long wait in the emergency department!

The Sharp-Rees-Stealy urgent care system is used by most insurances, particularly for those covered by the Sharp Community Medical Group family of HMO products.  The nearest location for Inland North County is in Rancho Bernardo.

Industrial Injuries:  We no longer provide care for Workers Compensation system.

Hospital Affiliations and Other Nursing Facilities

Dr. Pearson has full attending physician privileges, through the Department of Family Medicine, at Palomar Medical Center (PMC), in Escondido. PMC is the only facility to which he admits patients  for in-patient hospitalizations.

Dr. Pearson also has privileges, in the Department of Family Medicine, at Tri-City Medical Center, in Oceanside. However, he has voluntarily limited them to surgical assisting only (it's too far a distance and would require too much work/time to cover inpatients at two hospitals).  Should a patient of Dr. Pearson's require hospitalization at Tri-City Medical Center, the excellent staff hospitalist physicians will assume in-patient care.

Dr. Pearson used to serve as the medical director for Palomar Continuing Care Center and Villa Rancho Bernardo.  However, he regrets that he no longer has time to make rounds at local nursing homes on a routine basis.  Patients who require prolonged stays at such a facility will be transferred to the care of the medical director or another appropriate physician.

With few exceptions, Dr. Pearson does not routinely prescribe narcotics, nor does he administer narcotics by injection in the clinic. Individuals who are seeking "pain killers" for chronic use are hereby advised to seek treatment with an appropriate pain management clinic or, if the pain is severe, with the local hospital emergency department. When indicated, long-acting opiates are prescribed in extremely limited quantities without automatic refills. Narcotic prescriptions will not be refilled after office hours or on weekends.

It is an inherently dangerous practice to receive prescriptions for narcotics and other controlled substances from several physicians at the same time. Therefore, patients who do seek narcotic prescriptions through this office agree that, unless otherwise indicated by Dr. Pearson, he is to be the sole prescribing physician for the patient. Furthermore, patients desiring prescriptions for controlled substances from our clinic agree to grant us permission to contact pharmacies and other physicians in order to ensure compliance with this policy. Be aware that we actively participate in the San Diego Police Department’s FAXNET program and the DOCTOR SHOPPING HOTLINE.