John W. Sperling, MD

My right shoulder had been disconnected for 10 years after tendons and ligaments were detached or dissolved. After surgery and PT, I can now swing dance again with all the complicated arm movements which have helped strengthen the shoulders. I’m 79. It’s never too late to get your shoulders back!

Superb surgeon

Tremendous surgeon

After surgery my husband suffered significant pain for weeks. He was unable to sleep and paced the floor nightly in severe pain. We called his office several times to ask for some help, a solution, and advice, and we were told to deal with it, he was too busy to speak with us - and his nursing staff never returned our many calls.

Dr Sperling is an excellent communicator and a phenomenal surgeon. The guy treats you like a friend!!

After a month and a half of anticipation for my appointment with Dr. Sperling, I could not have been more disappointed in how it went. After a 3 hour drive, I quickly got in to get the x-ray he suggested, and after a short wait, I was led into his waiting room by his "assistant." If we were to rate his assistant, a 1 star would be too generous. This man would ask me questions, and cut me off in the middle of my response just to ask me something else. He did not care about my response 1 bit, he just had to list off these questions as quick as possible before he waddled out of the room in his pastel colored suit like an absolute clown. Then shortly after, Dr. Sperling came into the room. He had me remove my shirt and do 3 very elementary movements before asking me where the pain was. After I pointed to the spot on my back, he said that area was more scapular and he did not work on that area... I sent copies of my MRI, CT, X-Ray, as well as notes from previous physicians a month in… advance. All of which stated how my pain was scapular. And to top it off Dr. Sperling claimed he read my file! So he either made me drive 6 hours for a 5 minute appointment just to tell me he doesn't work with the scapula, or he is a liar. He might be a decent doctor if your symptoms happen to be something he is qualified to work on, but unless you live in Rochester and have time and money to waste, I would avoid him at all cost.

Wow, I saw a well known, Deroit area Orthopedist numerous times, and he performed 3 surgeries on my shoulder. I was still in serious pain. I went to my family doc who suggested I see Dr Sperling at Mayo Clinic. He agreed to fix it, got my surgery scheduled and I when it was over I felt so much better and was able to go home and to sleep. This is an amazing doctor!

I won't return to him. I've been treated at Mayo Rochester for about seven years and continue with them because of the Mayo Ethic and Mayo Model. In my opinion, this doctor doesn't chose to abide with the level of cares I've found to exist in nearly every other department. My office visits with him were short < 3 minutes, which I thought were insultive. He didn't spend time explaining much, just that it could be fixed. I found it rude. There's much better at Mayo.

Went to Dr Sperling to find the cause of my shoulder pain. Even though my referral was made 2 months in advance- he did not appear to have read any of the information. I drove 800 mies to have 1 X-ray and for dr sperling o tell me it's not my shoulder. I had to BEG him to send me somewhere else. He sighed and rolled his eyes at me... He finally referred me to pain management. He was basically rude, uncaring, and very put out. I thought the Mayo clinic had a standard of care... This guy was awful !

Overall, Dr. Sperling is a very smart and resourceful physician. I felt completely comfortable during my office visits and after my surgery. He has good assistants and residents that work with him. If he couldn't be there to answer my questions, he made sure that someone from his team was available. It's hard to get in to see him at first, but my follow up visits are much easier to schedule. I would highly recommend Dr. Sperling to anyone who has shoulder problems.