Improving patients' quality of life as a dermatologist

[Tipp]

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Do you all feel like you get to drastically improve your patient's quality of life in practice? Or do you end up feeling like most of your time is spent on relatively unnecessary cosmetic treatments?

 

[asmallchild]

Do you all feel like you get to drastically improve your patient's quality of life in practice? Or do you end up feeling like most of your time is spent on relatively unnecessary cosmetic treatments?

Very few dermatologists run cosmetic-only practices and a significant percentage do no cosmetics at all. I would go so far as to say our field improves quality of life more so than any other field in medicine. This question is best answered by shadowing an academic dermatologist. (Just one day should do it)

 

[Tipp]

Very few dermatologists run cosmetic-only practices and a significant percentage do no cosmetics at all. I would go so far as to say our field improves quality of life more so than any other field in medicine. This question is best answered by shadowing an academic dermatologist. (Just one day should do it)

Thanks for the response.... I have some shadowing opportunities coming up soon: One with a private practice dermatologist and possibly another with a dermatopathologist who has a group lab but also works in academic medicine. I am just starting to get interested in dermatology (starting med school in the Fall); I think I would really like it if I could balance clinic and procedures without having a great deal of cosmetic work.

Alternatively, does anybody think that the cosmetic stuff greatly improves your patient's quality of life, and get a lot of satisfaction from that? Or is it mostly seen as a way to make money, where the actual outcome is high on your patients priority list but not yours?

 

[asmallchild]

Thanks for the response.... I have some shadowing opportunities coming up soon: One with a private practice dermatologist and possibly another with a dermatopathologist who has a group lab but also works in academic medicine. I am just starting to get interested in dermatology (starting med school in the Fall); I think I would really like it if I could balance clinic and procedures without having a great deal of cosmetic work.

Alternatively, does anybody think that the cosmetic stuff greatly improves your patient's quality of life, and get a lot of satisfaction from that? Or is it mostly seen as a way to make money, where the actual outcome is high on your patients priority list but not yours?

It is definitely possible (and in some cities, easier) to land a position that mixed clinic and positions with minimal cosmetic work. That being said, cosmetics isn't the dirty word everyone makes it out to be. What's wrong with improving a patient's quality of life and being able to make a living off that service?

 

[sore eye asses]

I remember seeing a recent study in derm surg or a plastic surg journal (i don't have the energy to look it up) that showed people who received cosmetic procedures were less than happy with the results and I want to say they looked <5 years younger, which was barely discernible to the rater. cosmetics patients are naturally the toughest to please.

some docs have a real knack for cosmetics and a great deal of it is salesmanship imo.

 

[Tipp]

It is definitely possible (and in some cities, easier) to land a position that mixed clinic and positions with minimal cosmetic work. That being said, cosmetics isn't the dirty word everyone makes it out to be. What's wrong with improving a patient's quality of life and being able to make a living off that service?

Yea that's a good point... I will see how I feel about it after I get some more experience. I definitely want to do something that I have an appreciable impact on people's lives, but maybe I can still do that and be satisfied even if I'm not doing life-saving interventions.