From Seinfeld Episode “The Slicer” (George Costanza and Jerry Seinfeld talking about Jerry’s date with the dermatologist):
- George-“…Saving lives? She’s one step away from working at the Clinique counter!”
- Jerry-“Dermatologist? Skin doesn’t need a doctor.”
- George-“Of course not! Wash it, dry it, move on…”
Despite those naysayers, dermatology is a very important specialty in the field of medicine. The easiest way to see that is to consider this well-known fact: the skin is the largest organ in the body! If washing it then drying it was all that a person had to do, then our jobs would be pretty simple.
Why We Are in the Field of Dermatology?
As dermatologists in Omaha & Council Bluffs, IA, we care for conditions of the
- skin
- hair
- nails
- as well as providing care and treatments to make the best cosmetic appearance of these structures
One of the things that we most enjoy about this amazing field is being able to care for patients of all ages. From seeing newborn babies with birthmarks to caring for those of advanced age with skin cancer, we get to care for as many as 3 or even 4 generations in some families! We feel this is a great privilege, and an amazing perk of what we get to do.
Skin
As the skin is such a “visible” organ, problems in it can be readily apparent. These problems can be something serious, such as a worrisome spot like melanoma skin cancer, or something of cosmetic concern like wrinkles or age spots. We love what we do at Advanced Dermatology of the Midlands, and our days are filled with getting to work with our patients on the entire spectrum of skin, hair and nail issues. Being able to do all of these things requires intensive, in-depth training, which must be maintained and ongoing to enable us to be the best dermatologists.
What does it take to become a dermatologist or a dermatology physician assistant/dermatology nurse practitioner?
After college, dermatologists must complete 4 years of medical schooling, and at the end of that time apply to dermatology residency. When we were in our training, we can recall our dermatology mentors telling us that they were happy they had already made it into the discipline of dermatology because from their perspective it was growing more and more competitive to get into a dermatology residency program all the time. We can now see more than ever how true this is. As statistics show, there were 31,000 residency positions available in the United States in 2018, across all specialties in the fields of medicine (primary care, OB/GYN, surgery, etc…). Of all these positions, only 407 were available in dermatology residency programs! Look at it another way, just over 1% of all the available residency positions in the US are actually in dermatology.
After medical school
Dermatologists-to-be will spend 1 year in a general medical training, followed by 3 years of training specifically in all aspects of dermatology. These aspects include:
- adult and pediatric dermatology
- surgical dermatology
- dermatopathology
- cosmetic dermatology
All of this training is geared towards the ultimate goal of producing the best dermatologists possible.
Advanced Dermatology of the Midlands Omaha & Council Bluffs
At Advanced Dermatology of the Midlands, our physician assistants and nurse practitioner started off with an intensely focused period of time spent working one-on-one with both of our dermatologists. This time includes focused teaching sessions, as well as training in clinical, surgical, and cosmetic practice. Similar to the dermatology residency training programs, our endpoint goal was to cultivate the abilities of the best dermatology advanced practice providers in the region.
In doing what we do, caring for the skin, hair, and nails in the field of dermatology, we get the satisfaction of not only being able to make patients feel better but also look better. We do get to save and prolong lives by diagnosing and curing skin cancer; we also get to enrich lives by making people feel better about their appearance through things as simple as removing unwanted spots and moles, or as complex as filling lines and relaxing wrinkles.
Again, the skin is the largest organ, and the science and art of dermatology continue to expand at a dramatic rate. There are so many more treatments and procedures we have to offer now as compared to 5 years ago! At Advanced Dermatology of the Midlands in Omaha & Council Bluffs, we stay on top of all of these advancements by frequent journal reviews and consistent round table discussions with all of our professional staff.
Patients
Despite all of that, the most important thing to us is this one thing—our patients. At the end of the day, we feel that our patients are the most important one element of our work. Their good outcomes and successes bring us happiness and make us want to continue to improve and work to be the best dermatologists in Omaha and best dermatology advanced practice providers. Above all else, this is why we chose to work in the field of dermatology.
Our goal is to exceed our patients’ expectations while building a reputation as being the top dermatology practice in the Midlands. For any information or to make an appointment please contact us.