Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Lure of Cosmetic Procedures Compounds Dermatologist Shortage


Welcome back to my general dermatology blog. My name is Sudhir Polisetty and I am a dermatologist with The Dermatology Center in New Albany, Indiana. This week’s blog focuses on a major story concerning the future of dermatology, a shortage of general dermatologists.

As the Star Tribune explains, the popularity of higher paying cosmetic procedures such as Botox, lip augmentation, and chemical peels is causing many medical students to shy away from general dermatology. Minnesota has 4.3 dermatologists for every 100,000 residents and the state’s medical school only graduates five dermatologists each year. Those who do graduate devote much of their time to practicing the cosmetic procedures mentioned above instead of lower-paying procedures for identifying and treating melanoma, psoriasis, and a host of other skin conditions. The shortage in dermatologists is already leading to delays in diagnosis and treatment of conditions such as skin cancer according to a few of the physicians interviewed in the article.

One reason for the disparity could be the rise in salaries for dermatologists since 1995, with cosmetic dermatologists seeing a much larger jump than general dermatologists. This has caused many dermatologists to devote their time to cosmetic procedures. In the Twin Cities alone, cosmetic dermatology accounts for between 20 and 40 percent of the average dermatologist’s schedule.

Unfortunately the need for general dermatologists will only increase in the years ahead. The threat of skin cancer continues to grow, with the latest estimates being that one in every 50 Americans will develop melanoma during their lifetimes. Skin cancer rates are also rising, with more and more Americans relying on tanning beds and long exposure to the sun to improve their appearance.


Fortunately there are many reasons to specialize in general dermatology. Dermatologists do not have advertising costs like cosmetic dermatologists do and as mentioned earlier, demand for their services will continue to go up in the years ahead.

Thanks for reading,
Sudhir Polisetty

Learn more about me on my about.me page, or view other interesting dermatology articles by following me on Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/sudhirpolisetty/‎