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/
