so i've twice gone to this dermatologist for various little skin shtuff. i happened upon him because he was on my plan and was extremely local to work.
nice guy. young. clearly a new grad. i know this in part because when i call, i get in within a matter of days (not months) and when i arrive, i wait a matter of minutes (not hours).
he's sort of goofy. i think i mentioned this way back when. when i was complaining about my dry skin patterns on my hands, he showed me how to "fake" scrubbing my hands for surgery, or recommended that i quit my job and find something that would be less traumatic for my hand skin. right.
so, he's a little different. and....either he's supremely ethical and is a trust fund kid with no med school loans, or he simply hasn't caught on yet that he might be inadvertently putting himself out of business.
exhibit a) steroid cream for my eczema/psoriasis itchy winter stuff. most derms i've seen in the past give you a script for wee little pocket size doses of the precious. it lasts about 2 days, covering about 1/8 of your skin problem, and you have to go back to them to get more. this guy gave me a shitton per order with multiple refills- putting himself out of an office visit to get new scripts.
exhibit b) today i went to deal with some plantar warts that have been on the bottom of my feet for an embarrassingly long amount of time. they don't bother me, and i forget they're there until the BHE has my feet in his lap as we do, and he starts making gaggy faces when looking at said warts. they're tiny and not in painful spots, but none the less, to avoid the gaggy faces, i went to again see this doc. he explained that unless i get padding for my shoes and can avoid rubbing those spots and building calluses, wart burning/freezing/excising won't do any good. he gave me instructions on a $10 fix from the drug store and said the warts will either go away on their own or an over the counter remedy will likely cure them. so i was sort of annoyed that he got my $20 copay for just advice and no magic treatment, but he gave me a good 15 mins of his time and a cure instead of a quick fix. but if i follow his instructions, there will be no need for me to come back to him.
maybe that's his trick. maybe he knows that people are non compliant and we will always be back as we will never practice real prevention as we're told. hmmm....
but i appreciate his honesty. he kept saying that he could burn/freeze/dig them out, but they'll just come back until i fix the root problem. and he seems genuinely interested in doing that.
so i like him for his integrity but i do worry for his longevity as a business owner.
thoughts on this?
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2 comments:
I would say he's more clever than you think. He gets a reputation for being honest, helpful, and a good Dr. and he'll keep getting referrals. Once he gets to the point where you might have to consider refusing new patients, then he can change tactics to keep them coming back.
i think i agree with you. i would certainly send people his way after the experiences i've had with him. thank you for your comment. you need a good dermatologist? :)
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