Everyone Is a Dermatologist

I just returned from the annual cosmetic dermatology seminar sponsored by Skin Disease Education Foundation (SDEF) in Santa Monica, where I struck up a conversation with the woman sitting next to me. I introduced myself as a reporter, and I asked if she was a dermatologist.

“No,” she replied, “I’m an Ob.Gyn.”

“Oh, are you planning to add cosmetic procedures to your practice?”

“No, I work for [large HMO], and I’m very busy with obstetrics and gynecology patients.”

“Then why are you here?”

“I was especially interested in the sessions on chemical peels. It’s cheaper to spend the $600 to attend this meeting and learn how to do it myself than to go to a dermatologist to have the procedure done. Now that I know how to do it, I’m going to give my girlfriend a chemical peel, and she’s going to give me one.”

I wonder how many dermatologists you’ll find at Ob.Gyn. meetings learning how to deliver their friends’ babies.

— Bob Finn