LAS VEGAS More than half of the dermatologists in the United States now spend at least part of their patient-care time providing cosmetic services, according to a survey conducted by the American Academy of Dermatology in 2007.
"You can see that it is becoming a more important part of the general dermatologist's practice," Dr. Diane R. Baker, president of the academy, said in presenting some of the survey results at the annual meeting of the American Society of Cosmetic Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery.
The survey was sent to 3,600 AAD members who are in private practice, of whom 1,146 (32%) responded, said Dr. Baker of Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, where she is also in private practice.
Fifty-five percent of respondents said that they spend at least some time practicing cosmetic dermatology.
Perhaps the most significant finding from the survery regarding cosmetic dermatology was that 3.5% of the respondents spend 50% or more of their patient-care time doing cosmetic care, which is up from 2.7% who reported the same in 2005, Dr. Baker said.
The mean amount of time that the dermatologists reported spending in direct patient care was 38 hr/wk, and 10% of that time overall was spent providing cosmetic care.
In addition, 3.7% of the dermatologists said that they spend no time doing medical dermatology, and the majority of those are Mohs surgeons, Dr. Baker said.
The cosmetic procedure performed by the most dermatologists was a chemical peel, reported by 51% of the responding dermatologists. The next most common procedure was botulinum toxin (botox) injection, which was performed by 49% of the respondents.
Other procedures that are commonly offered included UV light therapy (47%), collagen or filler injections (44%), sclerotherapy (44%), laser surgery (38%), and photodynamic therapy (24%).
Liposuction was performed by 6%, and hair transplants were performed by 2%, she said.
As a way of saying that the AAD tries to support dermatologists who provide cosmetic services as part of their practices, Dr. Baker noted that 18% of all the presentations given at the academy's last annual meeting were on cosmetic dermatology topics.
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