As the universities and secondary schools are preparing for spring break, it is important that we are educated and educate our young patients on the dangers of ultraviolet exposure. I am going to focus this blog more specifically towards the use of tanning beds. As a dermatology specialist and a parent, I find it unconscionable that ...

Was it losing weight? Spending more time with your family? Dragging your body to the gym? Reading more books? When's the last year you set a new year's resolution? And how far did you get before you broke it? And why are you so discouraged about trying again in 2013? We students in the medical field are required to study behavior change ...

Botulinum Toxin A is a protein and neurotoxin produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum. Botulium toxin can cause botulism, a serious, life-threatening illness in humans and animals. More patients are open to considering treatment with the toxin due to increased knowledge of benefits of its use. Botulinum toxin has been used for many ...

Lately it seems a rash (no pun intended) of patients have asked me how it was that they contracted their Staph infections. Some had MRSA, others MSSA. Some suffered from bacteremia, others osteomyelitis, and others still were challenged by skin/soft tissue infections in the form of painful and unsightly abscesses. Some had recently undergone ...

I don't know how many of my fellow NPs and PAs have seen and or heard about HBO's four-part documentary on obesity in America, The Weight of the Nation, but I can't recommend it enough: it is an awesome and totally relevant examination of health in the States. So many of the individuals profiled in this series were reminiscent of ...

A dear friend of mine recently informed me that her doctor confirmed she has melanoma. ''I have always been a ‘moley' person,'' she explained, and proceeded to tell me that her doctor had removed six to seven ''spots'' from various places on her body. The one on her right arm was where they discovered the melanoma. My heart sank; what do you ...

It was a sunny, warm afternoon. A great day to spend outdoors with the family. But Dad had not come home ... again. Then, the phone rang. Maybe it was him? But the voice was not his. ''I'm afraid that he has died,'' the voice whispered across the phone. They found him in a ditch, motionless, dirty ... and gone. ''I am sorry. He died from alcohol ...

As a future healthcare provider, I am learning a key concept when educating patients: be firm but kind; and it's ok to not get your point across. Many of the chronic diseases we face in healthcare require lifestyle changes and perpetual monitoring, which all hinge on our patients' vigilance. At a wellness class I teach once a month, I ...

In the last month and a half I have met and treated two women, both newly diagnosed with HIV and previously unaware and unsuspecting of their corresponding diagnoses. In both cases the women contracted it from their former husbands. I say former because one of the men died approximately one month before his wife, patient #1, learned of her ...

As providers we know the deeper we dive into the dermis, the greater the risk of potential side effects, sometimes including permanent adverse changes to the skin. I am a fan of options. There is no cookie-cutter treatment protocol we can follow with every patient. Treatments that allow us to treat the skin safely and are a good alternative to ...