Why is it all the dermatologists in my phone book (about 13) are booked solid for @ least 3 months?

%26amp; can you get screened for skin cancer by another type of doctor? I've tried to look for free screenings in my area but found none.....

Why is it all the dermatologists in my phone book (about 13) are booked solid for @ least 3 months?
I agree with Mlgable.


A medical practitioner is qualified to make a full physical examination, if necessary he addresses promptly his patient to the specialist who professionnaly will deal with the kind of pathology found by his colleague.
Reply:If you go to your regular doc they can screen your for skin cancer and they can also refer you to a dermatologist a lot quicker than if you were calling.
Reply:Dermatologists in the U.S. have purposely suppressed their own numbers by limiting the number of residency training positions. They LIKE that you have to wait so long. They have conspired to tilt the law of supply and demand in their favor.
Reply:A dermatologist told me once that the reason they are so busy is because society is too clean. Our skin excretes a natural coating called an Acid Mantle and by bathing or showering every day your skin does not get a chance to replenish the coating. This leaves your skin open to infection, dryness etc.


Our ancestors used to bathe once a week and it wasn't necessarily a bad thing!
Reply:I probably booked all of them *sigh*





Yeah this is something you should definitely try. If your regular doctor doesn't do a free screening for you, or recommend you to one that does, you should browse the web and you will find free practicing clinics for med-students. Everything is done free in these clinics since it is by practicing students. Trust me you would be surprised how many are near you. I don't know where you live or I would have done the search for you.





But I'm telling you I tried it for something else, For a mammogram I feel is important for women to have... and I got it done for free, the people were excellent and I got my results back faster then I would have from a regular clinic.





Good Luck sis
Reply:bcz there isn't many of'em around...


It might be different now cz I heard this while I was in high school...


An adviser of us said that becoming a dermatologist is one of the hardest in medical profession... you have to kind of be in the top ten or something...





ANYWAYS... 3 months isn't that bad! ... I had to wait more than 6 months!
Reply:Hmm. Sounds fishy. Call your local hospital and see if they have any ideas - maybe they can do a skin cancer screening there.