CHOOSING YOUR DOCTOR

WHO SHOULD TREAT YOUR SKIN?

Is the doctor treating your skin a skin doctor? Is he or she “Board Certified?” Which Board?

If you are not sure...ASK! If you are still not sure, try GOOGLE! If you cannot find the alleged doctor on Google or online at the American Academy of Dermatology (www.aad.org), Texas Medical Association (www.tma.org), or Travis County Medical Society (www.tcms.com) then you should be concerned, and frankly you should go somewhere else! We strongly suggest you check the website of the Texas Medical Board (www.tmb.state.tx.us). You can see if your doctor has had any complaints, disciplinary actions or lawsuits.

You have probably noticed a huge proliferation of “skin care clinics,” “medspas,” and so forth. Many such clinics are owned and run by absentee businessmen. A lot are franchised to retirees. There may be no physicians ever on site...just “technicians.” Others use “figurehead” doctors who just lend their name or come in occasionally to review charts. Some clinics advertise that they have “board certified physicians,” but the training and board certification of these physicians attempting to treat your skin might have been in gynecology, ophthalmology, family practice, emergency medicine, or worse yet - dentistry!

You may see advertisements that don’t even mention the name of a doctor at all! Shouldn’t you wonder why? Do physicians rotate through there so quickly that they can never keep the same name on their letterhead or website? You should be very suspicious of a salon that doesn’t even mention the name of any physician - who they are, where they came from, where they were trained, or how long they expect that physician to be there? Dr. Coverman is Board Certified in Dermatology and has been practicing at the same location since 1978.

We are now seeing a profusion of fake dermatologists and plastic surgeons - that is right, FAKE! They have absolutely no formal training in dermatology or plastic surgery other than perhaps a weekend course at best. Instead, they present false and misleading representations of their credentials and training. You may find seductive and appealing terms such as “cosmetic physician,” “aesthetic physician,” “cosmetic laser practitioner,” and the laughably fraudulent term “lasertrologist.”

A recent study showed that over 90% of skin cancers were discovered by Board Certified Dermatologists in patients who had recently been to a “medspa” for another cosmetic procedure. The staff at the medspa would have seen this lesion during their normal treatment (IPL, FotoFacial, laser hair removal and so forth) yet didn’t even recognize the abnormal mole as they were glibly passing the laser wand over it! That is a simple yet sad case of overt misdiagnosis when something was right there in front of them. Our office would have stopped and biopsied. Worse yet, while they were busy lasering off your excess facial hair, did anyone stop to initiate a work-up for polycystic ovary disease (PCOS) or porphyria which was causing your hair growth in the first place? A further danger is actual undertreatment. Many such spas use lower powered machines because they are “safe” and yet they charge you a huge amount of money for a huge amount of sessions (not to mention time and inconvenience) in order to keep themselves out of trouble.

The danger is that if there is a complication with any of these treatments, who is going to treat it? Who is going to pay for it? In addition, there is a severe danger of misdiagnosis. While a doctor has been using FotoFacial to treat a freckle, or perhaps one of the lasers, did they miss an early lentigo maligna (malignant melanoma in situ)? This is a cancer which can kill you. Did they wonder why you kept blistering after your light treatments? Did they recognize the disease porphyria or underlying lupus which can be light sensitive? Are they familiar with all the latest drugs that can cause photosensitivity? Was adenoma sebaceum (associated with brain tumors) misdiagnosed as acne? Microdermabrasion won’t help that! It has been documented that non-dermatologists do not approach the accuracy of dermatologists in diagnosing the 20 most common skin diseases!

Some franchised salons state that their “medical director has more than 30 years of industry experience.” What does that mean? Is that a clever way to seduce you into thinking that they have more actual dermatologic experience than they do, if any? “In the industry” might mean they are an insurance consultant, a director of a business, or maybe a doctor in a profession such as psychiatry completely unrelated to dermatology. Those are very vague terms, and it certainly doesn’t replace the more legitimate term, “BOARD CERTIFIED DERMATOLOGIST!”

The laser companies will unabashedly sell a laser to anyone who has the cash or financing. Even worse, some of the people who greet you and talk to you at these spas may be “closers.” They are there only to make the sale, and get paid a commission. Is it really in their best interest to turn you down if you are not an appropriate candidate?

Dr. Coverman trained at one of the top 10 hospitals in the United States*. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Board Certified in Dermatology.

Board Certification in Dermatology requires three years of additional training in the structure and function of the skin. It involves studies in dermatopathology, skin surgery, lasers, and additional training in diseases of the skin, hair and nails. After completing the extra three years of residency, a physician is then qualified to take the board examination. Dr. Coverman was tested over two and a half days to obtain his certification by the American Board of Dermatology.

If your doctor advertises many years in practice, was that exclusively for skin? If he advertises many years of laser experience, were those lasers for use on the skin, or lasers for some other purpose?

Dr. Coverman has practiced only Dermatology since 1978, and has used lasers FOR THE SKIN since 1983.

Dr. Coverman is an active member of the American Academy of Dermatology, and regularly attends its meetings. He is certified in Continuing Medical Education with the American Academy of Dermatology. He also maintains similar accreditation with the American Medical Association Physician’s Recognition Award.
Dr. Coverman has been a member of the Travis County Medical Society, the Texas Dermatological Society, and the Texas Medical Association since 1978. He is a past President of the Austin Dermatological Society.

Dr. Coverman has been recognized by the Austin Business Journal as Austin’s Top Cosmetic Surgeon** and in 2006 and in 2007, Dr. Coverman was selected by his peers as one of Texas’ Super Doctors.*** This list is published in Texas Monthly, and out of 37,000 doctors in Texas only 5% were chosen. Texas doctors were asked one simple question - “If you needed medical care in your speciality, which doctor would you choose?” This is not a popularity contest and you cannot vote for yourself. We are proud that Dr. Coverman was chosen by his peers to treat their own families for dermatologic conditions, and will always work hard to achieve and maintain your trust.

Large color advertisements, flashy and excited announcements of new lasers or untested procedures, self proclaimed expertise in dermatology, and lots of radio commercials are not the same as proper training in an accredited program with Board Certification in Dermatology.

GREEN ENERGY AND RECYCLING: Dr. Coverman and his family avidly re-cycle all products at home. Our office participates in the Austin Energy Green Choice program.

We replaced all of our incandescent light bulbs with the new long-lasting and very low energy consuming fluorescent light bulbs throughout the entire office. This should cut our energy usage dramatically, and we are using the replacement bulbs that have now been mandated throughout the entire state of California for this purpose.

Dr. Coverman brings all of his disposable batteries, both from his home and office, to Radio Shack for recycling.

CHARITY - Dr. Coverman strongly feels that charitable “giving back to the community” is vitally important and an obligation. Many such spa owners and spa physicians could care less and don’t do it. Dr. Coverman is proud to have been an active participant in the following charities:

Brackenridge community-wide skin cancer screening - sponsored by American Academy of Dermatology and American Cancer Society.
St. Luke’s Society (Sponsored by Seton Hospital)
Brackenridge Skin Cancer Clinic for indigent, Medicaid and underinsured patients.
Project Access sponsored by the Travis County Medical Society for indigent and underinsured patients.
Jewish Children’s Regional Home
Jewish Family Services
Center for Child Protection
Round Rock Circle of Friends annual “Toast to the Rock” benefitting Dell Children’s Medical Center of Central Texas

If you want a “spa experience,” go to a spa and get a massage. If you want expert care and treatment of your skin, see a Board Certified Dermatologist.

1/3/08

* U.S. News and World Report - 2005, 2006, 2007

** Based on number of procedures performed.

*** Top 5% voted by their peers

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