Role of a Dermatologist: Responsibilities, Areas of Expertise, and Conditions They Treat

A dermatologist is an expert in the branch of medical science that deals with the skin, hair, and nails. The responsibilities of a dermatologist span multiple verticals. The primary responsibility of a dermatologist is to offer consultations related to skin conditions and provide the required medication and treatment.

The responsibilities and areas of expertise where a dermatologist is directly involved are:

  • Evaluation of the skin conditions of the patient
  • Recording of the health history of the patient
  • Referring the patient to another medical specialist depending on the case
  • Working collaboratively with other medical specialists
  • Providing instructions to interns or residents studying dermatology regarding dermatologic diseases and treatment
  • Performing specialized dermatologic treatments like liposuction
  • Observing the present symptoms, correlating them with the medical history of the patient, and recommending diagnostic tests
  • Conducting basic or clinical research
  • Staying updated with the most recent discoveries and inventions made in the field of dermatology. There are good dermatology books for MBBS that contain the latest interventions, procedures, and treatment discourses introduced around the world. 
  • Evaluate the condition of the patient regularly and identify the progress of the dermatological disease or disorder. The dermatologist also must monitor recovery in the case of cosmetic procedures. 
  • When evaluating the eligibility of a patient for cosmetic procedures, a dermatologist should be able to analyze the risk factors as well as the side effects before proceeding with cosmetic procedures, like lasers, liposuction, facelifts, dermabrasion, rhinoplasty, etc. Cosmetic procedures have gained much popularity in the present time, and to be a top cosmetologist, an individual needs to have a strong foundation of dermatology basics needed for medical students. 
  • Conducting or prescribing diagnostic tests involving the systems, fluids, or organs of the body. 
  • Offering solutions through therapies to the patient. A few of the processes are removal of comodo for treatment of age-related spots, chemical peels, intralesional steroids, curing sun damage, rough skin, discoloration of the entire or patches of the skin, and oily skin. A good MD dermatology online course will help a student master the concepts of dermatology easily.
  • Treating atrophic scars, elevated scars, and other forms of scars through laser abrasion
    using hormonal agents for administrative hormone treatment
  • Performing skin surgeries, and incisional biopsies
  • Diagnosing and treating pigmentations, lesions, acne, dandruff, moles, psoriasis, athlete's foot, etc.
  • Diagnosing and treating skin cancer
  • Counselling patients is related to the need for dermatologic screenings, protection from the sun, awareness of skin cancer, and encouraging the patient to self-examine their skin and lymph nodes. 

It must be noted that the areas of functional expertise of a dermatologist that are mentioned above are not entirely covered at the MBBS level. Some of them are given in an extensive format, with in-depth information and insight at the PG/MD level. If you are an aspirant, you should not worry much about covering the entire syllabus of dermatology, which happens to be too vast, as you have online dermatology courses to help you in every stage of your dermatology preparation. You can learn Dermatology MD online by directly enrolling in the portal of renowned medical learning platforms that design effective online courses. All you have to do is visit the website, download the app, subscribe to the course, and then start your dermatology journey by studying through MD Dermatology videolectures

Some common skin conditions treated by dermatologists are mentioned below.

  • Acne
  • Acidic or Cosmetic Dermatology: Ageing of the skin, birthmarks, reduction of fat, transplantation of hair, laser surgery, moles, pigmentation disorders, rosacea, removal of tattoos, peeling of the skin, wrinkles, vascular lesions, warts, and much more. 
  • Autoimmune Skin Diseases: Blistering diseases, lupus, impetigo, dermatomyositis, scleroderma, vasculitis, etc.
  • Dermatitis and Rashes: Atopic dermatitis, atopic eczema, contact dermatitis, allergies from medication, dermatitis caused by occupational hazards, stasis dermatitis, etc.
  • Disorders of the hair, nails, and scalp: Alopecia, dandruff, folliculitis, fungal nails, hirsutism, etc.
  • Pediatric Dermatology
  • Psoriasis
  • Skin Cancer: Basal skin carcinoma, lymphoma, melanoma, Merkel cell carcinoma, and Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans

An MD dermatology online course and also a dermatology textbook for MBBS authored by prominent dermatologists cover these diseases and allied conditions extensively.

 

 

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