Klein Dermatology & Associates, 5200 Meadows Rd Ste 250, Lake Oswego OR 97035
The Spectrum of Education Levels in Skin Care
Aesthetician/Esthetician
One can become an aesthetician/esthetician in 3 months. Basic skin care courses are covered, as well as safety and sanitation. A hair stylist has more education than an aesthetician, taking about one year. It takes about 6 months to be an "advanced esthetician".
A cosmetic dermatologist is different from a cosmetologist.
A cosmetologist has been to Beauty School and is licensed to do certain treatments on skin, hair and nails. A cosmetic dermatologist studied and trained for 12 years in medicine, then specialized in skin, hair, and nail diseases, diagnosing and treatments.
Medical Assistant
It takes approximately 30 weeks of full time courses targeted at the medical field. This is an Associate’s Degree, it is about two years of coursework. There is also a certification test to confirm mastery of the material taught.
Nurses
To become a nurse, one must apply and be admitted to nursing school. Registered nurses have either a two- or four-year degree.
A bachelor’s degree is also called an undergraduate degree, and is four years of college done after graduating from a high school. These four years may be concentrated in the sciences or they could be in other areas like history, art, communication, engineering, computer science and many others. A BSN is a Bachelor's of Science degree in Nursing.
PA = Physicians' Assistant and now changed to Physicians Associate
PA programs are 2 years long and do not require a science background. PA education includes more hours of clinical time (about 2000 hours) compared to a nurse practitioner program (500 hours). In contrast, my medical internship year was 5000 hours of clinical experience. (Internship hours have been cut back since, but it was extremely demanding yet educational.) It is annoying to watch PA's from medspas talk about how they have 'six months of training' knowing that some patients might think that is a good thing, whereas I don't think it is enough.
Nurse Practitioner (MSN, NP)
In the past, Nurse Practitioner programs were Masters degree programs that were 3 years long. They required a BSN first and clinical experience, whereas a PA program does not. This would give the MSN/NP more education hours in health sciences than a PA, but less than and MD/DO.
Doctor (MD, DO, DNP, PhD, JD and more)
Anyone who has completed a doctorate degree is a doctor. This includes physicians, attorneys, dentists, naturopathic physicians and many others.
Not all doctorate degrees require the same amount of effort or take the same length of time. For example, in medical school, students are often required to work “double-time” and take 18-25 units per quarter, four quarters of the year, for the first 2 years of a 4-year school program, equating to about a total of 160+ units of university education done in just their first two years. (Bachelor’s degrees are 120 units, and a unit means something much more than an hour.)
Medical students spend their 3rd and 4th years, working 40-60 hours per week, doing clinical rotations. After that an internship is done and competence examinations are taken in order to become a general practitioner. However, medical doctors will typically continue to do 3-8 more years of training in a residency program to become fully knowledgeable in their specialty area. In medicine, this is called a medical specialist.
The word "specialist" does not carry the prestige it once did, because now everyone at a med spa calls themselves a specialist. Patients should educate themselves to understand the differences in training.
ABMS BOARDS
American Board of Medical Specialties
Dermatology and plastic surgery medical procedures should not be done by people who think it is acceptable to learn the trade by watching others do it on Instagram and YouTube. The safest providers have a solid education and experience in medicine. What it takes to be a dermatologist.
UC Davis School of Medicine, then Dermatology Residency
College Pre-Requisites
A Bachelors degree is required before applying to medical school. There are prerequisites, which typically include 1 year of biology, 1 year of chemistry, Organic or Biochemistry, Physics and Calculus. GPA is typically 3.65 or higher. An applicant must perform highly on the MCAT (medical college admission test).
Medical School Year 1
Gross Anatomy, Human Physiology, Cell and Tissue Biology, Molecular Medicine, Population Health and Evidence-based Medicine, Health and Humanity Clinical Skills, Endocrinology, Nutrition, Reproduction, Genetics, Embryology, Pharmacology, Oncology, General Pathology, Microbiology, Immunology, Public Health, Health and Humanity, and Basic Clinical Skills.
Medical School Year 2
Neuroanatomy, Clinical neurosciences, Psychiatry, Bioethics, Systemic Pathology, Pharmacology, Pathophysiology: Musculoskeletal, Dermatology, Hematology, Pulmonary system, Cardiovascular system, nephrology, gastroenterology, systemic pathology, Pharmacology, Population Health and Clinical Skills
Pass USMLE I (United States Medical Licensing Exam Part 1)
Medical School Year 3
Clerkships: Internal Medicine, OB/GYN, Pediatrics, Family Medicine, Psychiatry, Surgery. 2500 clinical hours
Medical Year 4
2500 more clinical hours:
32 weeks of Required Coursework which includes
- 4 weeks Emergency Medicine
- 4 weeks of Acting Internship Inpatient Core Specialty
- 4 weeks of Acting Inpatient Any Specialty
- 4 weeks of Scholarly Project or Special Study Module
20 weeks of Additional Electives
- ex. Dermatology, Urology, Orthopedic Surgery, etc.
Pass USMLE Part 2, Transition to Residency (Post-graduate years)
Internship year - PG1
5000 clinical hours spent doing acute/inpatient medicine and also outpatient/chronic care medicine - Internal Medicine.
Pass USMLE Part 3.
Apply for medical license once proof of basic medical knowledge has been met.
PG2-4 Dermatology Residency
Approximately 6000 clinical hours more spent focusing on science, diseases and treatments for all conditions related to skin, hair and nails. Followed by a difficult examination that lasts for 2 days to obtain certification by the Board of Dermatology, repeat every 10 years.
Klein Dermatology & Associates
5200 Meadows Rd. Ste 250, Lake Oswego, OR 97035
Copyright © 2024 Klein Dermatology & Associates - All Rights Reserved.
This website uses cookies.
We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.