Dermatology is a medical specialty that is devoted to treating the diseases of the skin, hair, and nails. This field is a rapidly growing health care industry in the United States. Although this specialty is typically a blending of disease-based and aesthetic dermatology, this course will focus on disease-based dermatology or dermatopathology.
Dermatologists treat and/or prevent a wide variety of skin conditions such as:
- Acne
- Hair loss
- Skin cancers (including melanoma)
- Psoriasis
- Skin infections
- Warts and cysts
The majority of specimens that are submitted to the dermatopathology laboratory are biopsies of suspicious lesions and cutaneous tumors, as well as excisions of skin cancer.