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Hopkins Health
The Cosmetic Center: A Marriage of Specialties
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| Dermatologist Patrick McElgunn explains to a patient how he will use “intense pulse light” therapy to rejuvenate facial skin. The device works by decreasing blood vessel and pigmentation changes associated with aging. |
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It’s not uncommon to find cosmetic centers in cities across the country that merge dermatologists with plastic surgeons and feature everything from Botox to breast augmentation.
Digging deep into its academic resources, Johns Hopkins has taken this concept a serious, significant step forward. Not only has its new Cosmetic Center at Green Spring Station wedded dermatology and plastic surgery, but it’s also brought interventional radiology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology and vascular surgery into the marriage.
“We realized that patients wanted a more holistic, multidisciplinary approach to their cosmetic concerns,” says dermatologist Patrick McElgunn, M.D., director of the center. “So we decided to give them the whole gamut—a variety of physicians with different skills so that they could receive the best possible care.”
The key, McElgunn adds, is that care at the center is offered in the highly consultative manner Hopkins is known for. The latest technologies are also employed, including innovative laser and light procedures designed to heal the skin without disrupting it—a major aim of the center.
“We can go after lesions beneath the skin without leaving visible damage, so patients can continue their normal social activities between treatments,” McElgunn says.
And because the physicians at the Cosmetic Center are academically oriented, they continue to pursue research that may lead to new, even more effective treatments for skin disorders. The push in the field, McElgunn explains, is to go deep and explore cellular mechanisms beneath the skin, in hopes of developing less-invasive interventions.
“Long term, we want to develop technology that will allow us to assess people’s skin with a simple biopsy,” McElgunn says. “By looking at their genetic patterns, we’ll be able to determine the best therapy for their condition.”
McElgunn adds that patients find an intimate environment at the center, one in which they can discuss their cosmetic concerns in private. Also, they need only travel to Green Spring Station, an accessible Hopkins outpatient satellite in suburban Lutherville, Md.
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