A dermatologist is a specialist doctor with special training in diagnosing and treating a wide range of skin conditions including skin cancers and inflammatory skin conditions. For Australian accreditation, a dermatologist has had to complete a medical degree as well as a further 4 years of specialist training and passed multiple examinations from the Australasian College of Dermatologists. A dermatologist will assess a patient, diagnose any condition and recommend treatment.

A face to face dermatology consult is partly medicare rebatable but usually there is a gap fee to see a dermatologist privately. The rebate requires a suitable medical referral. This gap fee varies but can be around 200$. There may also be a significant waiting list. Rockhampton patients may also need to travel to Brisbane or other sites to access a dermatologist.

This photograph based service is not medicare rebatable. Consequently the full fee as listed will need to be out of pocket. Complex patients with an appropriate medical referral may be offered a telehealth consult with a medicare rebate. These telehealth consults are for complex patients with previous assessment from this service and need to be booked by phone.

Seeing a dermatologist is partly medicare rebatable but there is usually a gap fee to see a dermatologist privately. This fee will vary depending on the dermatologist’s fees. Some public hospitals have public dermatology services but usually have significant waiting lists.

You should see a dermatologist if your GP is unable to provide the skin care you need. This may be due to difficulty in diagnosing the condition (eg unusual or atypical skin condition), having a skin condition where routine care is not resolving the problem (eg severe acne), the skin condition is complex or multiple conditions coexist, or treatments are required that only a specialist can prescribe.

Yes, but there will be no medicare rebate without an appropriate referral. As this service predominately will not attract a medicare rebate a referral is not required.

We offer dermatologist consults only after an initial assessment and management plan has not resolved the presenting problem.

There are many factors that affect the skin including but not restricted to:

– Medications (both prescribed and natural/alternative therapies),

– Alcohol

– Smoking and recreational drugs

– Allergies (to oral and injected medications, skin creams, shampoos, detergents and chemicals at work or home)

– Other medical conditions (eg immunosuppression, diabetes).

Having a list of medications and what products you put on your skin would be very useful.

You should not worry about confidentiality or judgement about private matters such as recreational drugs, sexually transmitted diseases or other personal matters. Communicating these matters clearly with the dermatologist or dermatology service will get you the best treatment.

Covering areas of skin with clothing or makeup may compromise the diagnosis of your condition. Please do not wear makeup or be prepared to remove makeup during your visit. You can then reapply makeup after the visit if you choose. Wearing brief underwear is suggested but we will only ask you to disrobe to the level you choose. If you have areas of concern on genitalia or breasts you should inform the melanographer and images of these areas will be needed for a diagnosis to be made.

Yes and we encourage referrals from GPs as it ensures we work as a team to optimise your health. But it is not necessary for this service as there is no medicare rebate for the majority of the services we provide. Complex cases can be referred for a telehealth consult with a dermatologist but we only offer this service for patients we have already assessed by photography. Particularly complex or severe cases (eg those requiring hospitalisation) we may refer to a further public or private dermatology service.