Finding your Passion | Why did Dr. Bailey became a Dermatologist?

One of my greatest joys is my work and I didn't expect to be doing what I do now. Spoiler alert - like many things in my life, I didn’t plan it! In fact, my husband had tried to talk me into thinking about it in medical school (yes, we have been married a long time) and I resisted. His interest was that dermatology has more defined hours than the other medical specialties I was thinking about. One night at dinner he pitched it as a career choice and I said, “I'll never be a dermatologist, I want to be a real doctor and save lives.” I remember that conversation like it was yesterday.
Similarly, in college, I was aiming for a career as a research scientist. My goal was to get a PhD in biochemistry or molecular biology, become a "real scientist” and prove to the world through research that we were harming ourselves and the environment with modern chemicals in our food. (This was in the early 1970s!)
One summer in college, as I was working towards this goal at Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory in a research lab, I decided to volunteer at Alta Bates Emergency Room because a friend of mine said it was fun. In that ER I got ‘the bug’, which is the seductive pleasure of immediate gratitude when patients thank you for helping them. That changed my career trajectory. I applied to medical school and entered it not really knowing what specialty I would aim for. I considered reconstructive plastic surgery, obstetrics / gynecology, internal medicine in a small town -
I wasn’t sure which direction to go but it was sure that I was not going to go into dermatology.
And then I chose to have my first baby in my third year of medical school. My senior year, when we could take electives, I chose rotations that allowed me to go home at 5pm such as ophthalmology, radiology and…. dermatology! Once again, I got the bug - I loved dermatology (and had to eat my words). Derm patients really interested me. They include adults, teens, kids, seniors, men and women. You have medical evaluations, surgeries and access to the organ you needed to evaluate. Derm is academically interesting (to me) and then there is ‘care’ and ‘skin care’, which I found that I loved. When I help someone with their large and visible organ (skin) that I’m the expert in, the gratitude is juicy. I was hooked. Yes, I got to eat my words and I have loved my 30+ year career in dermatology.
Once in dermatology I thought I would go into academic dermatology so that I could do research, teach and have a clinical practice. I had my second child during my dermatology residency and my husband and I decided that we really wanted to raise our kids in a country setting. Medical schools are not in rural places so I changed my plan again. We moved to the Northern California wine country north of San Francisco to a medium sized community. I practice in a town called Sebastopol.
My career has been rewarding - both in the relationships I’ve built with my patients and community, and intellectually. 45 years ago if you had asked me if I would end up as a dermatologist in a small / medium sized semi-rural community I would have said you're crazy - yet I’ve loved ever minute of my career. It wasn’t a plan, and it’s been great!
I hope you've enjoyed my story and wish you a wonderful day.
Dr. Cynthia Bailey, M.D.
www.drbaileyskincare.com
#SkinCare #DrBaileySkinCare #HealthySkin

[@EdgyIntellect]

Your story is fabulous! I’m in college right now and am going through the same unplanned phase!

[@DrBaileySkinCare]

Life is an adventure and I like to follow what I'm drawn to. Best of luck!

[@arlynjoybona5740]

You’re amazing, Ma’am 🥰 I love the way you share your storyyy!

[@frankbailey]

Love this story!

[@DrBaileySkinCare]

Thank you for watching.

[@lvbailey1]

❣️With much gratitude❣️

[@DrBaileySkinCare]

My pleasure!

[@TS-nl9cr]

I am in med school and I want to be dermatologist but people arround me degrade me by saying why you want to be a " Beautician". This thing always made me worry. Dr Bailey Can you plz guide me.

[@kristinas5714]

Hi Dr Bailey! , what tests can dermatologists run when uncertain of skin conditions like eczema vs tinea versicolour vs vitiligo?

[@DrBaileySkinCare]

Skin biopsy read by a really good dermatopathologist. Skin scraping for TV. Vitiligo is depigmented with loss of melanocytes under microscope on biopsy, not hypopigmented. A good derm will know.

[@kristinas5714]

Dr. Bailey thank you very much for your responses 😊