Canada is facing a shortage of dermatologists that is lengthening the wait for critical skin cancer screenings, according to a CBC investigation. The country is short about 400 of these specialists, and the gap is being felt most acutely by patients who need timely checks of moles and suspicious growths but find themselves waiting months for an appointment.
Dermatologists occupy a busy and varied role in the health system. They can inject Botox, map moles and diagnose skin cancers, and they are in high demand across the country. That breadth of work, combined with too few specialists to go around, has left many Canadians struggling to be seen for the medical side of dermatology when they need it most.
Carol MacArthur's experience illustrates the cost of the delays. She spent eight months simply trying to get a medical appointment, and by the time she was seen it had been more than a year that a growth had been developing on her face. MacArthur had feared it was cancerous, and when a dermatologist finally confirmed it, she needed major surgery, saying she lost a chunk of her cheek and the cartilage in her nose.
Medical experts warn that such delays carry real danger. A Canadian Dermatology Association report cautions that skin cancers need fast treatment to prevent death, and notes that skin conditions like eczema can cause serious mental health issues. Yet even as the need grows, more dermatologists are shifting their focus toward cosmetic procedures rather than this kind of care.
The contrast between the two sides of the specialty is stark. When reporters called multiple dermatology clinics asking about a cosmetic Botox treatment, they were able to book quickly, with one clinic offering an appointment as early as the next day. As one observer put it, there is an exodus from public medicine into private medicine, which is more lucrative for some doctors.
The head of the dermatology association points to structural pressures behind the trend. He says outdated fees that a doctor can bill a province for are squeezing medical practices, making the public side harder to sustain. But he also argues that taxpayers should not be funding residency spots for just anyone, questioning those who get their medical training subsidized by the public system and then spend their entire careers doing only cosmetic dermatology privately.
Some doctors are trying to fill the gap themselves. Behind Dr. Andrew Simone sits a makeshift waiting room, and every Saturday his dermatology clinic opens at 4 a.m. with no referral needed. He recalled seeing a man from Winnipeg who could not get a timely appointment even after his family doctor warned that his moles might be cancerous, underscoring the anxiety patients face when told a condition could be serious and then asked to wait.