Advanced Dermatology and Cosmetic Surgery

his review is for both the Plant City office and the Lakeland office. I'm a 48 year old Floridian who has had skin cancers on and off since I was 17, so I've seen a lot of Dermatologists. Most have been very good. This practice, which was my only real local option with my insurance, leaves a lot to be desired. First, Plant City. When you walk in, the first thought in seeing the dingey little office is "damn, I should have spent more and got better insurance". My confidence was further eroded when I sat on the exam table, and noticed it was at least an inch higher on one side than the other. Seriously, you can't get the table level??? The Nurse Practioner (Bobbie Ferrell) looked me over and found 10 areas of concern requiring biopsy (I told you I was a frequent flier). She found about 20 other spots that she thought needed freezing. She froze all of those and injected the 10 other areas with Lydocaine or something along those lines. Apparently, 20 sprays of nitrogen and 10 injection sites is more than a 6'2", 220lb man can take, as for the first time I reacted with cold sweats, vomiting and shakiness. And this was BEFORE the 10 biopsies were done. So I had that to look forward to as I was catching my breath and drying off. The topper? They proceeded to do the 10 biopsies, without even bothering to remove the vomit filled container. Nothing says "attention to hygiene" quite like scalpels and vomit in close proximity to one another. 8 of the biopsies come back Basal Cell, 1 Squamous, 1 benign (Yay!). So... off to the mothership office in Lakeland, to see Dr. David Murray, who I'm told mentored Bobbie Ferrell. The office was bigger, and somewhat cleaner (yay!). Also, there were a LOT more people in it. My 10 excisions (one had to be done twice) required 5 separate appointments, 2 weeks apart. Most Dermatologists I've dealt with in the past would go no more than 10 days with stitches, they really begin to bother me after about that long. I asked to shorten the time in between after the first time, was told "No". Right about the second appointment for excisions, it occurs to me that whereas other places ALWAYS wiped the area before injecting with alcohol, this is NOT the practice here. That continued to be my experience, throughout all TEN excisions not once was the area cleaned before injecting and/or cutting. My prior Dermatologist used to ask me to wash the entire area with Hibicleanse disinfectant before coming, and then would wash it again when I arrived. Dr. Murray and his protege were the exact opposite. Remember how I mentioned there were a LOT of people at the Lakeland office? That means the average visit for two excisions takes about 2-3 hours. Between waiting in the waiting room (75 minutes today), waiting shirtless (and bleeding) in a cold room with the door open for 45 minutes after the anaesthetic was injected, waiting for the Doc to return after cauterizing... they simply have no concern for your time. The assembly line approach to medicine, dollar volume over patients... really gets irritating. They've convinced me to upgrade my insurance and find a better doctor. Yay.

Bobbi is polite, professional and thorough. Has treated my keloid scarring better than others.

Top notch staff and professionals!

Very caring service

Bobbie Jo is excellent !