katie123 wrote:woiwoi wrote:There is only one real Dermatologist in Trini which is Tonya Abraham in St Claire. The rest are normal GP's that did a 1 year
Dermatologist in Dubai diploma in Wales UK and call themselves Dermatologist instead of 4 years specializing.
thanks for let me know about this dermatologist because i am finding a real dermatologist which is very difficult to meet but site makes me free from concerning about the best dermatologist.
This information is a bit out of date and inaccurate.
Let me first try to provide a list of almost every skin doctor Trinidad, review them and then address the statement about qualifications.
https://www.findyello.com/Trinidad/MEDI ... ERMATOLOGYhttp://www.makemeheal.com/directory/bro ... ssion_id=2http://www.caribbeanprofessionalsdirect ... 4&des=trinhttps://skintt.net/en/https://www.facebook.com/SkinTrinidad/http://www.theskinhealthinstitute.com/https://en-gb.facebook.com/drrachaeleckel/https://en-gb.facebook.com/SerpentineRoadDermatology/These URLs link to the majority of Dermatologists/Doctors treating skin conditions in Trinidad. It is not complete by any means so please forgive me if I have omitted some. I tried to be as thorough as possible.
Trinidad's dermatology stalwarts are Dr. Akal, Dr. Ramoutar, Dr. Khamedaye Maharaj, Dr. Basanta, Dr. Marilyn Suite, Dr. Tonya Abraham (Serpentine Dermatology). They have been practicing the longest in private and more or less were the "go to" doctors that everyone went to for treatment. Whether their service was economical or they successfully treated their patients, is a comment for their patients to make. I do not attempt to validate or detract from anyone's practice.
I visited Dr. Akal, Dr. Ramoutar and Dr. Suite as a child and teenager and they did help me with my acne and my father with his "Lota." Their visits started around 200$ in my youth and rose to about 500$ for an initial consult in recent times.
Dr. Abraham of Serpentine, has a very modern practice and she offers a quality service. I've only seen her once for a consult on a rash and my experience was positive. She does dominate the Western-Trinidad market alongside her relative Dr. Rachel Eckel at The Skin Health Institute. One comment I would make is that Dr. Abraham sometimes utilizes other doctors, that are not practicing privately, when she is out of the country. Serpentine continues to get good reviews so Dr. Abraham's practice model seems sound.
Dr. Eckel has a stake in a global dermatological product franchise from what I can see on her website and online. She provides training around the world in the use of the products relating to this franchise. She has earned a good reputation and her service from what I have heard is also consistent. Serpentine and The Skin Health Institute can be a bit more expensive compared to the others but generally you will get results from what people say and from what I have experienced at Serpentine.
Dr. Eckel's website and facebook page are shown above in my URL list. As a "techy-person" I will offer minor commentary on the websites and facebook pages. Both Dr. Eckel and Dr. Abraham post alot of good information on their facebook pages about the services they provide and they are responsive to messages from the few enquiries I have made. Dr. Eckel's site is very impressive from a user standpoint. It has a "wow" factor but I found myself getting lost a bit easy and I get the feeling it was more geared towards linking to her product ranges or rather the range she has a stake in. Their facebook pages would be the "go-to" sources of info if I wanted to know about them in the future.
Then there is the newcomer, SK!N or Skin TT (As the facebook page name reads) which has been recently set up. Dr. Reemaul is shown as the "founder" on their About page. She definitely practices there and attended to me but possibly they plan to expand in time. I attended the practice just once to have a mole cut off - there was a nurse, the doctor and the receptionist. Sk!n is located in Aranguez Plaza, just off the Aranguez Main Road ... so it was convenient for me as I live in Arima and I work in POS. I went there one day after I left work for home early. I found out about them from a Facebook post which I saw and a friend who had been to see the eye specialist in the same building. My experience with Sk!n was positive. They have very clean, modern facilities with a very nicely designed office. It was a quality experience from a patient perspective. They reminded me a lot of Serpentine with the modern design of the building and quality customer service (something Trinidad needs more of) and they had all the equipment etc. to cut off the growing mole that was harassing me. They are new but I am hearing good things also about them.
Sk!n operates like Serpentine, with a shared medical floor housing a few other doctors. That was something I forgot to mention about Serpentine. I think both Sk!n and Serpentine in their respective buildings have a dentist and a GP in the same buildings so whichever is convenient to you, you have other practitioners around them. Sk!n is located above a pharmacy too so that was good location-wise.
I forgot to talk about the Sk!n website. They have a functional website from what I have seen (
https://skintt.net ). Sk!n even has an Online Booking System built into both their website and their facebook page (
https://www.facebook.com/SkinTrinidad/). That is something not offered by the other doctors and is a modern convenience that I like. I used the booking system when I wanted to remove my mole. I am not sure how responsive Sk!n is to messages on Facebook as I have not tried to use the messaging service on the facebook page. Sk!n's website does offer a few pages explaining some of the Services offered ... which is I decided to remove my mole - I read their Moles and Warts page. They also post info about services on their facebook page, just like Serpentine and Skin Health Institute.
Right ... so now that we have talked about all the doctors .. let's talk qualifications.
I know a bit about medical qualifications and the process. So the post above says that Dr. Abraham is the only qualified dermatologist and the rest have only done a one year dematologists in Dubai diploma in Wales. That statement is inaccurate. I am not sure why this person called it "dermatologist in Dubai" and why they singled out Wales but I know for sure the qualifications have nothing to do with Dubai and Wales is not the only place offering training.
So anyway to become a consultant abroad you need to undertake a post graduate qualification in the field you wish to specialize in and then work in the hospital abroad, under a senior doctor for a few years before you take your final professional exams. For example you would your need to do a masters in dermatology and then practice in the hospital for a while, then take the MRCP exams in the UK to become recognised as an expert in the field or a qualified dermatologist. Similarly if you wanted to be a surgeon you would need to do a masters and then work in the hospital before taking the MRCS exams in the UK. The US has a similar system which takes a bit longer than the UK but you become can become a specialist there as well.
Trinidad doesn't have programs under the UWI for every discipline within the field of medicine and so you need to go abroad to become a specialist in some. Dermatology is one such discipline and you can do the post graduate qualifications in the USA, Canada, UK and Australia depending on where you prefer or on where you initially qualified or on which conversion exams you have done to convert from a UWI awarded MBBS.
So now you want to know who has the required qualifications:
The ones I can vouch for based on certificates I have seen in their office or what I can find on Google - Dr. Marilyn Suite, Dr. Abraham (Serpentine Dermatology) and Dr. Reemaul (Sk!n or Skin TT).
The other doctors I have either visited them too long ago to have remembered or maco'd what was on their office walls or I can't find info online. That doesn't by any means mean that they are not qualified. We just don't have all the info at this time.
There is also a young doctor in Chaguanas I am told. I heard she qualified in the UK but didn't work in the hospital much. She opened a private practice straight after coming back but I don't know her name.
I am also told there is a dermatologist that works in private in POS and used to/currently does practice in Mt. Hope. She is supposedly the most qualified in terms of years working abroad. She specialised in Scotland and worked there for many years and apparently moved back recently. Someone please post her name if you know it. My memory is failing me with these last two doctors I mentioned. However both don't seem to be very popular at this time in Trinidad. That may change as they get better known.
So who wins ? Who would I choose if I wanted a dermatologist? Well the market is saturated and this was a hard decision as it is... I hope more people don't go into this field because I really don't want to revise this review in the near future haha. But "lewe go ..."
Let's weigh up the criteria:
- qualifications
- price : everybody is charging 500$ for a consult so price is not a major factor
- location
- reputation
- social media
- website
- parking
- modern facilities
- my personal experience and experience of others
The winners for me are: Dr. Suite, Dr. Reemaul (SK!N) , Dr. Abraham (Serpentine), Dr. Eckel (Skin Health Institute) and runner up is Dr. Maharaj.
Why? and who is the real winner?
Well Dr. Suite is a Caribbean leader in teaching and research in dermatology. She has also been around a long time and is one of the few Tobagonian doctors to have made a real name for themselves. Her facilities are not as modern or as ideally located as the others but she is definitely a great contributor in the field and has a lot to offer. I am full of praise for her having seen the technical references to her on line. No website or social media profile for Dr. Suite.
Dr. Reemaul at Sk!n or Skin TT (as the facebook page is titled) - this practice has been open for a while now but is more recent than that of the others. I have had a positive experience with Sk!n and the office is conveniently located in Aranguez with adequate parking. I have heard alot of good things about this practice from people as well. Sk!n has a modern website, a facebook page that is on par with Serpentine and Skin Health Institute and the doctor has the qualifications too, so definitely a winner here. Their online footprint and feedback inspires confidence.
Online booking is a modern feature and so in my opinion SK!N are doing little things to place the practice up there with the best despite being a relatively new practice.
The pharmacy located downstairs is owned by the owner of the building that Sk!n operates out of and it is a great positive to have a drug store literally nextto/under the office. There are also other doctors in the same building so cross-referrals mean you won't have to look far.
Dr. Abraham at Serpentine - Another verified, qualified dermatologist with modern facilities, good parking and a great facebook page. Serpentine doesn't have a website but has been around a long time and their reputation speaks for itself. It lacks the pharmacy next to it but Serpentine also has other doctors nearby so it is on par with Sk!n in many respects.
Dr. Eckel at Skin Health Institute - Dr. Eckel's qualifications are unknown to me but ... she must have the right certification because she is prominent worldwide and has a stake in a major franchise providing teaching for product use .. this would require vetting by the international community so we can be sure she has the qualifications. I have heard great things about her practice but have never been, so I cannot comment on the facilities but ... I am told they are modern, with adequate parking. She again doesn't have the pharmacy co-located. Dr. Eckel's website and social media are impressive and inspires confidence. Definitely another winner here. Small point is that the website is more product focused and could be organised better but its got that WOW factor that really makes me impressed. No online booking on the website.
Dr. Maharaj - does have a google+ page but I couldn't copy the link because Google was being annoying. She does have a facebook page for personal use but not one I could find for business use. No website. Parking can be a bit difficult at her offices I am told. What ranks her highly is the fact that she has been around a long time with a track record for successful treatment of patients and she has several offices (St. Helena is the one my mom went to) so she definitely offers options in terms of location for patients. Facilities not as modern as the others.
So who would I go to? We have a number of qualified professionals in Trinidad at the same price point so personally I would just pick one by location, parking and facilities... because I don't like to worry about my car when I park it and I like to go somewhere convenient and get good service for the best possible price.
If I lived in East or Central or South and worked in POS and Environs:
- 1st place: Serpentine & SK!N tied ... maybe online booking and the pharmacy might swing it to SK!N or maybe maturity of the practice will swing it to Serpentine. The final choice really is yours ...
- 3rd place: Skin Health Institute
- 4th place: Dr. Suite
- 5th place: Dr. Maharaj
If I lived in the South/East/Central and worked East/Central: same as above
If I lived in POS and environs and worked in POS and Environs:
- 1st place: Serpentine
- 2nd place: Skin Health Institute
- 3rd place: SK!N
- 4th place: Dr. Suite
- 5th place: Dr. Maharaj
If I lived in South and worked in South: ... well unfortunately I don't know any providers in South or any on par with the above in South ... so please talk to your friends and family in the Southland and hopefully they can help you out. I will try to get more info and post it.
Anyway, I hope everybody appreciates my effort here and I hope you are all successful in treating your skin ailments ( or "Bobos"
).
Please contribute to this discussion constructively and please fill in the gaps that I could not.
I tried to be impartial but couldn't resist a little commentary on the websites and social media etc.
Trinidad is lucky to have so much choice. We should be proud of how many qualified professionals our country produces!
