Insights, tips, and research on skin health, dermatology, and AI-assisted care.
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Mole mapping and total body photography promise earlier melanoma detection, but they are not for everyone. A Canadian family physician explains how the imaging works, who truly benefits, what the evidence shows, and what it costs in Ontario.
By Maryam Sobhkhiz Sabet, MD, Family Physician
Most skin problems are handled by a family doctor, but some need a specialist. A Canadian family physician explains the red flags, how referrals and wait times work, and how to get a faster skin assessment.
By Maryam Sobhkhiz Sabet, MD, Family Physician
Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is the second most common skin cancer and is usually curable when caught early. Learn its warning signs, how fast it spreads, how dermatologists treat it, and when to get a spot checked in Canada.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
Skin cancer screening means a clinician checks your skin for suspicious spots. Here is where to get a full body skin check in Canada, what happens, how long you may wait, what provincial plans cover, and how to check your own skin between visits.
By Maryam Sobhkhiz Sabet, MD, Family Physician
Hives, or urticaria, are raised itchy welts that often appear without warning. A family physician explains the common triggers, safe ways to calm the itch, when welts signal an emergency, and how Canadians can reach dermatology care faster.
By Maryam Sobhkhiz Sabet, MD, Family Physician
Melasma is a common, stubborn form of facial pigmentation triggered by sun, heat, and hormones. A dermatologist explains why it happens, the treatments that actually work, and how to fade it safely without making it worse.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
Ringworm is not a worm. It is a fungal infection (tinea) that usually clears with an over-the-counter antifungal cream in two to four weeks. Here is how to recognize it, treat it correctly, and know when a rash needs a clinician in Canada.
By Maryam Sobhkhiz Sabet, MD, Family Physician
Actinic keratosis, also called solar keratosis, is a rough, scaly patch caused by long-term sun exposure. Dermatologist Mohsen Khoddami explains the causes, treatment options, and the warning signs that mean a spot should be checked for skin cancer.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
Seborrheic keratoses are benign and melanoma is dangerous, yet they can look alike. A dermatologist explains how to tell them apart, the warning signs that need a check, and how Canadians can get a skin spot reviewed without a long wait.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
Keratosis pilaris is the harmless "chicken skin" that causes rough bumps on the arms, thighs, and cheeks. A DermaDex family physician explains what causes it, the ingredients that actually smooth it, and when to see a doctor in Canada.
By Maryam Sobhkhiz Sabet, MD, Family Physician
Basal cell carcinoma is the most common skin cancer and one of the most curable. A DermaDex dermatologist explains what BCC looks like, why it develops, how it is diagnosed, and the treatment options available in Canada.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
Skin photos taken for dermatology are personal health information under PHIPA. This guide covers how clinics should encrypt, store, restrict access to, and delete patient skin images, plus where the data should live in Canada.
By Elham Hafezi, Healthcare data & security
Uploading a mole or rash photo to an app raises a real privacy question. Learn how Canada's PIPEDA and provincial PHIPA rules protect medical images, how to spot a secure skin photo app, and the five things to check before you upload.
By Elham Hafezi, Healthcare data & security
AI skin checks use machine learning to flag moles and rashes that need a closer look. DermaDex's CTO explains how the models work, how accurate they really are, what they cannot do, and how to use one safely in Canada.
By Elham Sayyah, Computer engineer, AI/ML
Dermoscopy lets clinicians see pigment patterns and blood vessels beneath the skin using a dermatoscope. Here is how it works, what a Canadian appointment looks like, how it helps catch melanoma early, and how it differs from a biopsy.
By Elham Sayyah, Computer engineer, AI/ML
2025 saw AI-assisted dermatology move from academic research toward early clinical adoption across Canada, with clearer regulatory guidance from Health Canada and continued documentation of specialist wait times by CIHI.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
Training AI on thousands of skin images without moving a single file off-clinic servers is one of the central design problems in medical AI. Federated learning is the approach the research community has converged on. Here is how it works and what the trade-offs look like...
By Elham Sayyah, Computer engineer, AI/ML
Rosacea affects roughly 3% of Canadians, yet most patients go years without a clear trigger map or treatment plan. This guide covers the latest evidence on rosacea flare-up triggers, topical and oral therapies, and practical diet and lifestyle adjustments.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
The Personal Health Information Protection Act (PHIPA) mandates audit logs for every electronic health record access in Ontario. This guide breaks down what fields to capture, how long to retain logs, and how PHIPA compares to PIPEDA and HIPAA.
By Elham Hafezi, Healthcare data & security
Clear skin photos help your dermatologist see exactly what you see. This guide covers lighting, distance, focus, and scale so your images are useful from the first upload.
By Maryam Sobhkhiz Sabet, MD, Family Physician
Over 6 million Canadians live in rural or remote areas where specialist wait times and travel distances are far worse than in cities. Telehealth is narrowing that divide. Here is what the evidence shows.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
A technical primer on how skin lesion classification CNNs work — from the HAM10000 benchmark dataset to architecture tradeoffs, class imbalance solutions, and published validation results from peer-reviewed research.
By Elham Sayyah, Computer engineer, AI/ML
SPF 30 blocks 97% of UVB rays; SPF 50 blocks 98%. This Canadian sunscreen guide explains the difference, covers UVA vs. UVB protection, and tells you what the UV index means for your skin.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
Ontario has run several regional pilots aimed at cutting dermatology wait times through eConsult and teledermatology triage. This article examines what those pilots found, which models cut waits the most, and what they mean for patients today.
By Maryam Sobhkhiz Sabet, MD, Family Physician
When an AI skin analysis tool reports 87% confidence, that number has a specific statistical meaning with several important caveats. This article explains how machine learning confidence scores work, how they are calibrated, and how clinicians should interpret them.
By Elham Sayyah, Computer engineer, AI/ML
From corticosteroid creams to IL-23 biologics, this dermatologist-written guide covers every tier of psoriasis treatment available to Canadian patients in 2025, including what provincial drug plans typically cover.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
Canadian clinics running OSCAR EMR or Telus PS Suite face common interoperability challenges when connecting a specialist dermatology tool. This guide explains the technical approach, compliance requirements, and setup steps involved.
By Elham Hafezi, Healthcare data & security
Adult acne affects up to 15% of women over 25. This article breaks down what 2025 clinical research says about causes, hormonal triggers, and the most effective treatment options available in Canada.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
A monthly self skin check at home takes less than 10 minutes and can catch melanoma and other skin cancers at their most treatable stage. Follow this step-by-step skin self exam guide from a board-reviewed dermatology team.
By Maryam Sobhkhiz Sabet, MD, Family Physician
Healthcare providers handling dermatology images must encrypt patient data both at rest and in transit to meet PHIPA and PIPEDA requirements. This guide explains the standards, tools, and implementation steps that protect medical images from breach.
By Elham Hafezi, Healthcare data & security
Canadian winters strip moisture from skin faster than almost any other climate. This guide explains why atopic dermatitis flares between October and March and what a dermatologist recommends to manage it.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
Both teledermatology and in-person dermatology visits have clear strengths. This guide breaks down which option fits which condition, and when you genuinely need to be in the room.
By Maryam Sobhkhiz Sabet, MD, Family Physician
Acne, eczema, psoriasis, rosacea, and contact dermatitis are among the most prevalent skin conditions affecting Canadian adults. This article covers symptoms, Canadian prevalence data, and evidence-based first-line treatments.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
AI-powered dermatology tools are only as fair as the data they train on. This article explains how the Fitzpatrick scale guides dataset diversity efforts and what gaps still exist for darker skin types.
By Elham Sayyah, Computer engineer, AI/ML
Artificial intelligence (AI) dermatology tools trained mostly on lighter skin tones perform worse for patients with darker complexions. Understanding the Fitzpatrick scale and dataset diversity gaps is the first step toward fixing the problem.
By Elham Sayyah, Computer engineer, AI/ML
The ABCDE rule gives you a structured way to examine moles for melanoma warning signs. Dr. Mohsen Khoddami explains each letter and what to do if a mole concerns you.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
Staff burnout is a staffing crisis in slow motion. This guide walks through the operational levers dermatology clinic managers can pull, from scheduling design to documentation load, to protect their teams without sacrificing patient volume.
By Maryam Sobhkhiz Sabet, MD, Family Physician
Two federal and provincial privacy laws govern how dermatologists and AI-assisted tools handle your skin health data in Canada. Here is what they protect, where they differ, and what you can do if something goes wrong.
By Elham Hafezi, Healthcare data & security
Convolutional Neural Networks trained on hundreds of thousands of dermoscopy images can now classify skin lesions at accuracy levels that match or exceed general practitioners. This primer explains the core technology behind AI skin diagnosis.
By Elham Sayyah, Computer engineer, AI/ML
Canadians waiting for a dermatologist face some of the longest specialist delays in the country. This article examines why wait times are growing, which provinces are hardest hit, and what options patients have right now.
By Mohsen Khoddami, MD, Dermatologist
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