Bay Dermatology Centre

As of 2013, there are just over 570 dermatologists in Canada overall. Canada has a population of 35.16 million.
And your ass is whining about wait times? Pffffft. yes it represents a whack issue in terms of healthcare in Canada. But deal with the hand your dealt. Canada is awesome. Everyone chill. It’s just some dermatology ya’ll. Bay Dermatology is doing their best.
Somehow. waiting times for me at Bay dermatology have been absurdly reasonable — I’ve never waited more than 10 minutes to see a doctor, 15 at most, and I’m usually led into a room within 7 minutes. I tend to book on my lunch hour as I work at Bay and Bloor, so it’s hella convenient (I know, I am lucky). But wait times have not been an issue for me the 4 times I’ve been there this year.
I’m currently battling cystic acne. It’s been a wild ride! I’ve been seeing Dr. Abdullah and she was very swift and quick to throw me on accutane, and also very swift and condescending when I explained the side effect symptoms I was suffering from 8 days later (I had to stop cause it made me feel like I was dying :)) Still. Dr. Abdullah has been helpful, and I have also seen Dr. Salsberg who seems more empathetic and understanding to my body not liking a crazy hard drug. Both dermatologists listened to me in terms of desires and needs and worked closely and in a collaborative mindset to find the best treatment for me. I feel listened to and taken care of at this clinic.
Bay Dermatology has also saved my ass, I had a big event and a huge cyst (like, think elephant-​man territory) popped up on my cheek over the weekend. I left a message on Saturday on their machine for a last minute appointment, and they called me back Monday morning and gave me my favorite afternoon spot. The desk staff are kind, accommodating and a general delight. I was in and out of the clinic within the hour.

Never again! I would never go back to this cold and snotty expensive dermatology clinic ever again. Receptionists here are rude and unfriendly, not to mention the wait times are horrendous. I might as well have gone to ER instead.
I don’t feel the dermatologists are competent enough to do their job; I’m still having the same on-​going issues and not to mention my husband had bad experience when he had a minor cosmetic expensive cyst removal and it hurt like hell! Never again!

I’ve been seeing a laser tech here for about 5 years for rosacea treatments. In the early years they had an amazing laser tech and she did a fantastic job spending 45 – 60 mins per treatment. However in the past three years, laser techs have not done as good a job and only spend about 10 – 15 mins per treatment. I agree with others that the reception is not good. The only reason I continued to go there was because I’d bought a 6 treatment package 4 years ago. Now that I have used all the treatments I will not return and do not recommend their laser treatments (ipl)

I got in to see Dr. Jennifer Salsberg by getting a referral from my GP. I’ve have seen her a few times for a couple different issues and have found her to be nothing but kind and knowledgable, and I never feel rushed during my appointments with her — OHIP covered or not. Yes the wait in the waiting room can be a little long some days, as with every other doctors office I’ve ever been to. Bring your phone or a book. As annoying as that may be, I feel grateful to be receiving care from someone I feel knows what they’re doing when it comes to my skin.

Dreadful experience. I waited months for an appointment. Then, after arriving on time, I waited nearly 1.5 hours while numerous patients whose appointment times were later than mine were seen. When, after one hour of waiting, I approached the desk to ask whether I’d been forgotten, they barked at me to sit down. Half an hour later I got up more nerve and approached again and insisted they tell me whether I would be seen soon; turns out they’d indeed forgotten me, having «accidentally» left my chart out of the regular rotation. When I finally saw the doctor she was brusque and rude and made condescending comments about my freckles, although honestly I believe I look pretty normal and fine and have never thought of myself as a person with unattractive or bad skin. I was there for a full-​body check for potential skin cancer, but she hardly bothered to even glance at most of my body; thus I felt I hadn’t really had the checkup she was supposed to perform. After failing to interest me in expensive cosmetic products, she rushed me out of there. She shouldn’t even be licensed as a doctor. Zero stars.

This place does not even deserve one star. My experience with waiting is exactly as others have written — 1 hour in the waiting room then 10 minutes in the doctor’s office. I have solar keratosis (sun damage that is causing rough, raised, flaky patches on my face, forehead and a spot on the back of my leg). I saw Dr. Alavi. While waiting for her, I read many pamphets that spoke about many different ways to treat sun damaged skin. I assumed that she would take me through all my options, from creams to peels to microdermabrasion. No. She came into the room, barely spoke to me and then looked at my face and back of my leg. Then she left the room and came back with what she announced was «liquid nitrogren». I have never had this done before so I was really nervous (considering the thing looks exactly like a blow torch) and was waiting for her to explain it and that it was one of my «options». Instead, she said «let me see your leg» and so I lifted my pant leg, still thinking this was part of the assessment. Then she says «Ready, I’m going to spray» and I said «Right now? Does it hurt?» and she goes «Yes» and then she just goes ahead and does it! And I’m telling her «that hurts!» and all she says is «Almost done.» Because it was a pretty big patch, it seemed to go on forever. When she was done, I think I was in shock — at the pain, at how she just did it without discussing what it was, how it would feel and what other options I had. Then, she goes «Now we do your face» and starts pointing the thing at my head! I said «I have to go to work now and a party later so I can’t have this done to my face now.» She said «Then make appointment for next week and come back.» And she left and didn’t come back. I know people who read this will be wondering why i didn’t raise a stink but I was in such shock that she did that, that I just wandered out and told the receptionist I wouldn’t be back when she asked when I wanted to reschedule. By the time I got to work, the patch she had burned had a water blister on it the size of a small donut and was raised about a half inch off my leg. I was freaking out because she never mentioned this might happen or what to do. No talk about after care at all. Thankfully the internet told me that blistering after liquid nitrogren isn’t common but it’s not unheard of and nothing to worry about. It told me not to pop it and to cover it with a bandage, then apply polysporin once it popped.
I would never go back to this place. This woman doesn’t deserve to be called a «doctor». I now have an upcoming appointment at Kingsway Dermatology. I hope it goes better. It can’t go worse. Will keep you posted.

I have seen three different doctors here and I am going to try a different place. This Dr Skotniki, I waited in a treatment room for over an hour and she was in such a rush she could barely give me 4 minutes of her precious time. She already had decided what I was suffering from, without even checking. She was off hand and rude. It wasn’t until another visit with a third doctor who diagnosed a pre cancerous lesion on my face. However even that doctor has missed the second small lesion, even after I told her that I think I have another one. If you are going to spend several hundred dollars for botox, or filler or laser, then they will give you all the time in the world, for OHIP, forget about it…

Still think it’s a good clinic and Dr Skotniki is very competent and also pleasant… but waiting an hour for a follow-​up appointment booked over a month in advance that lasts approximately 4 minutes is just too long. There really does seem to be a scheduling issue here if people are consistently complaining of the wait times for medical assessment. Don’t make me rush through my morning if you’re going to have me sitting on a hard wooden seat in the waiting room for a full 60 minutes! My hip was in agony by the time I got in and then I completely forgot the questions I meant to ask because i was stressed and crabby. I can’t imagine trying to get time off work to come to an appointment here. May as well try to take a half day and then ruin it.
Best for the patient patients and if you’re paying for a cosmetic treatment.

Dr. Skotniki is extremely knowledgeable in her field. It’s difficult to get an appointment because her services are in demand. I agree that it can be frustrating to book an appointment but it’s worth the wait as she is one of the best dermatologists in the city.

Its ridiculous to get in touch with them! I have been trying for so long and still havent talked to anyone. I have left numerous voice mails — no call back. I wonder if there is anyone working at all, how can they do business?
P. S. Finally got an appointment with help from aside! The office looks very clean, the stuff is friendly and dermatologists are very nice. Except the long wait at the reception area (30 min) everything seems great. Only make sure to have problems with booking your next appointment.
Also I was prescribed LOTS of medicine (expensive) that did not help me and was meant for a little while. I got 2 huge jars that must be thrown away. I dont understand why couldnt they prescribe a small dosage first?
Also, every time I go there I am meeting different dermatologist, each one of them have their own theories, they do not agree with previous dermatologist and I have had lots of issues with that. You never know what’s gonna happen next there. If you want to see the same dermatologist, make sure you do not work and you are very flexible with time, as some dermatologists work only once a week (Dr. Alavi), for example. And, if they make a mistake, they argue with you like crazy and do not apologize (receptionist). It really upset me when that happened as it wanst my mistake and I do not have another day off to go and meet them, however I didnt give up and got my point, even received an apology afterwards.
However, I do not want to be mean and say bad things about this place, its really clean and some dermatologists are really nice, its just that they could be more organized between each other and take their patients more serious. Your health and nerves are no game.

I had to see a derm for medical reasons. It was excellent that this office was right in the medical centre my doctor practiced.
I am always surprised by reasonable wait times — 30 minutes I’d say, in the wait room — even when I have an appointment.
I am even MORE surprised that once I am in the room I’m waiting for the doctor for another 10 minutes in no– ventilation.
But I am a regular complacent Canadian that’s completely used to waiting.
I hear that people who come to this office for cosmetic reasons have fantastic experiences — medically not so much. I had been prescribed (and NOT in small doses– which cost quite a lot in total) a few different types of creams for a rash– like thing I had at the back of my neck.
The dermatologist STRAIGHT UP told me he had no idea what was going on and wasn’t sure why the topical creams he assigned wasn’t working because it worked on most of the skin problems people had.
So, what? this dude just prescribed 5 bottles of topical cream that generally works because — he was too lazy to actually preform his job and think about what it might be, since he didn’t know? Wonderful way to build credentials — really.
5 different kind of creams later, I ended up in a tiny Chinese medical store in the annex where the man sold me plant stem essence and a cream in a tiny tube (I wasn’t sure that there was enough) for $ 4, which cleared my skin right away.
Even if it hadn’t, I felt better about spending $ 4 on a tiny cream then on 5 bottles of ineffective topical cream that cost me well into the hundreds. It was like he prescribed me every one of the creams on his list, and hope that one of them would work. I am sure that if I’d not stopped going, I would still be trying each item on the list.
Thank goodness my wallet couldn’t take it — sometimes, being cheap can lead to quicker solutions…