Skin guides
Dermatologist or Medical Aesthetics Clinic? When You Need Which
If you searched for a dermatologist near Bradford or Newmarket and landed here, this page explains what you actually found, what we can help with, and the things we will send you to a physician for instead.
Alex Dinovich, FNP-PHC, Nurse Practitioner and Medical DirectorClinically reviewed
If you searched for a dermatologist near Bradford, Newmarket, Alliston or Innisfil and ended up here, this page is the honest explanation of what you found.
We are not a dermatology practice. Nobody at this clinic is a dermatologist. That is not false modesty, it is a different profession, and conflating the two would be the kind of claim a regulated clinic should not make.
What follows is what each of us is for, what we will not do, and how to reach the other one.
What a dermatologist is, in Ontario
A dermatologist is a physician who completed medical school and then specialty residency training in diseases of the skin, hair and nails. They diagnose and treat skin disease, including the parts that need a biopsy, histopathology, a prescription pathway or surgery.
You generally reach one through a referral from your family doctor or nurse practitioner, and that appointment is usually covered by OHIP. Waits vary a great deal depending on where you live and how urgently the referral is marked. We are not going to put a number on that, because any figure we published would be out of date and wrong for somebody.
What this clinic is
Bradford Skin Clinic is a nurse-practitioner-led medical aesthetics clinic.
Our Medical Director, Alex Dinovich, FNP-PHC, is a Nurse Practitioner registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario, registration 13564840. You can look that up on the public register, and you should, for anybody who treats you. As a Nurse Practitioner she can assess, diagnose and prescribe in her own right, which is why some things here do not need a separate doctor’s appointment. Injectables are placed by Registered Practical Nurses, who are also on that public register.
Those are protected titles. The ones that are not protected in Ontario, and this is worth knowing wherever you go, are aesthetician, esthetician, medical aesthetician and technician. They describe a job, not a licence.
Where the two genuinely overlap
This is the honest middle of the subject. A fair amount of what people see a dermatologist for is also treated here, properly and by regulated staff.
- Acne, mild to moderate, including prescription treatment where it is appropriate, and the acne programmes that pair it with in-clinic work.
- Rosacea, managed rather than cured, with light-based treatment for the vascular component and prescription treatment where indicated. The rosacea page sets out what that looks like.
- Pigmentation and melasma, where telling one from the other changes the treatment entirely.
- Benign lesions that have already been identified as benign: skin tags and milia.
- Hair loss, assessed with blood work first rather than treated blind, on the hair loss page.
What we refer, every time
This list is not a disclaimer. It is the actual working rule in this clinic.
- Anything pigmented, changing in size, shape or colour, bleeding without being caught, or that simply does not look like your other spots. We do not remove moles. Why we refer them explains what removing one cosmetically destroys.
- Any suspected skin cancer.
- A rash we cannot confidently explain.
- Scarring alopecia, or sudden patchy hair loss.
- Severe, nodular, cystic or scarring acne.
- Ocular rosacea, or rosacea affecting the eyes in any way.
- Anything in a child, where the right first call is a paediatrician or family doctor.
- Anything that needs a biopsy. We do not perform them.
If you come in with one of these, we will tell you, we will not treat it, and the consultation costs nothing.
How to actually get seen
If you have a family doctor, start there and ask for a dermatology referral. Say what changed, when it changed, and bring photographs if it comes and goes.
If you do not have a family doctor, Health Care Connect is the provincial service for finding one, and a walk-in clinic can make a referral in the meantime.
If you are not sure whether what you have is a medical problem or a cosmetic one, you are welcome to come and ask us. We will look, and we will tell you which it is. Being told your concern belongs with a physician is a perfectly good outcome from a free appointment.
The cost question, plainly
Medically necessary dermatology by referral is generally covered by OHIP. Cosmetic treatment is not covered anywhere, and applicable taxes apply.
Our aesthetic consultations are free. That is not the same as being insured, and it is worth being clear about the difference: free means we will not charge you to be assessed and told what we think, including when what we think is that you should see somebody else.
A short version
See a dermatologist for diagnosis, disease and anything suspicious. Come here for appearance, for benign things already identified as benign, and for the overlap conditions where a nurse practitioner can assess and prescribe.
If you are in the surrounding towns, Newmarket, Alliston, Innisfil and Barrie each have a page with the drive and the parking on it.
And if you are reading this because something on your skin is worrying you, the useful next step is not booking a treatment. It is having somebody look at it. Call 647-333-6805.
Bradford Skin Clinic and Medical Spa, 444 Holland Street West, Unit 2, Bradford, Ontario.
03 · Accountability
Written here.
Checked here.
This guide was written by Bradford Skin Clinic and clinically reviewed by Alex Dinovich, FNP-PHC, Nurse Practitioner and Medical Director before it was published.
- Published
- Category
- Skin guides
A guide is general and your face is not. Nothing here replaces an assessment in the room, which is free and happens before anything is booked.
04 · From reading to the treatment room
What this looks
like in practice.
Published prices are starting prices, confirmed at your consultation. Where nothing is published, the dose and the plan decide the price rather than a menu.
- Medical-grade peels from $99
- Hair loss treatment Quoted at consult
Every injectable here is placed by a licensed nurse, and every plan is signed off by our Medical Director. The consultation is free and comes before anything is booked.
Medical-grade peelsTreatment 
Hair loss treatmentTreatment 
MolesConcern AcneConcern 
RosaceaConcern 
Skin Tags & MiliaConcern 05 · Who performs these treatments
The people behind
the writing.
Nobody here injects without a nursing licence. The guides on this site are written by the same people who carry out the treatments they describe.
06 · Asked and answered
The questions
that follow.
Is there a dermatologist in Bradford, Ontario?
Not at this clinic. We are a nurse-practitioner-led medical aesthetics clinic, which is a different thing. A dermatologist is a physician who has completed specialty training in skin disease, and in Ontario you reach one through a referral from your family doctor. If what you need is a dermatologist, we would rather tell you that than book you in.
Do I need a referral to see a dermatologist in Ontario?
For an OHIP-covered dermatology appointment, generally yes, through your family doctor or nurse practitioner. Waits vary considerably by region and by how urgent the referral is marked, and we are not going to quote you a number we cannot stand behind. If you do not have a family doctor, that is the first problem to solve, and Health Care Connect is the provincial route for it.
Can a nurse practitioner prescribe for skin conditions?
Yes. A Nurse Practitioner can assess, diagnose and prescribe in their own right. Our Medical Director, Alex Dinovich, FNP-PHC, holds College of Nurses of Ontario registration 13564840, which you can check on the public register. That means some things that would otherwise need a doctor's appointment can be dealt with here, and it does not make this a dermatology practice.
What is the difference between a med spa and a dermatologist?
A dermatologist diagnoses and treats disease of the skin, hair and nails, including the ones that need a biopsy, a prescription pathway or surgery. A medical aesthetics clinic treats appearance, and treats it with medical-grade tools under a regulated health professional. The overlap is real, in acne, rosacea, pigmentation and benign lesions, and the boundary is where diagnosis stops being obvious.
Who should I see about a mole I am worried about?
A physician. Not us. We do not remove moles and we do not remove anything pigmented, changing, bleeding or growing quickly, because removing it cosmetically destroys the tissue a pathologist would have needed. Start with your family doctor, and say what has changed and when.
Will OHIP cover my skin appointment?
Medically necessary dermatology, accessed by referral, is generally OHIP funded. Cosmetic treatment is not, wherever it is performed, and attracts applicable tax. Our aesthetic consultations are free, which is a separate thing from being insured.
Can you treat acne, or do I need a doctor?
Both are possible, and which one suits depends on the acne. Mild to moderate acne responds well to what we do here, and a Nurse Practitioner can prescribe where that is the right step. Severe, nodular, cystic or scarring acne belongs with a physician, and we will say so rather than sell you a series of facials while it scars.
