Guest blogging for us this week is Christine Nell, Nurse Practitioner and Co-Founder, AVA MD Beverly Hills.
Everyone has an epiphany moment, and mine came in college. I had acne, and I hated it. So I decided I would cure the world of acne. Plain and simple. Course charted. Girl on a mission, and ready to go.
I had a feeling there was a lot more that could be done in terms of acne treatment than I was offered, and headed to graduate school in California to figure it out. A friend of mine soon introduced me to my mentor and the lady who would make my dream a reality: I started interning with Dr. Shamban while I was still studying towards my nurse practitioner degree. The internship turned into a job, and—right after graduation in 2000—then eventually a partnership with the launch of AVA MD Beverly Hills.
I clicked with Dr. Ava from the moment we started working together. We have a very similar mindset and technique. We’re listeners. We truly want the best results for our patients. And we will take the time to find out the history and details—medical and psychological—we need to know to get those results. Not just with acne but with all procedures, whether cosmetic or medical.
On the medical side, we always find out what the patient has tried in the past. What has worked, what hasn’t’t worked? What are the stressors in our patients’ lives that might be affecting their health and their skin? On the cosmetic side, we make sure to fully understand each patient’s personal vision before making any recommendations of our own; and also to learn about their lifestyle and what capacity they might have for downtime. My job is to understand what will work for best for each patient, and to tailor a compassionate program that will work within their budget. Most of all, I truly do care–I feel like my patients are my children; I wake up at night worrying about them!
When our staff asked me to write this guest blog, they asked what my favorite treatment might be for ‘self-improvement month.’ I don’t have a single recommendation, but several. On the medical side, I love treating acne—obviously—and I feel incredibly blessed to have helped in initiating the Acne Treatment Center here at AVA MD. Between technological breakthroughs; our multi-modal approach which can include everything from lasers to topical to facials to injections; and our amazing team; I know I can change the life of any acne patient who walks through our doors. On the cosmetic side, right now I’m loving Pelleve; the radiofrequency treatment delivers a fabulous one-two punch of instant tightening and long-term collagen regeneration, and gives patients results they can see right away with no downtime. What could be better?
To learn more about acne treatment, visit WebMD.com.
The treatment I love most, though, is—day in and day out–getting to help my patients be the best they can be. ‘Self-improvement’ encompasses so much more than physical beauty, it has psychological and spiritual aspects as well. In order to reach our true potential, we have to balance all of these interconnected elements. And for that, we need the help of our friends. That’s where our whole office comes in. At AVA MD, we treat much more than our patients’ skin concerns. We treat them as our friends. I have helped so many patients through difficult times in their lives as well as difficult times with their appearance. And there is nothing I value more than the chance to support both a person’s skin, and their feelings.