Dr. Ira Lawrence Skolnik, MD

Dr. Skolnik is the most thorough, empathetic, caring and professional Dermatologist I've ever seen. I scheduled a visit for a growth on my leg, Dr. Skolnik came in assured me right away it was a mole, but insisted to have it removed because of future concern. He then proceeded to check my whole body and found three more he was concerned about. I felt so good after leaving that visit, reassured and so confident in Dr. Skolnik's professionalism and care.

I am a recent graduate of both Dartmouth as well as the Tuck Business School at Dartmouth, and I just moved to the area and everyone recommended this dermatologist and this practice to me for a number of reasons: Firstly, the way this practice is run is the ideal way a medical practice should be run, as I was just taught in B-school: it is small, personalized, and extremely patient-centered. The doctor knows your name, your spouse’s name, where your kids go to school, and where you went on vacation last. They take a true interest in you and your health, unlike many of the larger dermatology practices that are now more corporate and care more about selling you creams and cosmetic services than making sure you don’t have skin cancer. They have a modern billing and scheduling system that keeps track of your referrals, deductibles, and upcoming appoints, to the minute! They send reminders when you are overdue or need to get more referrals, and if you don’t respond, they will politely give you a phone call to be sure everything is OK and to see if you need any assistance (which is what happened to me when I needed to coordinate my office’s HSA payment with my co-insurance). The billing department when out of their way to help me understand my insurance claims, and they even caught an error on the claim that the insurance company made, and corrected it for me! On top of all of that, Dr. Skolnik himself is top-notch: he is personable, friendly, funny, knowledgeable and puts me at ease. He has caught one skin cancer on me and two others in their early stages and removed them. He then explained all the findings to me. The business model of this medical practice is of the highest ethical standards and is the gold-standard that they taught us in b-school for running a successful medical practice which put patients first.

I have no issue with Dr. Skolnik's medical competence - and he is a nice guy. As a business, Family Dermatology is a terrible place. Once you are in their system, they will make appointments for you without your consent, they will not send you a reminder or call you (although they will claim to have done so), and then they will charge you for a missed visit. I believe this to be a fraudulent practice. At a minimum, they are so out of date with 21st century communications that it is almost impossible to work with them. The business practices exemplify so much of what is wrong with our healthcare system. I will be taking my business elsewhere (I suspect they don't care because they clearly see it as a privilege for patients to come to their doctors, not as a business that meets the needs of their customers). If you care about your time and your dollars, stay away.

I came to Dr. Skolnik about 6 or 7 years ago upon recommendation of my primary physician. Previously I had been treated by another dermatologist who I thought was providing good care. Once Dr. Skolnik examined me I learned there were several issues involving basal cells on my face that needed a much more comprehensive treatment plan, including MOHs surgery. Because of Dr. Skolnik's diagnosis this serious condition was discovered and dealt with before it became a life changing event. Since then Dr. Skolnik has monitored and managed my skin care exceedingly well. He is a learned physician who makes me feel genuinely cared for. His bedside manner is excellent; I always leave in a good frame of mind because I feel I am being well taken care of and that my health is important to him personally. His staff is likewise courteous, efficient and caring.

Dr Skolnik is fantastic! I've been seeing him for 5+ years. He is very thorough with his exams and explains everything in terms I can understand. The staff is fantastic as well, they follow-up after every procedure to ensure I'm doing OK.

I've been going to see Dr. Skolnik since I was in high school. He's extremely good at what he does, and has really helped me on my journey to clear skin. He listens, and really cares about you not only as a patient but as a person. I would highly recommend Dr. Skolnik to anyone looking for a dermatologist.

I have been seeing Dr. Skolnik now for two years after an absolutely horrible experience with another dermatologist office. He is the BEST. Today he had to remove two superficial basal cell carcinomas from my leg - having never, ever had stitches in 54 years I was terrified. Not only was he gentle and kind, explaining things as he went, but he did his best to make me laugh and take my mind off of the whole thing. Turns out stitches aren't a bad thing when they are done by someone who genuinely cares about his patients - and Dr. Skolnik is head and shoulders above his peers. I will absolutely recommend him to anyone that needs a caring, talented, knowledgeable dermatologist :)

I met Dr. Skolnik and his staff about eight years ago when my daughter was born with a few hemangiomas that needed to be examined. I was so impressed by him and his staff that I’ve become a patient myself. Aside from the top notch dermatology treatment, what is most noteworthy is the demeanor and helpfulness of the staff. I’m always greeted by 2 or 3 friendly, competent, helpful professionals smiling from behind the front desk. I actually look forward to my dermatology appointments!

My whole family have been treated by Dr. Ira Skolnik of Family Dermatology, p.c. whether its acne, mole checks, cysts etc. he is thorough, kind, funny, honest and most of all professional. I recommend him to everyone that asks me for a dermatologist. I also feel that he really cares about my family and our health. I would give him 10 stars if I was allowed to.

Wonderful doctor and wonderful practice. Dr. Skolnik is one of the few dermatologists I have come across who cares more about treating and preventing skin cancers than doing cosmetic procedures, which would probably bring in more money for him, but you can tell that this practice is all about keeping your skin healthy, rather than making money, refreshing to see in this day and age. I had some issues with my insurance coverage and their billing person, Lynn, was able to help me through it and got everything paid by my insurance- no easy feat and it took her a lot of time. My hat goes off to her: she was so calm and pleasant to deal with, unlike my insurance company. Can’t say enough good things about Dr. Skolnik and Lynn. I know they are both there for me whenever I or my family needs them. So comforting to know.

My first experience with Dr. Skolnik was when we brought my son to him years back and his positive attitude and way of making patients/parents feel relaxed was so refreshing. I later discovered he is not just a pediatric dermatologist and I went to him as well. He makes his patients feeI that they are his top priority and I highly recommend him and his practice.

Sometimes going to the doctors can be a nerve wracking experience . That is never the case when visiting Dr. Skolnik. He is very knowledgeable and patient friendly!! His staff is also highly effecient and very friendly.

Dr. Skolnik is a caring, friendly, and knowledgeable doctor. He is proactive in dealing with any skin issues that come up and is attentive to detail. I trust his expertise and have always had good experiences at his practice.

I am actually a retired pediatrician, and I am also a patient of this terrific doctor. I was also in the waiting room when this lady and her little boy (in those two reviews below- BOTH written by the mother, obviously!) went flying off the handle at everybody in site, including the doctor. Clearly other issues going on in her life. (and btw: there was a water fountain in the hallway by the front door of the office that she walked right that she could have used for her son if he was thirsty). All of us in the waiting room just knew that she would carry out her threat to smear this doctor on the internet, so the rest of us need to tell you how loony this mother was (I am not sure where she was from, but she had a very heavy foreign accent). Her son was also driving everyone in the waiting room bonkers: he kept going up to the front desk every 30 seconds and asking: “When is it MY turn!?!”. I think mom told him to keep doing it, because she was encouraging him. Reminded me of those spoiled kids and their enabling parents in Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory. Anyway, I am glad I am retired because it reminded me of the days when I also had to deal with the “difficult patient” and their “difficult parent”. All I can say is: better Dr. Skolnik than me! He is smart, calm, and has the temperament to deal with these people. He handled the whole situation professionally and courteously and never got angry at her once. That’s why he is a great example of a physician who cares about people and has respect for everyone. So proud of him! Now this woman and her little brat will be some other poor doctor’s problem! Glad I’m retired!

So this is really funny: I am a patient of Dr. Skolnik’s (and have been for 13+ years) and I was in the waiting room when this mother and her 7 year old son (the mother wrote both reviews below herself) had an incredible temper tantrum (the 7 year old was actually calm!) because she was made to fill out paperwork (?excuse me- ever been to a doctor’s office before?) and then had to wait 20 minutes. Are you kidding me? I’d wait 4 hours to see this dermatologist, and I live 25 miles away! She began yelling at the ladies at the front desk and then after she was brought back to the room with her son, she secretly stepped out of the room and went to the staff kitchen area and helped herslef and her son to some cups and drinks. Then I saw dr. Skolnik come out and ask her who she was an what she was doing in the staff kitchen area and she said that “her son was thirsty” because they had to wait 20 minutes. She then said that she had to be at another appointment somewhere else in 10 minutes, and that dr. Skolnik better cure her son’s rash by tomorrow because they were leaving for Christmas vacation the next day and she wanted the rash gone by then. Dr. Skolnik is no dummy, he told the mom very calmly (I saw the whole thing from the waiting room) that she should probably find another dermatologist, and that’s when she became so irate that she began yelling and screaming and throwing yet another tantrum. There were other little kids in the waiting room (and some older folks too) and they were all frightened by her! Luckily, she quickly left with her son after that, but vowed to go on-line tonight to write “bad reviews” of dr. Skolnik. So the rest of us in the waiting room made a pact to monitor these on-line reviews of dr. Skolnik (who we all LOVE!) to counter what this crazy lady was going to say. Well, sure, enough, she didn’t waste any time: she went home and went right on-line to wrote out her warped view of reality! So, my advice to you is to ignore “Terrible Doctor” and “…Terrorized my 7 year old son”, noted below, and instead pay attention to the 77 other GREAT reviews of this superb doctor who is compassionate and caring and soooo nice!! Hey, in our lives, we all have to deal with nut cases! Doctors have to deal with them more than the rest of us, unfortunately!

Horrible doctor! After 1 hour of waiting past scheduled time because we told him that we had to start the visit soon he terrorized me and my son and asked us to leave. Thanks to him my son said he does not like doctors any more. There is no water cooler anywhere in the waiting room we were scolded for drinking water out of the sink with a plastic cup we found. Don’t go to this doctor he treats patients like dirt

I have had the good fortune to be a patient of Dr. Ira Skolnik for many years. He and his staff have cared for me and my family for all of our Dermatology issues and concerns. He and his staff take the time to carefully listen to their patient's concerns and treats each one with tremendous kindness, respect, professionalism, and amazing quality of care. I highly recommend Dr. Ira Skolnik to anyone in need of Dermatology care. I will be a valued-patient to him, and his practice, for my on-going Dermatological care with pride and confidence.

Dr. Skolnik puts my teenager at ease and is always positive. A visit to his practice is not scary, my 15 year old is captivated by Dr. Skolnik's energy and enthusiasm.Dr. Skolnik has reworked his schedule on several occasions to fit emergency cases for my 12yr daughter for which I am very grateful. The staff are wonderful/accommodating. We have visited other larger practices but do not get a sense of good all round clinical care - this office offers excellent clinical care but in a fun setting.

Dr. Skolnik is without question the best dermatologist in the MetroWest area. He is calm, courteous, patient, and able explain in laymen's terms your condition/diagnosis and put you completely at ease as well. He erased all concerns I had and spent as long with me as he needed to in order to ensure he was thorough and that all my my questions were answered. If he runs late for his appointments, it is because he is making sure the patient before you is being honored. He is worth waiting for!! I am glad he is in my corner.

Dr. Skolnik always makes you feel welcome when you are there for your visit. He really helped me out by completing 2 things in 1 visit so I did not have to go back. This was a great help as I am a caregiver for my Dad and time is very important. HIs front office staff are very helpful and pleasant in getting you in to see the Dr.