Norman Goldstein, MD

Dr. Norman Goldstein is probably my favorite doctor of all time (well at least in the US — don’t want to diss my non-​US based family members, many of whom are doctors and are excellent!). Let me tell you why. Dermatologists are notorious for being very business oriented — trying to recommend all types of money making procedures and sell you the most expensive brand name prescription drugs. Not Dr. Goldstein. Dr. Goldstein is a professor in Dermatology which translates to a doctor who actually cares about his patients and loves what he’s doing. Instead doing the usual two minute visit, Dr. Goldstein actually sat down and explained, using a diagram exactly what he thinks is going on with my skin. He also spent time asking me a bunch of questions to about my lifestyle to see what exactly triggered my acne. He gave me a prescription for two generic drugs and one two brand name drugs. For one of the brand name drug, he gave me a LOT of samples to the point that I haven’t needed to fill my prescription (and its been two months). He also recommended that I buy sunscreen and a sulfur mask — when I asked him which brand he said that they are all the same and that I should go with the cheapest! I was surprised that he didn’t prescribe Retin A, which I told him that I had used in the past — he seemed to want to start with minocycline, a topical antibiotic and hydroquinone to calm my skin down. Its been a month and I can definitely see results.
The staff are also great. The nurse who saw me beforehand is really competent as is the office staff. You get a text message and email reminding you of your appointment and a phone call a day or two before to confirm. Dr. Goldstein has weekend hours so thats really convenient for all of us who can’t/don’t want to leave work.