H
OT AFTERNOONS AND BONFIRE NIGHTS;
watermelons, picnics, and firefly lights; a tipsy red canoe finds shade in the trees; sailboats go searching for sunsets and a breeze … ahhh, the sweet sights and sounds of summer. Growing up in Springdale, Arkansas, located deep in the Ozarks, Dr. Sarah Carlock’s childhood summers didn’t stray much from those descriptors … today, however, it may include walks on the beach and trips to the farmers’ market.
DR. SARAH CARLOCK & DR. NAOMI SIMON
And while the summer of 2022 holds many of the same memories and activities of years past, one thing is new— this summer, after years of hard work, Dr. Carlock embarks on her new medical career as a dermatologist at Piedmont HealthCare’s Mooresville Dermatology Center/Eterna Aesthetics.
“I have been in Charleston for the past three years,” she explains, “for my dermatology residency at the Medical University of South Carolina. It takes 12 years after high school to become a dermatologist and I am excited to close that chapter and step into this new career in a community I love! I moved to Charlotte for a year to complete my internship in internal medicine at Carolinas Medical Center and that is when I fell in love with this entire area.” Although she wasn’t exactly sure how, Dr. Carlock always knew she wanted to work in healthcare. When she was in high school, her mom was diagnosed with melanoma, and this served as a realization for young Sarah: “I think that was when I first understood that dermatologists treat more than teenage acne.” Thankfully, her mom’s melanoma was successfully treated with surgery, but the experience opened Dr. Carlock’s eyes to the powerful effects of ultraviolet radiation and was the beginning of a lifestyle change for her.
“Gone were the days of tanning beds and sunbathing,” she relays. “Now we are the family sitting under the canopy tent at the beach and helping each other reapply sunscreen. I almost always have at least one bottle of sunscreen in my bag.” “The 1929 girl must be tanned.” When asked about words that matter, Dr. Carlock took a moment before referencing this impactful Coco Chanel quote … and rightly so. There are elements of it that make the good doctor cringe. Tanned skin was and still is considered by many to be beautiful and healthy, but we’ve also learned more about the detrimental effects. “If only people fully understood just how damaging sun exposure is,” she says. “It is my job to educate about sun protection and skin cancer prevention, to encourage folks to embrace their own natural complexion, and to help treat the damage that has already been done.”
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