BizMEDICAL
Laser Medicine Honor
Pima Dermatology Founder Receives National Award By Lee Allen Dr. Gerald Goldberg, founder of Pima Dermatology in Tucson, has been honored by his peers for his outstanding contributions to laser surgery, patient care and education. Certified in more than 25 laser modalities, Goldberg is president and medical director at Pima Dermatology, which receives about 30,000 medical, laser, surgical and cosmetic visits annually. A cum laude graduate of Princeton University with more than 30 years of experience and listed as one of the “Best Doctors in America,” Goldberg has earned distinction as one of the mostrecognized laser surgeons in the world. He is the 2017 recipient of the Leon Goldman Memorial Award, presented at the American Society for Laser Medicine & Surgery’s annual scientific meeting in San Diego in April. The award is given in memory of Goldman, known as “The Father of Laser Medicine,” for his many contributions to the field. Goldberg was chosen “in recognition of his longitudinal career excellence and 126 BizTucson
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Summer 2017
advancements in laser medicine.” His reaction when notified he was this year’s award recipient? “I thought it was like the moment at the Oscars when they opened the wrong envelope.” In accepting the award, Goldberg, past president of the Arizona Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery Society, was asked to present a lecture titled “Challenges in Dermatologic Lasers: Past, Present, and Future.” He focused on new paradigms involving port wine stain treatment and tweaking the current process involved in laser skin resurfacing to make the procedure less aggressive. After 30 years of practice, his passion still burns. “My life mantra is to find something you love and are passionate about and follow that passion, and I continue to do so. In the Jewish tradition, it’s to find something meaningful, doing something positive that helps others and makes life and the world better. “At this point, I still want to do the kinds of things I think will make a dif-
ference, and I’d like to be doing more of the specialty kinds of things where my special expertise can be fully utilized. I want the challenging situations.” From a business perspective, his current 7,500-square-foot facility will soon grow to 10,000 square feet to provide comprehensive skin care – medical work, surgical, cosmetic and laser – and he hopes to add another doctor to the current three board-certified physicians (Goldberg, Matthew Beal and Sarah Schram), two physician assistants, four cosmetic providers and 20+ other staff members. “I’m cutting back a bit myself, but doing more of the type of cases I really want to do,” he said. “I think out of the box and am creative in putting multi-modality combinations of lasers together. That makes the job fun and, if work is fun, it isn’t work.” Asked about possible retirement plans, he shrugged and said, “I’ve been saying another five years for the past couple of decades.” Biz www.BizTucson.com