California Skin Institute

I had two bad visits after going here for a while. Dr. Chen seemed more interested in trying to get me to buy a skinpen session/pointing out my balding than treating my cyst that i came in for. Dr. Chansky offered no treatment other than surgery for an enflamed cyst i came in for. They also scheduled me for a 6 month full body check after an excision, but didn’t do it when i went in. They said id have to reschedule…It’s a nice facility and nice people, but i wouldnt bother for medical needs. They seem to be more cosmetic focused.

The front desk is rude and they have requirements that you come in for unnecessary appointments for prescription refills. I asked if this was an insurance requirement and they said it was “their policy”. I assume they want you to spend money.

I had a pretty awful experience with a MOHS surgery at the California Skin Institute with Dr. Hsiao. The surgery itself went okay - he got the affected area in only two scrapes - but during stitch up it felt like Dr. Hsiao was really struggling to close the wound. It turns out he was, and it has been a dreadful experience since dealing with his poor workmanship. The wound bled fairly consistently for the next two weeks, and during stitch removal and re-check Dr. Hsiao was incredibly rough with the wound, causing it to bleed even more. He removed a couple of the stitches, which were supposed to have dissolved by that point, but over the next week I continued to find multiple leftover stitches as I cleaned and treated to wound according to his instructions. Moreover, shortly after the rough wound check and stitch removal, about half of the wound began to split apart and reopen. It is fairly obvious that it had not healed properly and should not have been unstitched or should have been restitched. After a few more days of bleeding and general icky-ness I now have a divot and scab in my scalp significantly larger than the original carcinoma removed. Given the amount of time it is taking to heal, I doubt very much I will regrow hair in this area and will likely have a large scar and indentation on my scalp. Additionally, during the wound check Dr. Hsiao took a lab culture to test to make sure the wound was not infected. It has been over a week and they're just now realizing - only because I called three or four times to remind them - that they haven't gotten the results from the lab (even though I can see them in my chart online.) It's entirely possible I've sat around for over a week with an infected wound on my head because their office can't communicate with a test lab. Overall I am incredibly disappointed with the treatment I received and will not return to California Skin Institute for any future procedures, nor would I recommend them to anyone in the future. I STRONGLY suggest you look elsewhere for your dermatology needs.