Dr. Mirza M Baig, MD

A dermatopathologist is an expert in both dermatology and pathology. They specialize in diseases related to the skin, but where a dermatologist would examine a potentially-cancerous mole by looking at it, a dermatopathologist would examine your skin cells in a lab, more like a pathologist. Beyond just skin cancer, dermatopathologists also study a wide range of skin conditions, including everything from warts, moles, spider veins and herpes, to dermatitis, rashes, vitiligo and other conditions related to skin discoloration.

A pathologist is a physician who specializes in the causes and paths taken by different diseases in order to accurately diagnose an illness. Pathologists diagnose and determine the characteristics of a disease through the study of biopsies of diseased tissue or of bodily fluids. For example, a pathologist will look at a biopsy of a skin lesion in order to diagnose or rule out skin cancer. A pathologist will also look at a Pap smear in order to check for a gynecological cancer like cancer of the uterus. In addition to determining the cause and development of a disease, these specialists also study the changes a disease makes to a body and the consequences of those structural changes.