With the changing environment, climatic conditions, modern lifestyle, and food habits, our skin goes through a lot of changes causing from multiple problems, that eventually trigger our aging and skin degradation.
There was a time when people were not concerned about their skin and disregarded the need to get a proper diagnosis. But with changing times, we are way more concerned about our skincare routine and actively spend time looking for skin specialists, cosmetic dermatologists, and skin care clinics who can distinctly understand their skin problems and provide solutions with modern technology.
Dr Chytra V. Anand – Founder and CEO of Kosmoderma Skin and Hair Clinics, is a renowned cosmetic dermatologist, who has been in the domain for 15+ years. Her Journey in India was not quite smooth as she found a gap between the understanding of clinical treatment and cosmetic specialists and worked closely with her trained teams to eradicate the gap.
Having profound knowledge of cosmetics and skin conditions, she aims to utilize the newest technology and finest equipment for skin treatment endowing her patients with healthy skin.
Below are the highlights of the interview with Dr Chytra:
Give us a brief overview of your journey in the Cosmetic Dermatology care sector.
When I relocated into India in 2006, Cosmetic dermatology was very nascent, in fact quite unheard of. When I started my clinic, I initially had to educate patients on what cosmetic dermatology was about and why I would not treat Clinical as I was super specialised. I had to draw a clean line. Today, the field has mushroomed, and everyone wants to be in this field. I feel proud of having been a pioneer in this field in India.
Tell us more about Kosmoderma, its vision, and the key aspects of its stronghold in Bengaluru.
The idea behind Kosmoderma was to bring safe, affordable, and effective treatments suitable to Indian Skin. A common comment I used to hear was – there is nothing in India, how do we know if we have the latest tech?
Therefore, to combat this issue, Kosmoderma was born; today we have six clinics in Bangalore and 1 in Chennai, we are also on our way to open three franchises in Hyderabad and Delhi by the 3rd quarter of 2021.
From a business leadership perspective, what is your opinion on the impact of the current pandemic on the healthcare sector?
Pandemic has affected all client facing business and that includes Healthcare as well – for both essential and non-essential. 2021 as a financial year would be all about playing catch up to recover from 2020, which was literally a write off from March to October. Only from October we can see the industry starting to rise.
What is your opinion on the necessity for cosmetic care service providers to align their offerings with newer technological developments, especially when it comes to catering to the ever-evolving patient needs and preferences?
Tech knowledge evolves all the time, and its critical to stay updated. We always say a Doc is never done studying. With the research in field of medicine, one must always keep updated.
Today, I am proud to say that the Indian medical community are at the pinnacle of development and one does not need to look towards the West.
What impact did the COVID-19 pandemic have on your clinics’ everyday operations? What efforts did you take to ensure safety of your employees at the same time?
We closed our clinics on March 15th a week before the lockdown as my colleagues in China told me about the seriousness of COVID. I felt we were not prepared, so we announced that we would close for 1 week to put in protocols for COVID, get the PPE etc. in place.
So, before the Govt announced we already were proactive as we saw the surge and with the heads-up I got, we were able to be ahead of the curve.
Post lockdown, when we returned to work,
- We trained our staff specific to their safety.
- Did a pickup and drop service for staff.
- Did one week on, one week off scheduling
- Maintained social distancing at work.
- Reduced working hours initially till everyone got comfortable with the PPE and protocols.
In your opinion, what could be the future of the cosmetic care sector post the pandemic? And how are you strategizing to scale your clinics’ operations and offerings to be prepared for that future?
Online is now accepted. Pre lockdown, patients preferred to come in even for reviews. Now they are open to the online appointments as are our doctors by adapting to tech to streamline the process. Patients are coming in and I see this sector is returning to its pre-covid normal by the 2nd quarter of 2021.
If given a chance, what is the one thing that you would change about the cosmetic care ecosystem in India?
- Get licenses and rules in place.
- This is a highly unorganised sector today, leading to dilution of quality.
As an established leader, what would be your advice to the budding entrepreneurs and enthusiasts aspiring to venture into the cosmetic dermatology sector?
- This is a fantastic field to be in and very rewarding.
- Get as much experience as you can before starting on your own; work for at least 5 years with other companies or doctors before starting on your own. This experience will give you the required confidence.
- Work hard, be honest and success will follow.
- You set your goals and track, do not compare with anyone else.
- Work towards being the best you can be.
