THE PERFECT FIT
Utilizing Downtime
As with any business, there are slow days. Dr. Guanche
has learned over the years not to panic and instead
to channel her downtime into creative endeavors,
like networking in the community, developing a new
marketing strategy or improving work flow. "Every time I
have downtime, I am trying to make my flow better, find
a better way of charting, of reaching out to patients or
develop new marketing," she says.
Key to staying booked in the highly competitive LA
market is keeping up-to-date on the latest advances.
Dr. Guanche achieves this by staying active in the
dermatology community through dermatologic
societies and academia. She is a clinical professor at the
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine and volunteers
at UCLA Olive View. "I love to be around the
residents," she says. "They are young and vibrant, and
they teach me as much as I teach them. I have been
in practice for over 10 years, so I teach them clinically
through my experience with patterns and conditions in
the skin and how to approach them, and they teach me
a lot about the newest drugs and regimens. It keeps me
connected with the academic community, and it's a way
of giving back."
Though medical aesthetics has become increasingly
competitive, Dr. Guanche advises new private practice
physicians to think about the type of practice they want
to be running in the long-term, rather than grabbing any
business that is available. "You are going to be stressed,
because you have a financial commitment you have to
meet," she says. "But keep in mind that you should be
spending time and putting effort and energy into the
clients that you want to be around and that you want to
work with."
Janine Ferguson is a Los Angeles-based freelance writer.
Dr. Anna Guanche with
her "Dream Team."
medestheticsmagazine.com | JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2014 33