AN OASIS IN THE DESERT
54 JULY/AUGUST 2017
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Med Esthetics
Once enrolled at Sarah Lawrence, however, her dream
hit a snag that changed the course of her career. A number
of students had matriculated early and snapped up all
the open spots in the dance courses she needed. "I was
hysterical. I didn't know what to do," she says. "In order to
fi ll my schedule, I had a choice to take either German phi-
losophy or chemistry. I took chemistry and excelled at it."
Dr. Robert's grandfather was a chemistry teacher. "He
told me that the world didn't need another black dancer.
He said I was gifted and needed to go to medical school,"
she says. She changed her major and was accepted into
Stanford University Medical School. After completing a
dermatology residency at Los Angeles County King Drew
Medical Center, Dr. Roberts began a fellowship in derma-
topathology at New York University Medical Center.
"I love beauty and I love the microscope," says Dr. Rob-
erts. "Dermatology allowed me to blend those interests
with surgery." She pursued a dermatopathology fellowship
so she could read her own slides without having to rely
on others. "When I did a biopsy, I wanted to know the
diagnosis myself," she says. "I didn't want to send the slides
out. I wanted to see the patient, diagnose him, treat him,
biopsy him and read the slides." This desire to care for
patients from diagnosis through recovery gave Dr. Roberts
the impetus to open her own private practice in Rancho
Mirage, California, 23 years ago.
Today, she is the director of Wendy E. Roberts, MD;
founder and course director of the Generational Derma-
tology (G DERM) Palm Springs Symposium, a four-day
annual conference that focuses on medical, surgical and
aesthetic dermatology; and Palm Springs Life magazine has
recognized her as a "Top Doctor" for 12 consecutive years.
"Y our of f ice cult ure is l ike a
l itt le c tr y wit hi a c tr y.
It ow."