Monthly skin clinics available at Cowra Medical Associates

The Cowra Medical Associates are permanently running skin clinics every month to offer patients the opportunity to have their skin checked regularly by a health professional.

The practice senior doctors, Dr Davidson, Dr Richmond, Dr Date and Dr Goyal, are the clinicians who will be rotationally rostered on these clinics. The Australian Cancer Council provides the following information which best outlines skin cancer:

Skin cancer occurs when skin cells are damaged, for example, by overexposure to UV radiation from the sun.

There are three main types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma – the most dangerous form of skin cancer. Both basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma are known as non-melanoma skin cancer.

Approximately, two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer by age 70, with more than 750,000 people treated for one or more non-melanoma skin cancers in Australia each year. Non-melanoma skin cancer is more common in men, with almost double the incidence compared to women.

Excluding non-melanoma skin cancer,* melanoma is the third most common cancer in Australians. In 2014, 13,134 Australians were diagnosed with melanoma. Every year, in Australia:

• skin cancers account for around 80% of all newly diagnosed cancers
• the majority of skin cancers are caused by exposure to the sun
• GPs have over 1 million patient consultations per year for skin cancer
• the incidence of skin cancer is one of the highest in the world, two to three times the rates in Canada, the US and the UK.

In 2015, 2162 people died from skin cancer in Australia, 1520 from melanoma and 642 from non-melanoma skin cancers.

For best protection, when the UV level is 3 or above, we recommend a combination of sun protection measures:

• Slip on some sun-protective clothing – that covers as much skin as possible
• Slop on broad spectrum, water resistant SPF30+ sunscreen. Put on 20 minutes before you go outdoors and every two hours afterwards. 
• Slap on a hat – that protects your face, head, neck and ears
• Seek shade
• Slide on some sunglbades – make sure they meet Australian standards.
• Be extra cautious in the middle of the day when UV levels are most intense.

Patients wishing to participate in the skin clinics can ring the rooms to find out further information about the clinics and make an appointment. Alternatively if the times of the skin clinics do not suit patients, an appointment can be made with any GP at a time suitable to have this done.