[See How to Become a Patient of Dr. Donovan.]
After submitting all the appropriate documents necessary to become a patient of Dr Donovan, Dr. Donovan will confirm whether he can accept the patient for an appointment. All qualifying patients are given a specific appointment time and date and then begin with a 45-60 minute comprehensive consultation. the first appointment is generally conducted here at the Whistler office - although a small proportion of patients may be given the okay to have their appointment conducted via telemedicine.
Dr Donovan strongly recommends that all new patients consider an “in person” consultation for the initial appointment. For the vast majority of patients, this is the best way to confirm the diagnosis and the best way to finely tune the treatment plan. For some patients, it may be possible to conduct a proportion of the subsequent follow up appointments (after the first appointment) via remote appointments (virtual appointments), but this is decided on a case by case basis. Some of our patients return for follow up appointments at the Whistler center every 3 to 12 months. Some patients return back to Whistler every 1-4 years and telemedicine (remote) appointments are conducted in between the in person visits. Only a small proportion of patients are accepted for a telemedicine (virtual) consultation for the first appointment.
In general, the vast majority of prospective patients who meet the consultation criteria are accepted for an in person appointment at the Whistler office. A much smaller proportion of patients are accepted for a telemedicine (virtual) appointment. This is not an appropriate type of appointment for every patient.
Comprehensive consultations allow Dr. Donovan to thoroughly assess a patient's medical history, and to understand the reasons for a given patient's hair loss. By the end of the first appointment, the patient will have an understanding of the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment for their hair loss.
1) The Diagnosis. What's causing my hair loss?
By carefully reviewing each patient's history himself, and reviewing photos and blood tests, Dr. Donovan can usually provide patients with the reason they are losing hair. Rarely, a scalp biopsy may also be needed along with more extensive blood tests. In such a case, Dr. Donovan will usually recommend that a patient see a physician locally to have these tests done. Comprehensive consultations allow a patient to gain an understanding of the reason for his or her hair loss.
2) The Prognosis. What is likely to happen to my hair in the future?
Some hair loss conditions are temporary in nature and improve with or without treatment. Other types of hair loss are chronic (long term) and may get slowly or rapidly worse over time. Some conditions can be helped a great deal with treatment, other types of hair loss can be helped to a certain degree with treatment but possibly not completely. Comprehensive consultations allow a patient to gain an understanding the prognosis of his or her hair loss (likelihood of future hair loss and speed of progression).
3) The Treatment. How should I treatment my hair loss at this point?
The first step in determining which treatment is appropriate is determining the precise diagnosis (step 1 above). The Donovan Hair Clinic strongly believes there is no "one treatment fits all" model when it comes to hair loss. A wide variety of treatments are available for individuals with hair loss, but the correct and appropriate treatment depends entirely on the diagnosis. Comprehensive consultations provide patients with an understanding of all the treatments that are available, their side effects - and what is the best 'next step' for the particular patient. These may include non-surgical, surgical and cosmetic treatments. We may initiate very different treatments for a patient who comes to us very early on in their hair loss compared to patients who come to us having visited many physicians and used many previous treatments.
For some patients with hair loss, our clinic serves as a starting point en route to treating their hair loss. New patients in the practice are offered a one time second opinion consultation and return to their providers after the appointment. Some patients remain with us as long term patients and others return to their primary dermatologist, family physician or hair transplant surgeon for long-term care. For other patients, our clinic serves as a one visit 'second opinion' consultation visit - whereby patients meet with Dr. Donovan to fine-tune their current management plan before returning back to their current physician. For other patients, our clinic is an internationally recognized final stop after having tried many previous standard treatments. We treat patients with some of the most complex presentations of hair loss. Whatever the reason, we understand hair loss treatments and which ones are appropriate at each stage.
The Donovan Hair Clinic functions as a non-surgical clinic. Treatments offered by Dr. Donovan include only those with clinical evidence of being effective - including prescription medications, non-prescription (i.e. over the counter), herbal therapies, aromatherapy, laser treatments. Dr. Donovan no longer performs in office procedures such as hair transplantation or scalp micro pigmentation (SMP) procedures or PRP procedures but has vast knowledge and experience in these areas to refer patients to other colleagues worldwide when appropriate. Similarly, Dr. Donovan has vast experience in counselling patients about wigs, hair pieces and hair systems and may advise this as an option for some patients and refer to appropriate specialists.
Please review our Top 100 Frequently Asked Questions to review commonly asked questions about setting up an appointment with Dr. Donovan.
How do I go about booking an appointment?
The easiest way to book an appointment is to complete the BOOK A CONSULT form. Our office will review your request very quickly and respond to you by your preferred method of communication (i.e email or phone).
Do I require a referral from my doctor or dermatologist?
A referral from a physician is not required as we are a private clinic. However, should your physician wish to send us an introductory note, it is certainly appreciated. Dr. Donovan will forward them a copy of your consultation note at the end of your appointment.
What should I do if I wish to become a patient ?
We are only able to offer appointments to patients who meet our consultation criteria and have been given the okay by Dr. Donovan to accept as a patient. Dr Donovan reviews the flies of every single patient before accepting them as a patient and us offering them an appointment. We specialize in complex hair loss cases at the Donovan Hair Clinic and reserve appointment times for the most challenging of cases. We want to make sure we help those who can’t find diagnostic or treatment help elsewhere.
In order to become a patient of Dr. Donovan, make sure first you meet the consultation criteria. If you do, we will then require you to send in 4 items before Dr. Donovan will review your file and give us the okay to book you an appointment :
1) FILL OUT THE CONSULT REQUEST FORM (CRF). We require ALL patients to complete our consult request form.
2) FILL OUT THE PATIENT INTAKE QUESTIONNAIRE (PIQ). We require ALL patients to complete our patient intake questionnaire.
3) PREPARE YOUR PREVIOUS PHOTOS. Please send recent photos of your scalp. These should be taken according to our photo guide
4) SEND OUR OFFICE YOUR BLOOD TESTS. We require patients to have certain blood tests done BEFORE their appointment. Dr. Donovan strongly believes that every person with concerns about hair loss should generally have tests for iron status (ferritin) and thyroid (TSH test) done as a minimum. Other tests may be needed as well. For more information on the blood tests we generally recommend as appropriate baseline screening for individuals with hair loss please click the link: Baseline blood tests. If you have not had blood tests done, you might consider completing your basic hair loss work up with your own primary physician or dermatologist. If it's not possible for you, please let us know and we will review if it’s possible to waive this requirement or not. In some (rare) cases, Dr. Donovan may accept you as a patient and order blood tests after meeting with you. However, please keep in mind there are fees associated with these tests ordered through our office.
In addition to the above, 4 items, we would advise you to:
5) REVIEW OUR CLINIC POLICIES. We encourage patients to review our clinic policies on booking appointments, cancelling appointments, follow up appointments, and how our clinic functions. You might wish to review our policies on renewing prescriptions as well as the typical frequency of follow up appointments.
6) REVIEW OUR LIST OF OVER 100 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS. We have a list of common questions patients have asked regarding their first appointment as well as questions they have about future appointments. Please take the time of review these as you will likely find it extremely helpful.
Frequently Asked Questions (100 FAQs) About the First Appointment.
Frequently Asked Questions About the Second Appointment.
What should I do after I complete my appointment ?
A. After your visit, carefully review the information you were provided by Dr. Donovan. Should you have any questions about any of the information given, please let us know. You may email us at office@donovanmedical.com
B. Take time to review each of the following:
1) Forward any outstanding information. If you were asked for forward us particular pieces of information after your appointment, please do so. For some patients this may include a biopsy report you did not have at the time of your appointment, blood work or the name of a particular medication. If there are pieces of information that you were asked to forward, please do so as soon as possible. You may fax to 604.648.9003 or email it to us at office@donovanmedical.com
2) Complete any additional blood tests that were recommended. If you have been asked to do additional blood tests, please get these done when Dr. Donovan advised. Dr. Donovan will review them and get back if there are abnormalities or concerns. Please give us 3 weeks following completion of your blood tests to respond to you with any abnormalities.
3) Fill any prescriptions were given to you. If you were prescribed any medicines, you may wish to fill these prescriptions. Prescriptions from Dr. Donovan are valid in Canada. Patients from outside of Canada may fill prescriptions in Canada before leaving. However prescriptions are not valid in other countries. For example, Dr Donovan’s prescriptions can not be taken to a pharmacy in Europe, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand or the United States. Dr Donovan’s prescriptions are valid in Canada only. Many patients return to their own physicians in their countries to review the treatment plan and have their local physicians prescribe the medications. These prescriptions will be valid until the next follow up appointment. Please take note that prescriptions are not renewed by the office indefinitely. You might wish to review our policy on prescription renewals if anything is not clear.
4) Arrange your next appointment. If you are booking your next telemedicine follow up with Dr. Donovan, be sure to book your next appointment as soon as possible so as to get the appointment time your want. If you will be seeing your own doctor in follow up, consider reaching out to their office to book a follow up appointment. The typical interval for follow up appointments can be found in the following link, FOLLOW UP INTERVALS, but you need not worry about the specific intervals as Dr. Donovan will advise you of this at the time of your appointment.
Most patients in our practice return for a second telemedicine consultation at some time interval after their first appointment. The frequency of follow up appointments depends on the diagnosis the patient receives.
TYPICAL FREQUENCY OF FOLLOW UP APPOINTMENTS
For example, some patients with alopecia areata may have their file reviewed every 2-4 months. Others much less frequently. Individuals with scarring alopecia are often reevaluated by Dr. Donovan every 3-6 months. Patients with hair shedding issues, and androgenetic alopecia are typically seen every 9-15 months.
FOR DETAILS ON THE SECOND AND SUBSEQUENT APPOINTMENTS, CLICK FOLLOW UP APPOINTMENTS
