Today we’d like to introduce you to Dustin Portela.
Hi Dustin , thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’m Dr Dustin Portela, a board certified dermatologist and founder of Treasure Valley Dermatology in Boise, Idaho.
Growing up, my father was a high school science teacher and I took an interest in science and medicine from an early age often visiting his classroom to perform my own science experiments. I majored in zoology at college and graduated with honors from Idaho State University.
Medical school took me to Des Moines University in Iowa where I finished near the top of my class and was recognized for excellence in physiology. I was fortunate enough to get an internship and Dermatology residency through Michigan State University and the Beaumont health system.
I was drawn to Dermatology for the variety of procedures we can do, including complex skin cancer removal, and reconstruction.
After finishing my residency, I took a job with a clinic in Boise, Idaho. This turned out to be a challenging experience, and I made the difficult decision to leave that clinic after only two months.
At that point, I founded Treasure Valley Dermatology and opened my doors in 2018 with a team that is largely still with me today.
In the early days of practice, I took to Social Media to help promote my clinic and drive awareness of the services that we offered, hoping to bring more patients in the door. What started as trying to build awareness for my clinic quickly turned into a social media presence and educational platform that I’ve never could have imagined and now I have grown to nearly 5 million followers across all social media platforms where I love to educate on skin health, wellness, longevity, and the occasional funny trend
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
My first job was particularly challenging with a clinic that sought to hamper my success and undermine the agreements we had. I lost a lot of sleep during this time because I had a family to care for and a mountain of student loans.
Ultimately I made the decision to leave that clinic and quickly got to work to open my own practice. I thought after residency I was done with sleepless nights, but this was the most stressful time of my career by far. I recruited an amazing team that saw the vision of the kind of care I wanted to offer to patients and we opened the practice in the spring of 2018. I couldn’t even afford to pay myself for months in the beginning.
I turned to social media as an outlet for free marketing and brand awareness.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your business?
Treasure Valley Dermatology & Skin Cancer Center is a full service dermatology practice offering medical, surgical, and cosmetic dermatology to children and adults of all ages. We now have three dermatologists, two physician assistants, a nurse practitioner, and an aesthetician serving our patients across two locations.
Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I believed in myself and knew I had the capacity to succeed although plenty of people offered a million reasons why it couldn’t work out. I’ve always thrived of people telling me I couldn’t do something.
In the end you must believe in yourself and be committed to put in the hard work that is required. Owning my own practice has been the most rewarding work situation I could have imagined.
Don’t allow negativity or naysayers to discourage you. Take the leap and be determined to succeed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.dermatologyboise.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdustinportela
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drdustinportela
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drportela/
- Twitter: https://x.com/drdustinportela
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/@drdustinportela
- Other: https://tiktok.com/@drdustinportela
