When dermatologists Gary and Kristina Goldenberg decided to open Goldenberg Dermatology located at 14 East 75th Street this past April, timing was a main issue. Not in terms of finding the right location, which took two years to secure and purchase; or creating the decor concept, quiet luxury, which took an additional six months; or even the decision to leave their jobs at Mt. Sinai; but rather time spent with patients.

“At the hospital, I was seeing 50 patients a day, for six-to-10 minutes each. It became very clear that wasn’t the kind of care I wanted to give,” said Gary, the former Medical Director of the Dermatology Faculty Practice at The Mount Sinai Medical Center. “Here, we believe in personalized and individualized care where a patient can be seen for 30 minutes to 40 minutes and all their needs are addressed.”

That’s just one aspect that sets the married couple apart from other dermatological practices.

“We’re also not a McDonald’s factory, but a boutique office who takes an internal and external approach to healthcare. We don’t just write a script for someone and that’s it,” he added. “While at the hospital, I realized there are two reasons patients didn’t fill a prescription or never took it; they either didn’t understand the instructions, or they didn’t agree with the treatment but wanted to appease the doctor. That doesn’t happen here. The goal is to understand what they want, and make sure they’re comfortable with the course of action and the plan we’ve created solely for them.”

No surprise, his wife thinks similarly.

“It’s rare for a husband and wife to both be practicing dermatologists because there’s only a limited number of spots, but it’s even rarer to see married dermatologists working together in their own practice,” she said. Prior to starting their firm, Kristina was Chief Resident at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. “I love that we can offer a team-like approach to patients while still concentrating in different areas.”

Gary focuses on treating skin cancer, psoriasis, eczema and adult acne, while Kristina offers pediatric and adult care, women’s rejuvenation, rosacea and hair loss.

Their customized philosophy caries over into their in-office procedures, as well. Aside from the regular medical and cosmetic therapeutics, such as injections, lasers, fillers and a slew of modalities and devices, their practice is one of the only in New York to offer platelet-rich plasma injections and stem cell aesthetics, specifically umbilical cord stem cell injections. They’ve also created their own line of skin care products and nutritional and vitamin supplements.

“When you’re working for other people you have very little control over how you run your day, where your attention and focus are put, what kinds of treatments and solutions you can offer, even what types of equipment you can order,” she said. “We wanted to give our patients treatments they can’t get elsewhere, and ones we couldn’t do before while becoming specialists in new procedures. Now we can do all of that while still working together.”