The doors to a sprawling villa in Onaiza opens to a lobby bustling with beautiful works of art. Paintings hung across large walls, sleek TV screens running slow-paced video art. The sight and space could be easily mistaken for an art gallery if not for the name, set up by the welcome desk in big font, ‘Leaders Skin Group & Clinic’.
The only Korean dermatology clinic in Qatar, set to open early November, promises to offer a range of beauty and medical treatments with a host of aesthetic specialties under one roof. What only enhances its uniqueness is its splattering of contemporary Korean art in every nook and corner of the one-story clinic.
While on a break from tending to a steady trickle of clients who have begun frequenting this clinic tucked away in Onaiza’s Al Mabahej Street, days before the official opening, Dr Seok Beom Park, President of Leaders Skin Group and Clinic, tells Community, “I like to start the whole process of treatment by introducing our clients to Korean art, which we have displayed all through the clinic – from the waiting rooms to the lobby, from the walkways to the treatment rooms. I think the clients would feel a sense of calmness upon encountering these beautiful works of art. Moreover, it can be pretty unnerving for clients who take up some of these treatments. They need to relax and feel at ease; these works of art will help them do that.”
While it has a dozen branches in Seoul and China, none of the Leaders Skin Group & Clinic outlets boast of the art collection and display – put together by Asan Gallery – that Doha’s new branch does. The Korean artists whose works are on show are Lee Lee Nam, Kwon Ki Ja, Kim Jae II, Kang In Ok, Kang Chan Mo, Park Myung Sun, Yu Kyung Hwa, Ryu Young Shin, Kim Sung Oh, Kim Man Hee, and Maeng Ki Ho. “We offer a range of treatments such as skin brightening, skin hydration, hair removal, skin rejuvenation, hormone therapy, a range of body massages, and also a highly controlled delivery of microwave energy to reduce sweating in the underarms. Offering these treatments in a comforting and healing atmosphere would only add to the whole experience,” Park says.
The idea to tap into the vast GCC market via Doha struck Park a few years ago. “Back in Seoul, I had the experience of dealing with quite a few Arab women clients, many from Saudi Arabia, who lived there with their families and suffered certain skin conditions due to the temperature being very cold and dry. To add to their rigours, since the salaries of maids and drivers in Seoul is quite high, they had to work all through the day, pick up and drop their children to school, cook, clean, and do all the housework on their own. Many women were stressed over their daily schedules and would visit our clinics,” Park recalls.
While initially he would recommend some lotions so as to hydrate their skins, eventually he would have to perform procedures to alleviate their conditions. “As some women gained weight and went into depression, we started off some aesthetic treatments like skin-clearing and laser procedures. I was quite impressed with the results as compared to the Asian women, the skin lifting and whitening treatments worked far better on Arab women,” Park says.
In the first half of last year, Park turned his attention to Doha as the market here has immense potential, he feels. “Many Qataris spend a lot of money travelling out of country to get aesthetic treatments and surgeries. In several instances, I learnt that the results weren’t satisfactory and they were unhappy about it. I don’t want the Qataris to step out for such treatments when they can spend lesser here in Doha and get the finest results with us,” Park explains. “Also, there’s no other clinic in Qatar that offers all the treatments that we do.”
What also compelled Park to focus on Qatar is the amount of care and focus he and his team of doctors can afford to the clients here. “In Korea, our clinic deals with 150 to 200 clients in a day, and there would be only four doctors doing all the work. In Qatar, we can offer most attention and focussed treatment and even the devices and machines we have imported are now significantly updated,” he says.
Trained in Dermatology at Seoul National University Hospital where he is also now the head of the department of Dermatology, Park is also a specialist in chronic and relapsing skin conditions, having conducted considerable research in resistant skin diseases and aesthetic surgeries.
Among other services, the clinic offers body contouring solutions such as CoolSculpting, which is a non-surgical body contouring solution that uses controlled cooling to target and kill stubborn fat cells, and VelaShape III, which is a state-of-the-art machine used for smoothening the appearance of cellulite. For anti-ageing treatments, there’s 4D Thread Lift, a less invasive alternative to traditional face lifts; Thermal CPT, a radio frequency treatment that relies on heat to tighten the underlying layers of the skin; and Ulthera, a non-invasive ultrasound treatment that counteracts the effects of time and gravity on the skin.
“At times, treating certain complex disorders would demand strong and dangerous medicines. Nowadays though, the trend is changing. Companies have tried to offer new models of treatment that are very safe and effective. The only problem is that the prices that are pretty high since most of these medicines are patented. By 2025, when these patents end, we expect prices of such treatments to come down sharply,” Park explains.
With people in Qatar, the biggest problem Park finds is Vitamin D deficiency. “Not only is it very important for healthy functioning of our body, but a lack of it severely affects our mood and skin health. Compared to other countries, the Vitamin D levels among people here are generally very low. We must do something to normalise that.”