I am passionate about the care of children and adolescents. They are special people who deserve special treatment; and it is just plain fun to be one of their doctors!

The joy of pediatrics is that each of my patients is always developing: physically, socially, emotionally, some are maturing into adults, and family dynamics are evolving. Children with complex medical needs have extra-special needs, especially as they transition towards adulthood. I love growing with all my patients.

Joy in my work: There are many challenges in life, some very serious and important. Some of those problems are from the skin, and I aim to help. In the midst of challenges, I am in favor of joy, hence fun hair, fun car and fun experiences! (see the “about Dr. Asch” page for photos).

My hope is that I can make seeing the pediatric dermatologist a little joyful for all of you: my patients and their families.

Credentials aren’t everything, but good ones can’t hurt.

Here’s what it took me to get here:

• Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry: Grinnell College, Iowa, Class of 1999

• Masters degree in Immunology: MICaB Program, University of Minnesota, 2000-2003

• Medical School: Temple University School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2005-2009 (MD)

• Pediatrics Residency: UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh 2009-2012 (Board certified in Pediatrics)

• Dermatology residency: UCSF Dermatology, 2012-2015 (Board certified in Dermatology)

• Pediatric Dermatology Fellowship: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, 2015-2016 (Board certified in Pediatric Dermatology)

Still learning every day and loving it!

For my own children I want excellent, high-quality, no-nonsense care that delivers.

Insurance companies, large healthcare organizations and other red-tape were coming between my patients, myself and the joy of providing that good care. No one but you and your doctor should dictate how your visits should look for your child and family.

Between high-deductibles you (hopefully) won’t meet every year, exclusions for specialty care without referrals, limits on who you CAN see with long waits - commercial insurance was hurting a lot of my patients and their families.

Cutting out all the red-tape and bloated administration makes care more affordable.

You are paying directly for Dr. Asch’s expertise to help your child.

You can still use your insurance for medications, pathology or laboratory tests.

You can still submit an “out of network” bill to your insurance.

Medicaid patients: I will accept straight Minnesota Medicaid.

Frustrated with the barriers between herself and her patients, she decided it was time to try and do better.

Dr. Asch knows that parents and caregivers can take excellent pictures of their kids. That is the basis of high-quality teledermatology.

Hometown tries to eliminate some of the barriers to subspecialty pediatric care: long travel distances, zillions of portals, endless apps, long phone trees, inconvenient hours, stunning wait times, missed work and school.

As a pediatric subspecialist, Dr. Asch’s job is to support your primary doctor or other clinicians in your child's healthcare.

A doctor, or other primary care clinician, should be seeing your child in person regularly for well child visits, vaccines, typical coughs/colds, growing pains, and all the other curveballs in kids health. They should see their regular doctor all the way through their teen years.

After our visit, I would like to send a letter to your primary care team, or the referring doctor, letting them know what we talked about, so we are all on the same page. Your child’s “medical home” is important, to keep a child safe and healthy, just like a regular home.

Teledermatology for kids can be convenient, efficient and effective (thanks for proving that, COVID pandemic).

We can now integrate specialty care comfortably into daily life, even when the doctors are far away.

With patients who have driven hundreds of miles, and up to 8 hours to see her, Dr. Asch was thrilled to be able to offer a way to bridge that gap.

Dr. Asch has participated in volunteer specialty care for children with complex skin disease through her work with FIRST (The Foundation for Ichthyosis and Related Skin Types) called, Tele-ichthyosis since 2016. With this, she has participated in helping people around the world, and knew this could be applied to the Upper Midwest and beyond.

Dr. Asch views teledermatology as a tool to help spread the knowledge and care of a few specialists much farther, and looks forward to new tools along the way.

All medical care works best when coordinated with your regular doctor, in your “medical home”, and Dr. Asch values that communication.