Jerry Seinfeld educed laughter from his television audiences when he called his dermatologist girlfriend “pimple popper M.D.”

But people who pooh-pooh dermatologists’ place in medicine are missing an important part of the overall medical picture.

The examinations dermatologists perform often identify problems or the beginnings of conditions of concern that other physicians might miss in what most people regard as “regular” examinations.

Dermatologists often identify early signs of diseases, such as types of cancer that manifest, for instance, as rashes, and even tumors. Therefore, people are potentially benefiting themselves if they have their skin checked at least annually — or more often if circumstances seem to dictate.

Then there is the boom in skin care and its popularity on social media. There is much more awareness about the need for skin care, much more as the primary concern rather than, for women, virtually sole attention to makeup.

Of course, dermatology wasn’t always the way it now is. Most of the work of early dermatologists was far from glamorous, with much of their work centered on treating venereal diseases, including syphilis, that manifested on the skin.

Today, dermatology is a much different ballgame, with dermatology boasting some of the medical profession’s most enviable work lives, far from the pressure-cooker-like existences of doctors whose specialties involve life-or-death decision-making and thorough knowledge of complicated procedures, such as what might be necessary in emergency cardiac surgery.

“Given the infrequency of skin emergencies,” the Wall Street Journal wrote in its Nov. 19 edition, “far fewer dermatologists are on call at night and on weekends.”

That article began with the headline “Perks of dermatology jobs entice rash of new applicants” and followed with the statistic from the Association of American Medical Colleges that medical residency applications for dermatology slots are up 50% over the past five years.

“A younger generation of physicians wants better work-life balance than their predecessors,” the Journal said.

And that better work-life balance comes with good pay — dermatologists earning a median $541,000 a year, according to a survey conducted by Medical Group Management Association, a trade group.

The Journal article said pediatricians earn a median $258,000 annually — paltry when stacked up against dermatologists’ pay.

But, looking past those numbers, there is a downside that must not be ignored.

When one part of the medical field is “soaking up” ever-increasing amounts of some of the best talent, it can be speculated that that could be having a detrimental effect on other parts of the medical field.

Dermatology “started attracting more would-be practitioners in 2002, when the Food and Drug Administration approved Botox for frown lines,” according to Dr. Donna Stockton, a 65-year-old Chicago dermatologist.

Meanwhile, Dr. Jane Grant-Kels, 74, vice chair of dermatology at UConn Health in Farmington, Conn., has witnessed firsthand the field’s explosion in popularity.

She said her hospital’s dermatology program recently received more than 600 applications for four residency slots.

“The quality of these applicants is scary,” she said, adding that some of the applicants take off a year after medical school to focus on dermatologic research to bolster their resume to give themselves an edge for a residency.

Americans today spend countless hours scrutinizing their faces, and some are willing to pay extraordinary sums of money to attain what they are convinced they need to look the best that they can or to address a problem condition.

To those individuals, their dermatologist is a godsend.