About beauty and charity

Interview by Sandra-Stella Triebl (LADIES DRIVE_NO. 58)

Sabine Bruckert is a phenomenon. When I meet her for an interview in a restaurant at Zurich Airport, she attracts attention as soon as I walk in. The 46-year-old is the founder of Dermis Skin Clinic and a specialist in dermatology and venereology specializing in dermatosurgery. However, the specialist has also turned out to be an extremely smart entrepreneur. Because it shouldn’t just remain at one location outside Zurich. In 2021, it opened a branch within the medical center at the luxury hotel Grand Resort Bad Ragaz. A third in a central location in the heart of Zurich is to follow. But Sabine is not only a real beauty, she is also surprisingly approachable. No wonder they love their patients for this very reason. Because she loves to listen. An extremely underestimated talent, in our opinion.

Ladies Drive: You are a medical specialist, an entrepreneur … are you a head person or a gut person at heart? Fact-oriented or rather dreamy?
Dr. Sabine Bruckert: My parents had to get me out of the meadow countless times as a child. Instead of running to kindergarten, I sat peacefully collecting flowers, counting butterflies … (laughs). I was in my very own world. So I would say: dreamy!

You were born in Finland and came to Switzerland at the age of four. How did growing up in different languages and cultures influence you?
I think you look at the world with a wide-angle object. Even as a child, I was an extremely open and interested person. Teachers have always described me as a little sponge. I could also spend hours looking at anthills (laughs). What it has also achieved is my high level of acceptance of being different. I don’t like standards or phrases like “You don’t do that” or “You don’t eat that”. People should be allowed to be who they are.

As a doctor, however, you are subject to many rules, rituals, procedures and standards that you have to adhere to. How well do you cope with this?
The great fortune is my Dermis Clinic – and that I was able to put people at the center of my philosophy. I see medicine as a service-based sector, and what I do is characterized by charity, even if that sounds naive. But life in a large, hierarchical hospital is clearly something completely different. However, I find these hierarchies rather outdated and often unnecessary. In my observation, mistakes can creep in more quickly in a pronounced hierarchy than in a company with open communication and equality among all. It is more important to me that we act as a community in our clinic, for example – without a hierarchy. You know, when you do surgical training, you end up in a hierarchical cauldron, which is incredible. The head physician is then the boss. If you are lower in the hierarchy, it is not easy to address mistakes. And I don’t think that’s fair. It also bothers me that there are people who think that just because they have a title, they are something better. No matter what title you have, you should always make an effort and not rest on your laurels. I grew up with a very open, very loving mother. She grew up in poor conditions in Finland and had a working mother herself. My mother taught me to think openly and always said: “Men are not a priori better or stronger or taller. We are all the same!” She was also the one who always told me that I shouldn’t allow myself to become dependent – neither professionally nor financially.

How important do you take yourself?
Sometimes, when people ask what I do, I just say that I work in healthcare. I’m not that important. As a doctor, I am self-confident – I know where my strengths lie. As a woman, I’m not so much. I usually find what other people tell me more exciting – I love to listen. To be honest, I don’t think so much of myself now that I have to tell everyone that. That’s why I have no problem if others think I’m a nurse or beautician (laughs). Many people like to pigeonhole. I’m probably not the typical business lady. And the issue is often that as a mother of three children you have to justify how it all works together. It’s quite rare for someone to say: “Oh wow, that’s cool.”

But what you’re doing is really mega cool. Soon three locations, 33 employees … What do you do differently from other private clinics? What is the secret of your success?
We practice holistic medicine. We don’t maintain a distant relationship with our patients – and we have a really cheerful, relaxed manner. This is probably why we have so many different people coming to us – from managers and hotel directors to farmers and young people. On average, we treat 100 people a day. However, we have grown through pure word-of-mouth advertising. And I’ve often heard people recommend me because I’m so sweet and funny (grins).

And competent!
Of course. But you know, sometimes patients are awake during an operation because they only have a local anesthetic. And it sometimes happens that we tell a few blonde jokes in the operating room (laughs uproariously). Especially when we sense that someone is terribly nervous. There is always a person sitting in front of us – you must never forget that. And the most common procedure we perform has to do with skin cancer. People are correspondingly excited and very stressed.

Do you have a lot of people who come to you for self-optimization?
Also. I am often asked how I feel about this so-called self-optimization, and I always say: I am not the kind of person who wants to judge how others should and may feel. The only thing I can do is to advise with good medical knowledge and a clear conscience what is possible. I do not judge or condemn anyone. But of course there are things that I find excessive – that’s why we don’t offer certain services at all.

For example?
I would never make oversized breasts. Or lips that are insanely chapped. The biggest compliment for me is when people look fresher but no one has really noticed the procedure. I understand that not everyone was genetically lucky enough to be born with flawless teeth. This can also be corrected. And when someone leaves the practice overjoyed after an eyelid lift, it’s an incredibly wonderful feeling for me – it makes me feel good. But because of Instagram and the like, we doctors also see a lot of young people who can no longer accept themselves as they are, and that makes me think. But ageing is also a growing concern for many women and men because we have become much more visible via social media.

There’s a fine line between looking after yourself and optimizing yourself so much that you lose yourself in it and can no longer find yourself. I don’t even dye my hair anymore … because I don’t want to define myself by my appearance.
That is very desirable. If we could pass on this feeling of self-respect to all women and men, it would be wonderful. And would be good for everyone. I think that would be great. But not everyone is at that point – and you have a beautiful outer shell, it has to be said. Not everyone manages to accept themselves.

I sometimes wonder who told us women that gray hair and wrinkles are unattractive.
You’re right. What I find absolutely attractive, by the way, is when someone radiates health and vitality – regardless of their age. But as a doctor, I also want to heal in the traditional way. But I can only really help if someone feels comfortable in their own skin. I think that’s the bottom line.

Oh, how right you are … hmmm – I sometimes think to myself: the challenge is certainly that the older we get, the more we lose this playful, almost childlike approach to ourselves and our actions.
Yes, it can be helpful not to take yourself and what you do too seriously. I like getting old, I have to say. I don’t want to go back, I don’t want to be younger.

However, it is not easy to let go of your youth, especially if you are a leader who is exposed.
The crux of the matter is that we form an opinion about another person within a fraction of a second – and this always has a lot to do with visual appearance. I respect it when someone wants to optimize themselves. It doesn’t make you a better person. But not a worse one either. It’s fair to say that. I bleach my hair myself – and have had Botox treatments for the glabella, the area between the eyebrows, and the forehead. I also find Botox treatments in the armpits practical because you don’t sweat. I’ve never done filler – but who knows how I’ll feel about it in a few years’ time.

Speaking of years … how much longer would you like to work?
Ten years. There are countless young, great doctors – I think it would be nice to be able to hand over in time. There are so many things that interest me – I want to do this while I’m healthy and enjoy this time from my mid-50s onwards. That is my vision…