['Dermatological teaching has traditionally stressed that complete skin examination is essential in the assessment of patients with potential skin disease.', 'To determine whether complete skin examination results in increased diagnoses of skin malignancies that would not have been discovered otherwise.', "New patients (n = 483) attending a dermatology clinic in a university teaching hospital and private dermatology practice had a complete skin examination, as is our normal practice. These patients were seen over a 9-month period (January-September 2009). All patients were examined by the same consultant dermatologist. Data were collected on patients' sex, age, presenting complaint and findings on complete skin examination.", "Two nodular malignant melanomas with mean Breslow thickness of 0·6 mm (0·4%) and one melanoma in situ were identified at sites distant from the patient's presenting complaint. Sixteen patients (3·3%) had a basal cell carcinoma that would not have been discovered if the presenting lesion alone had been examined. Thirty-three patients (6·8%) had actinic keratoses or squamous cell carcinoma in situ and nine (1·9%) had dysplastic naevi. A further 21 patients (4·3%) had a suspicious lesion biopsied or excised with subsequent benign histology. Seventy-three patients (15·1%) had other benign dermatological diagnoses requiring treatment or investigation."] Is complete skin examination essential in the assessment of dermatology patients : findings from 483 patients?