> Are routine skin checks a thing?

If you have a dermatologist, I would imagine so.

Is having someone you can describe as "my dermatologist" a common thing? Probably not for most people who don't have a chronic skin condition of some kind, I would think.

they are to me. I'm very light skinned and thus have had sigificant sunburn more than once, skin checks have found and removed somewhat likely to turn into cancer. Probably useless if you are 20, but by 50 they can find and prevent cancer and so should become common

Yes, you should probably visit a dermatologist regularly (once every year or two) for a routine skin check.