DIG@UTMB is Moving, Please Come With Us!

DIG@UTMB will no longer be using Yahoo! Groups to communicate with our blog subscribers. Please join the DIG@UTMB Google Group to continue receiving updates and other important information via e-mail. We will be closing our Yahoo! Groups account in the next 30 days. Please e-mail Lindsey Hunter at lihunter@utmb.edu if you have any questions.

Thanks for your interest and support!

Sincerely,
UTMB DIG Officers

"Two Campus" Dermatology at UTMB Closer to Reality

Two campuses for UTMB Dermatology are on their way to becoming a reality following administration approval for a new, 6202 square foot dermatology clinic located in Bay Colony Town Center, League City, TX (west side of I-45) near the HEB. This new clinic will be a "state of the art" facility with greater patient care capacity. It will also have a large conference room that will facilitate educational activities for dermatology residents and medical students. The two UTMB dermatology conference rooms in Galveston and League City will be linked for videoconferencing and teleconferencing, permitting joint conferences between the two locations for morning and afternoon educational conferences. It is anticipated that the new League City facility will officially open in late 2009 or early 2010. The dermatopathology lab and the Mohs service will remain at UTMB in Galveston.

Record Number of UTMB Seniors May Apply for a Dermatology Residency in 2009

This year, eight senior UTMB medical students are planning to apply for a dermatology residency. This is a new school record for dermatology. The UTMB DIG wishes all applicants good luck in the match!

Author! Author!

Congratulations to our Austin DIG Co-President, Alison Wiesenthal for her essay, "Death on Call: Trauma Surgery from a Medical Student's Perspective." Her essay has been accepted for publication by The Pharos, Alpha Omega Alpha's quarterly publication.

Stay Shady Reaches over 100 Students

(L to R) Dr. Mika Yamazaki, Alison Wiesenthal and Michaela Marek

This past Friday, August 21st, DIG members Alison Wiesenthal, MS IV, Michaela Marek, MS III and Dr. Mika Yamazaki, 2nd year resident, presented Stay Shady! at Trinity Episcopal Lower School. They taught over 100 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th graders about sun safety. After the presentation, students asked thoughtful questions such as: Can I go outside right after I put on sunscreen or should I put it on a while before I go out? If I put on sunscreen in the morning before school do I need to put in on again before playtime?

Dr. Mika Yamazaki, UTMB's own Austin Kelly and MS IV Alison Wiesenthal show the students how to dress for a day in the sun.

The children enjoyed their UV bead bracelets which show them when they are being exposed to the sun's harmful rays. They were impressed as the beads turned from clear to color in the light and then back to clear again when walking back inside.

Thank you to Trinity Episcopal for hosting our team and being such a great audience.

A big thank you to our resident liaison, Dr. Yamazaki, for sharing her time and expertise with the Trinity students. We appreciate it!

First DIG Meeting Recap

DIG had a great first meeting on Thursday. A big thank you to Dr. Wagner for his captivating presentation on "Dermatology in the Media." If you are interested in this topic, Dr. Wagner teaches "Skin Disease Depicted in Film" (DERU-4007) and "History of Dermatology" (DERU- 4008) which may be taken for elective or BSHS credit.

President Alison Wiesenthal and Vice President Lindsey Hunter discussed their experience volunteering at the Bacliff Community Funfest and plans for future Stay Shady! presentations. We also discussed future community service projects, including visiting local schools to teach about sun protection and our annual Miles for Melanoma walk. Stay tuned for more details!

To get more involved with DIG and our community outreach, feel free to contact Alison Wiesenthal at acwiesen@utmb.edu.

DIG Success at Bacliff Community FunFest

DIG officers Alison Wiesenthal and Lindsey Hunter got up early last Saturday morning and had a great time volunteering at the Bacliff Community FunFest this past weekend. We made UV bead bracelets with the children and gave out information on sun protection. We showed the children that when their bracelets begin to turn from clear to color, it's time to put on sunscreen or come in out of the sun. The kids really enjoyed running inside and outside, watching the beads change color as the youngsters exposed their bracelets to UV light.

Here is a kind thank you letter from the FunFest chairman for UTMB DIG's participation:

Dear Alison and UTMB Dermatology,

Thank you so much for your participation in the Community Funfest! I think it was a terrific event with a lot of good, healthy things going on! We really appreciate your staffing this event on a Saturday, when so many folks are on vacation. The community was definitely benefited (and had a lot of fun!) by this event.

Many thanks!
Pam Merrill
Chair, Local Outreach
Clear Lake Presbyterian Church

DIG Meeting on August 6th

Join us August 6th at 5 PM in the Dermatology Department’s conference room (4.112 McCullough Building) for our first DIG meeting of the year. We are pleased to have Dr. Wagner present “Dermatology in the Media.”

Questions? Feel free to contact Lindsey Hunter (lihunter@utmb.edu) or Alison Wiesenthal (acwiesen@utmb.edu).

See you Thursday!