Second Year UTMB Medical Student Publishes Dermatology Educational Research

The UTMB Dermatology Interest Group sends out congratulations to our Community Outreach Chair and second year medical student, Rebecca Philips. Rebecca has just published her comprehensive survey about dermatology electives for upper level medical students (Philips RC, Dhingra N, Uchida T, Wagner RF Jr. The "Away" Dermatology Elective for Visiting Medical Students: Educational Opportunities and Barriers. Dermatology Online Journal 15(10):1, October 2009) as the lead article. Her UTMB MS4 coauthor, Navin Dhingra, began this research in 2007 during the UTMB Medical Student Summer Research Program (MSSRP) and presented preliminary data at the 2007 annual MSSRP poster session. Rebecca enlarged the scope of Navin's initial project and gathered new data this summer, also working under the UTMB Medical Student Summer Research Program. The research was supported in part through the Edgar B. Smith Professorship. Her article provides lots of useful information about doing an away dermatology elective at another academic institution as a visiting medical student. The entire article is available at: http://dermatology-s10.cdlib.org/1510/originals/away_curriculum/wagner.html

UTMB IRB Approves Resident Initiated Dermoscopy Study

Dr. Matt Petitt, a second year UTMB dermatology resident, was notified by the UTMB IRB that his human subject research study proposal, "The Predictive Value of Dermoscopy for the In Vivo Assessment of Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer Margins," has been approved. He is the Principal Investigator on this study, that will be conducted during his upcoming 4 month rotation on Mohs at UTMB. His goal is to determine if dermoscopy aids in the accuracy of clinical margin assessment prior to Stage I Mohs excision. His UTMB dermatology faculty supervisor on this research is Dr. Richard Wagner.

More UTMB Dermatopathology Success!

Dr. Cecilia Rosales has passed the 2009 dermatopathology certification examination on the first attempt and is now board certified in dermatopathology. Congratulations!

UTMB Mohs Surgeon Appointed to Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery

Dr. Richard Wagner, our UTMB Dermatology Program Director and Mohs Surgeon, has recently received a secondary appointment to the UTMB Department of Surgery, Division of Plastic Surgery as Professor. Currently, all third year plastic surgery residents at UTMB have a required one month rotation with him on the Mohs service, where skin cancers are treated with Mohs surgery and wound reconstructions are performed the same day with primary closures, skin grafts and local skin flaps. Dr. Wagner has been a full-time faculty on the UTMB Dermatology Faculty since 1988 and he is the Edgar B. Smith Professor of Dermatology and Deputy Chair of Dermatology. He also holds a secondary appointment in the UTMB Department of Otolaryngology as Professor.

Congratulations Dr. Parekh

Palak Parekh, MD, a current UTMB dermatopathology fellow and recent graduate from the dermatology residency program at Texas A&M Medical Center/Scott & White Clinic in Temple, Texas, has passed the American Board of Dermatology certification examination on her first attempt. She is now a Diplomate of the American Board of Dermatology.

Dr. Berlingeri-Ramos Board Certified in Dermatopathology

Dr. Alma Berlingeri-Ramos recently received notification that she has passed the 2009 dermatopathology certification examination on the first attempt and is now board certified in dermatopathology. She is now "double-boarded" in dermatology and in dermatopathology. Congratulations!

All 2009 Graduating UTMB Dermatology Residents Pass Certification Examination

Congratulations to our 2009 UTMB dermatology residency graduates, Drs. Julie Brantley and Josh Dimmick. Both have passed the American Board of Dermatology (ABD) certification examination on the first attempt and are now Diplomates of the American Board of Dermatology. This is the 9th consecutive year that all UTMB graduating dermatology residents have passed their "boards" on the first try.

DIG Success at BP Health and Safety Fair

DIG members enjoyed volunteering at the 6th Annual BP Children’s Safety & Health Fair this weekend at Mall of Mainland. Thank you to 2nd year Rebecca Philips, 3rd years Kenne Ogunmakin and Lindsey Hunter, and 4th year Alison Wiesenthal for making this event such a success!

(L to R) DIG President Alison Wiesenthal and Community Service Chair Rebecca Philips volunteering Saturday morning at the Health and Safety Fair.

17 Days Left to Apply for a PGY-2 UTMB Dermatology Residency Position Starting in 2011

The UTMB Dermatology Department has a November 1, 2009 application deadline for the 3 NRMP PGY-2 dermatology residency positions being offered that start in July 2011. Applications must be complete by November 1, 2009 in order to be considered, and must be submitted through ERAS (Electronic Residency Application Service). No late applications will be considered. Application review will begin on November 2, 2009 for one day interviews of 20-30 outside applicants that are scheduled for February 4th or 5th, 2010.

Volunteers Needed for BP Children’s Health & Safety Fair

DIG will be participating in the BP Children’s Health & Safety Fair this Saturday, October 17. Come help us present Stay Shady! and make UV Bead bracelets with the children.

6th Annual Children’s Safety & Health Fair
Date: October 17, 2009
Time: 10am – 3pm
Place: Mall of the Mainland
Set-up time: 7-9:30am ~ Breakdown time: 3pm
Age Range: 0-99
Anticipated attendance: 2500

Interested in volunteering? E-mail Alison Wiesenthal at acwiesen@utmb.edu.

DIG Meeting Recap 10-08-09

DIG held its second successful videoconference this afternoon. Thanks to all who attended our meeting about dermatology honors research. For a copy of the handout, please visit the Honors Research Program website at http://www.som.utmb.edu/current/Description%20Honors%20Program.pdf.

Thank you to the fourth years for sharing their insights and to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years for their great questions! Please feel free to contact us throughout the year. We are here to help!

Alison Wiesenthal
UTMB DIG Co-President
acwiesen@utmb.edu

Are Away Dermatology Rotations Helpful in Matching for a Dermatology Residency?

Yes, according to a study published in 2006 (Clark JT, Miller JJ, Sceppa J, et al. Success in the dermatology residency match in 2003: perceptions and importance of home institutions and away rotations. Arch Dermatol 2006;142:930-932). In this study, 53% of dermatology matches were at the applicants' home school or at a place where they did an away rotation. This study seems to mirror recent NRMP dermatology match experiences of UTMB students applying for dermatology residencies. UTMB students who are thinking about taking away dermatology rotations in their senior year are encouraged to prepare early, since away positions are limited and some have an application deadline.

UTMB Dermatology Residents Enjoy Texas Friday Night Lights

Former DePauw University football pass reception leader Dr. John Stephens and his wife enjoy a traditional Friday Night Lights at Galveston's Ball High School Kermit Courville Stadium last week. The Indiana natives were accompanied by UTMB dermatology residents who were formerly from Hawaii and Oklahoma.

Does a Dermatology Fellowship Increase the Chances for a Dermatology Residency Position?

Last September the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology published a Research Letter that addressed this question (Wasong SJ, Miller JJ, Zaenglein AL, Does a predermatology fellowship increase the chance to match in dermatology? J Am Acad Dermatol 2008;59:535-536). The authors contacted 46 preresidency fellowships and surveyed the fellowship directors and the fellow(s). There were responses from 26 (57%) fellowship directors The fellowship directors indicated that 176 of 190 (92%) past fellows obtained dermatology residencies. Of the current dermatology fellows who sought a dermatology residency, 24/27 (88.9%) indicated success. According to the authors, dermatology match statistics from 2005 showed that 57.8% of dermatology applicants matched into a dermatology residency. The authors concluded that "Participating in a preresidency dermatology fellowship appears to increase one's chances of subsequently matching to a dermatology residency program."

DIG Meeting Thursday 5 pm

Interested in research? Interested in doing a Dermatology Honors Thesis?

Please join us for our DIG meeting this Thursday, October 8th at 5:00 PM in the Department of Dermatology's conference room (4.112 McCullough Building). Fourth year students currently involved in honors research will be discussing their experiences with the program. This will be a great opportunity for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd year students to learn about the process.

If you are in Austin or any other location and interested in joining us, contact Alison Wiesenthal at acwiesen@utmb.edu. See you Thursday!

Stay Shady! Presents at Odyssey Academy

This past Tuesday, September 29, DIG members presented Stay Shady! to the fourth graders at Odyssey Academy. Thank you to our Community Service Coordinator, Rebecca Philips, for setting this up.

Stay tuned for more opportunities to help out with Stay Shady! or e-mail Alison Wiesenthal acwiesen@utmb.edu if you have a school in mind that would benefit from our Sun Protection Children's Education Project.