Become a National DIGA Officer for 2011-2012

The national Dermatology Interest Group Association (DIGA) is now accepting officer applications for 2011-2012. A PDF form of the application and officer descriptions can be found under the announcements section on the DIGA "About" page: http://derminterest.org/.

The application process will be open until midnight (MST) on January 15, 2011. Notifications will be sent out on January 22, 2012. Positions are available for all MS years. Term commitment is one year (February 2011 to February 2012).

Available DIGA positions include: Vice President, Webmaster, Treasurer, Secretary, Community Service Director, National Dermatology Residency Interview Database Director, Regional Directors, and various Committee Chairs.

UTMB DIG members have enjoyed serving as DIGA officers for several years. Alison Wiesenthal (UTMB DIG Co-President 2009-2010) served as the 2009-2010 DIGA Community Service Director and the 2008-2009 Sun Protection Project Committee Chair. Lindsey Hunter (current UTMB DIG Co-President) is the 2010-2011 Allied Health Outreach Committee Chair.

Contact Lindsey Hunter (lihunter@utmb.edu) with any questions.

Good Luck!

UTMB Dermatology Resident Publishes Article About Contact Dermatitis to Silver

Dr. Ashley Group, a current UTMB PGY3 dermatology resident (and former UTMB DIG Co-President and DIG blog Co-Editor), is the first author on a clinical report about contact dermatitis to silver in the December 2010 issue of the peer-reviewed journal, WOUNDS (“Contact Dermatitis With a Highlight on Silver: A Review”). Her coauthor was Dr. Alfred Lea from the UTMB Department of Internal Medicine, Infectious Diseases Division. The entire article can be read at http://www.woundsresearch.com/content/contact-dermatitis-highlight-silver-review.

St. Vincent's Free Health Clinic - UTMB Reaches Out to the Community

St. Vincent's House offers a student-run free health clinic serving the Galveston uninsured and underserved population. St. Vincent's is an important part of the UTMB community, providing free health services to the public, while teaching medical, PA, and nursing students how to manage common health issues, including hypertension and diabetes.

In response to the community's growing needs, specialty clinics have been instituted over the past several years. St. Vincent's currently schedules Internal Medicine, Psychiatry, Gynecology, Neurology, and Dermatology clinics. UTMB Dermatology residents and faculty can be found volunteering here the first Tuesday of every month, where they aid medical students in providing free skin cancer screenings, biopsies, excisions, and routine dermatologic care. UTMB Dermatology volunteers include, Dr. Sharon Raimer, Dr. Brent Kelly, Dr. Erica Kelly, Dr. Alma Berlingeri-Ramos, Dr. Bernard Gibson, Dr. Michael Wilkerson, and Dr. Ashley Group (PGY-3 resident).

The student volunteer-based clinic operates on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. St. Vincent's House is located at 2817 Post Office Street, Galveston, Texas 77550. UTMB students interested in volunteering can find additional information located in the daily UTMB Student News and Notes e-mails.

For more information about St. Vincent's, please visit their website at: http://www.stvhope.org/free_clinic.htm.

UTMB Medical Student, Resident and Faculty Co-author Publication

Former UTMB medical student and medical resident Dr. Tatiana Sousa, current MS4 Lindsey Hunter, PGY4 dermatology resident Dr. Matt Petitt and dermatology faculty Dr. M. Wilkerson have coauthored a clinical report entitled, “Localized cutaneous reaction to intramuscular vitamin K in a patient with acute fatty liver of pregnancy” in the December 2010 issue of Dermatology Online Journal 16 (12):16. The letter is available at: http://dermatology.cdlib.org/1612/5_letters/16_10-00305/wilkerson.html. Dr. Sousa is currently a PGY2 dermatology resident at Case School of Medicine Dermatology Residency Program at the MetroHealth Medical Center Campus in Cleveland, Ohio.

Dr. Jennifer Vickers Publishes Seinfeld Research

Dr. Jennifer Vickers, UTMB SOM Class of 2009, has published an original research paper entitled, “Television Depictions about Dermatology and Skin Diseases in Seinfeld” in the December 2010 issue of Dermatology Online Journal (DOJ), a peer-reviewed journal that is indexed in PubMed. This research was initiated as her Dermatology Research Honors Program that was awarded Magna Cum Laude research graduation honors. Dr. Vickers was also the recipient of the Dermatology Department’s Annual Film Class Award in 2009. She is currently a PGY2 dermatology resident at New York Medical College, Valhalla, NY. Her co-authors on this research were Mr. Tatsuo Uchida (UTMB Office of Biostatistics) and Dr. Richard Wagner (UTMB Dermatology). The entire article can be read at: http://dermatology.cdlib.org/1612/1_commentary/1_10-00322/vickers.html.

DIG 12/8/10 Meeting Recap

We had a great turn out at Wednesday's meeting! The UTMB DIG would like to give a special thanks to Chelsea Altinger, MS II, for her very informative and interactive Powerpoint presentation on her experience at the 2010 Contact Dermatitis meeting held in Dallas, Texas.

DIG members have been actively volunteering in the community, including events such as the 2010 Oceans of Fun Health Fair, teaching cosmetologists about skin cancer and sun protection through the Dermatology Interest Group Association's Allied Health Outreach Program, and the 2010 La Porte Health and Safety Fair.

We discussed upcoming events, including our Miles for Melanoma Walk and the 2011 American Academy of Dermatology meeting that will be held February 4 - 8, 2011 in New Orleans, LA. If you are interested in attending this event, please contact Lindsey Hunter at lihunter@utmb.edu for additional information.

Want to get involved with the Miles for Melanoma Walk? Contact Auris Huen (aohuen@utmb.edu) or Kehinde Ogunmakin (koogunma@utmb.edu) to find out ways that you can help.

Questions? Comments? Contact us at utmbdig@gmail.com.

DIG Meeting: Wednesday, December 8th!

Please join us Wednesday, December 8th at 5PM in the Dermatology Department conference room (4.112 McCullough Building) for our next DIG meeting. We look forward to seeing everyone there!