How I Spent my 2015 Summer Vacation

UTMB MS4 Neil Jackson (left) is collecting data at a local Galveston beach for his UTMB Dermatology Honors Research Program. His thesis is entitled, “Understanding Ultraviolet Radiation Dorsal Foot Injury at the Beach,” and his faculty mentor is Dr. Richard Wagner, the UTMB Dermatology Program Director. UTMB MS2 Tim Allen (right) is collaborating on this research as a research surveyor. Mr. Jackson is the only UTMB MS4 for the 2015-2016 academic year with an approved dermatology research honors project.

UTMB PGY3 Dermatology Resident Recognized

Congratulations to Dr. Amber Gill, a current PGY3 dermatology resident who was recognized in UTMB’s June 2015 issue (page 9) of “Health System Friday Focus.” 
Dr. Gill’s “shout out” was from a positive UHC comment: “Dr. Amber Gil seems very attuned to questions and answers are easy to understand.” 
Congratulations Dr. Gill for this recognition!

Dermatology Night at St. Vincent’s Clinic on July 2nd, 2015

Join UTMB Dermatology residents and faculty for the upcoming dermatology night at St. Vincent’s Clinic. Please see the calendar link below to reserve your volunteering spot:

When: Thursday, July 2nd, 5:30-9PM (volunteers should arrive at 5:15)
Where: St. Vincent's House, 2817 Post Office Street, Galveston, Texas 77550
Volunteer link: http://www.stvsc.org/index.php/students/

Successful Turnout at the 2015 Galveston AIM for the Cure Melanoma Walk and Fun Run

The UTMB DIG had a successful turnout for the 2015 Galveston AIM for the Cure Melanoma Walk and Fun Run on June 6. We raised over $1,900 to support melanoma research and hosted over 30 participants. Thank you for the donations and support!

Dig members volunteering/participating in the run, left to right: Dung Mac, Alfreda Batts, Jasmine Stephens, Julie Amthor, Neil Jackson

Melanoma 5K Walk/Fun Run participants at the starting line, ready to make their impact on finding a cure for melanoma!

Dermatology News Adds New Opinion Column

According to the June 2015 issue (page 2) of Dermatology News, Dr. Brett Coldiron will contribute a monthly opinion column entitled, “Cold Iron Truth.” Dr. Coldiron is a well-respected private practice Mohs surgeon with clinical  ties to the University of Cincinnati and the author of an impressive number of peer-reviewed published research papers, who has served dermatology in many national leadership capacities. In his first column on page 14, he wrote about how, “Resident debt is ruining medicine” that may be of interest to current medical students applying for dermatology residencies. Dr. Coldiron noted at the beginning of his essay that many physicians owe about $300,000 in debt by the time they complete residency. He cautions readers that “Residencies are chosen for their fiscal attractiveness, which is not a correct or sustaining reason for a long hard career.” Since the majority of new physicians are currently facing this type of future debt, readers are left to wonder if applicant debt will ever become a consideration to those charged with selecting the best residents for their specialty program?

Yelp Reviewers Harsh on Dermatology Practices

An interesting article in the June 2015 issue of Dermatology Times by Lisette Hilton (“Dermatology ranks second to last in online reviews,” page 52) reported that only psychiatry ranked lower in consumer satisfaction than dermatology. Patient complaints mainly focused on customer service (“…receptionists’ cordiality and doctors’ bedside manners…”). Orthopedics and family medicine practices also received low consumer scores on Yelp.

UTMB Named as Ebola Referral Center

In the Wednesday, June 17, 2015 issue of the Galveston Daily News, reporter John Wayne Ferguson wrote (“UTMB chosen to be treatment center for future Ebola cases,” page A4) that UTMB will serve as the permanent treatment center for future patients with Ebola from Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico. UTMB will also care for patients with Lassa fever, Omsk Hemorrhagic Fever and Kyasanur Forest disease (“monkey fever”). Other national treatment centers are in Boston, New York, Baltimore, Atlanta, Minneapolis, Omaha, Denver and Spokane.

UTMB Cancels Classes for Tropical Storm Bill

UTMB has cancelled all classes for medical students due to Tropical Storm Bill on Tuesday, June 16, 2015. Flooding around the medical center in Galveston is a possibility due to rain, increased tides, and ground saturation from previous area weather over the past few weeks. Classes are expected to resume as usual on Wednesday, June 17, 2015.  

Professors Censure MD Anderson Cancer Center

According to a report by Todd Ackerman (“M.D. Anderson is censured by national faculty group: UT cancer center’s reputation dinged for tenure practices”) that was published in the Sunday, June 14, 2015 issue of the Houston Chronicle (pages B1 and B4), 234 members of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) unanimously voted to censure MD Anderson on 6/13/15. The only other medical institutions on the AAUP censure list are UTMB and Meharry Medical College. According to this article, UTMB was added to the list in 2010 following dismissal of 2400 employees (including 42 tenured faculty) in the wake of Hurricane Ike and almost $1 billion in damages.  Institutional removal from the censure list requires a majority vote at an annual meeting. It is possible that this type of academic censure could deter some potential faculty from accepting employment at the censured institutions.

PGY4 UTMB Dermatology Resident Publishes Dermatology Educational Research

Congratulations to Dr. Brandon Goodwin for publishing his dermatology scholarly project entitled, “Surgical Flap and Graft Reconstruction Workshop for Dermatology Residents,”

Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications (JCDSA). His dermatology educational research is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/jcdsa.2015.52011 .

Dr. Goodwin’s coauthor on this research was Dr. Richard Wagner, the UTMB Dermatology Program Director. Dr. Goodwin will continue at UTMB for the upcoming 2015-2016 academic year as one of two UTMB Dermatopathology Fellows.

UTMB Dermatology Recognizes PGY4 Dermatology Resident for Excellent Research

The UTMB dermatology faculty selected Dr. Audra Clos as the recipient for the annual faculty award for outstanding dermatology research performed by a PGY4 dermatology resident. Dr. Clos’ dermatology scholarly project was a dermatopathology study entitled, “Immunohistochemical Analysis in Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers with an Anti-Nicastrin Antibody (ab45425); a Novel Staining Pattern.” Her faculty mentor on this project was Dr. Brent Kelly.
 

UTMB Dermatology Residents Announce Annual Faculty Teaching Awards

Congratulations to Drs. Maribel Colome (community dermatologist) and Erica Kelly (faculty dermatologist) for their recognition by the 12 UTMB dermatology residents for excellent teaching during the 2014-2015 academic year!

Dr. Kelly (right) received the award from PGY4 dermatology chief resident, Dr. Lindsey Hunter-Ellul (left) at the weekly Friday journal club.

2015 UTMB DIG Editor Publishes Dermatology Article in Texas Medicine

Congratulations to Dr. Alex Acosta, a recent UTMB SOM honors graduate and the UTMB DIG Blog Editor for the 2014-2015 academic year. Her article is entitled,
“Commercial Tanning Bed Use as a Medical Therapy,” and it was published in the June 2015 issue of Texas Medicine. The citation is Tex Med. 2015;1116):e1. The full article is available at http://www.texmed.org/June15Journal/
Her UTMB co-authors on this research were PGY4 dermatology resident Dr. L. Hunter-Ellul and faculty supervisor, Dr. Michael Wilkerson. Good luck to Dr. Acosta during her PGY1 year in Austin!

Review of the 2015 NRMP Dermatology Match

The NRMP has released data (“Results and Data: 2015 Main Residency Match,” April 2015, www.nrmp.org ) about the 2015 match that is of interest to future dermatology applicants. According to Table 1, page 5, there were 116 dermatology programs that offered 385 advanced PGY2 dermatology positions. 485 US MS4s applied and 336 matched (87.3%). Table 2 (page 9) adds additional detail: of the 381 matched applicants, 336 were US MS4s, 30 were US graduates, 5 were osteopathic graduates, 1 was a US IMG,  and 9 were non-US IMGs. Table 3 (page 13) indicates that more PGY2 positions were offered in 2015 than in the previous 5 years.