Play Safe In The Sun comes to Houston this weekend!

The Women's Dermatologic Society needs volunteers for the “Play Safe in the Sun” event this weekend at the LPGA Tour Championship in Houston, TX. Volunteers will provide sun safety education and outreach to LPGA spectators.

WDS members Deborah MacFarlane, MD and Lucile White, MD will chair this event and are seeking Texas Board-certified Dermatologists to conduct free skin cancer screenings and sun safety outreach in the WDS booth on the tournament grounds. This is a fun way to get to know other local dermatologists, be involved in an event that attracts a lot of media attention, and provide a much-needed outreach service to the golfing community. There are also volunteer opportunities for residents, nurses, physician's assistants and family members who are interested in joining us.

Date: November 20-22, 2009

Location: The Houstonian Golf & Country Club @ 12600 Houstonian Way, Houston, TX

Volunteer Shifts:
Friday, November 20 - Sunday, November 22- Public Outreach
1.) Fri: Shift A: 9:00 am-12:00 pm * Shift B: 12:00 pm-3:00 pm
2.) Sat: Shift A: 9:00 am-12:00 pm * Shift B: 12:00 pm-3:00 pm
3.) Sun: Shift A: 9:00 am-12:00 pm

Additional Information: Volunteer passes and parking information will be provided to you once you have signed up as a volunteer. For more information on the tournament, please visit http://www.lpgatourchampionship.org/information.php

RSVP if you are interested in joining:
http://www.playsafeinthesun.org/news/volunteer.php
877-WDS-ROSE (937-7673) or wds@womensderm.org

Congratulations to Dr. Catherine C. McNeese

Dr. Catherine McNeese has passed the American Board of Dermatopathology Certification Exam on her first attempt and is now a Diplomate of the American Board of Dermatopathology. She completed the one year dermatopathology fellowship at UTMB in 2008, and now practices in Austin, Texas.

Reminder: 51st annual NSRF deadline is January 22

The 51st Annual National Student Research Forum is scheduled for April 22-23, 2010. Abstracts for submission must be postmarked by January 22nd. Check out the NSRF UTMB Homepage at: http://www.utmb.edu/nsrf/ for more details. Medical students, residents and graduate students are all able to submit abstracts about dermatology to this meeting.

Still some Openings for "Narratives of Skin Disease" class (DERU-4012)

According to UTMB's Anita Hendrix, there are still three spots available for the new BSHS Selective, DERU-4012 that starts on December 14th (Period 13). This class is only available to UTMB MS4 students and is only given during Period 13. During the course, students read 3 books written by people with skin diseases (nonmelanoma skin cancer, leprosy and vitiligo) and then select an additional book from an approved list for a 5 page, double-spaced critical, comparative essay. This is a good class for those who like to read and who want to learn more about how skin disease impacts lives.

MS4 Audra Clos Receives Basic Science Research Student Poster Award

Congratulations to UTMB MS4 Audra Clos for her winning presentation, "Approaches using cutaneous amyloid mouse model to study the effects of local, passive administration of conformational antibodies for the treatment of protein aggregate disorders of aging" at the 13th Annual Forum on Aging. Her coauthors were A. Lasagna-Reeves (neurology), B. Kelly (dermatology), G.R. Jackson (neurology) and R. Kayed (neurology). Her abstract was published in the program book (number 29). This work is part of her UTMB Honors Research Program.

The Envelope Please...

Please join the UTMB DIG in congratulating MS4 Doug Heiner and his coauthor, MS2 Donnie Warren for being awarded the "Best Student Poster" at the 13th Annual Forum on Aging. for their presentation, "Preventing Ultraviolet Light Scalp Injury: Scalp Cancer Awareness and Protective Behaviors" (Abstract 12 published in the 2009 program book). Their UTMB coauthors on the study were Tatsuo Uchida (Office of Biostatistics) and Richard Wagner, MD, Department of Dermatology. The resesearch is part of Mr. Heiner's UTMB Dermatology Research Honors Program, and it was sponsored in part by the Edgar B. Smith Professorship.

Alison Wiesenthal Presents Research in Austin

MS IV Alison Wiesenthal will be presenting her original research, Cutaneous Side Effects of Novel Chemotherapy PLX 4032, in Austin next Friday to Dr. Reichenberg and residents and welcomes Austin DIG members to join! We will be in the Dermatology Conference room in the UT Physicians Building at noon on Friday, November 20th.
If you would like to attend, please RSVP to acwiesen@utmb.edu.

Good Resource for Dermatology Residency Information

DIGA (the national umbrella organization for medical school based Dermatology Interest Groups such as our own) maintains a website with lots of useful information for dermatology applicants. They keep an updated list of when specific dermatology residency programs plan to conduct their interviews, so this information can be very useful in planning interview travel schedules. The DIGA website is http://www.derminterest.org/

UTMB DIG Members Presenting Posters Tomorrow

UTMB DIG members, along with the entire UTMB community, are invited to see the two dermatology research posters at the UTMB 13th Annual Forum on Aging on Thursday, November 12th starting at 5 pm in the Levin Hall Dining Room. Cheese and refreshments are promised.

UTMB MS4 Audra Clos is presenting her fascinating research about cutaneous amyloid in a mouse model
("Approaches using cutaneous amyloid mouse model to study the effects of local, passive administration of conformational antibodies for the treatment of protein aggregate disorders of aging") and UTMB MS4 Douglas Heiner, along with coauthor MS2 Donny Warren are presenting their original epidemiologic research from Galveston entitled, "Preventing Ultraviolet Light Scalp Injury: Scalp Cancer Awareness and Protective Behaviors." Good luck to all of these UTMB medical student researchers!

Dr. Dan McCoy Visits UTMB Dermatology

UTMB Dermatology Alum, Dr. Dan McCoy (1997), visited our dermatology department this morning and gave a lecture to the dermatology residents and faculty about his experiences in setting up a private practice after dermatology residency. Dr. McCoy is the Program Director for the new dermatology residency program in Dallas at Baylor Medical Center described in this blog last week. He currently plans on accepting 2 applicants outside of the NRMP for the dermatology residency that starts in July 2010. The July 2010 start date will require completion of an internship. Since this new program is currently a non-ERAS program, applications should soon be available through their website. Despite there not being a formal application available yet, over 100 interested medical students and physicians have already indicated interest. Medical students interested in seeing the program first hand may schedule a dermatology elective at Baylor Medical Center (Dallas).

UTMB Dermatology Alum Starts New Dermatology Residency Program in Dallas

Congratulations to UTMB Dermatology Residency alumni, Dr. Dan McCoy (1997), for initiating a new Dermatology Residency Program in Dallas, Texas, at Baylor Medical Center. Another UTMB Dermatology Residency graduate, Dr. Allison Readinger (2006), will provide dermatopathology services for this new program.

UTMB Dermatology Receives Record Number of Residency Applications

The UTMB dermatology application deadline through ERAS was yesterday, and they received 408 applications. Invitations to interview in February for the residency are usually extended in December.

Dermatology Program Director and Chair Survey about Dermatology Electives

The October 2009 issue of Dermatology Online Journal has published a national survey indicating that 59% of dermatology chairs/program directors did not consider away dermatology to be essential for applicants. Of those who thought away dermatology electives were necessary, the mode was 2 electives. Those surveyed also thought infectious disease, internal medicine and rheumatology were important electives for future dermatology residents. The entire article is available at: http://dermatology-s10.cdlib.org/1510/originals/year_4_curriculum/armstrong.html

More Advice Published for Dermatology Applicants

Dermatology Online Journal has published another article with advice for current dermatology applicants. The link to the article is http://dermatology-s10.cdlib.org/1510/commentary/derm_match/alikhan.html

Link Correction!

Below is the corrected link from our most recent post to Rebecca Philips' article, "The "Away" Dermatology Elective for Visiting Medical Students: Educational Opportunities and Barriers." This link has also been corrected in the original post.
http://dermatology-s10.cdlib.org/1510/originals/away_curriculum/wagner.html

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.

Presentation About Step 1 Scores at the 2009 Dermatology Teachers Exchange Group (DTEG)

A presentation from Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health (Columbus) at the 2009 Dermatology Teachers Exchange Group meeting in Chicago last week analyzed the correlation between dermatology resident Step 1 USMLE scores and the annual dermatology in-training examination given to residents (Fening K, Vander Horst A, Zirwas M. Correlation of USMLE Step 1 Scores With Performance on Dermatology In Training Exams and Board Examination). The authors found that Step 1 scores explained about 25% of the variability seen in in-training exam scores.

In the DTEG discussion that followed, an audience participant mentioned that it is possible that Step 2 scores may correlate with the visual portion of the actual board examination, but more analysis is needed.

UTMB Dermatology Residents Getting Lots of Surgery Experience

According to survey data presented at the 2009 Association of Professors of Dermatology Annual Meeting held last weekend in Chicago (Lee E, et al, A Survey to Assess Dermatologic Surgery Training in Residency), UTMB dermatology residents are typically in the top group nationally regarding number of Mohs layers taken during residency. Mohs surgery was found to be important in the acquisition of important surgical skills, such as suturing.

Harvard Offers New Fellowship in Derm/Rheum

Candidates need to have completed their PGY-1 year in Medicine for this one year fellowship that will place emphasis on connective tissue diseases and dermatology. To apply send an email to the fellowship director, Dr. Ruth Ann Vleugels (rvleugels@partners.org), along with your CV by October 19, 2009.

Best Ways to Work with Faculty and Residents on Academic Projects

Many medical students desire feedback about how their academic collaborations such as case reports, review articles and research projects are evaluated by dermatology faculty and residents. Here are a few tips about how to be successful in this process. UTMB has very supportive dermatology residents and faculty who will help you get the most of this experience. Many of our current residents have recently completed excellent dermatology research as medical students and they are happy to share their experiences with you. They want you to be successful too!

Good communication is definitely key to this activity. Residents and faculty should receive frequent updates from students about their progress. Successful projects require knowing what you want to do and having the time to do it. If you don't have time for a project or if the topic just does not interest you, be upfront about it. Another project more to your liking may become available, and you might be able to work on it. You could also come up with a project of your own. Those are often the best ones. The residents and faculty and the resources available on campus can help you design a good study using available resources.

Reliability is a close second to communication skills. If you are unable to attend a scheduled meeting, make sure you let everyone know in advance. If you are having problems meeting deadlines, quickly let your supervisors know and they probably will help. Depending on the type of project, sometimes other students are willing to join in with you to get it done. They should be rewarded by sharing the credit.

Requesting feedback on data analysis, the first or revised draft of a research proposal or manuscript and then not responding back again for several weeks or months after receiving a reply from the resident or faculty may be detrimental to the research. By then it is possible that your supervisor will have lost focus on the project and it may be difficult to revive it. Data can get old or get lost. Residents may graduate and now may be too busy to help right away as they transition into their new practices. Following up regularly and responding to feedback quickly is usually the best way to keep your academic project on track, get it completed and ready for submission to a meeting or a journal.

Good luck with your research!

Wake Forest University Offering 1 Year Dermatology Fellowship to Medical Students

Please see for http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=666406 more details.

UTMB Dermatologic Surgery Elective Open for Period 4

Due to a last minute student drop this week, our Dermatologic Surgery elective (DERU-4003) is now open to UTMB 3rd and 4th year medical students or for visiting MS4 medical students from other schools for Period 4. The 4 week elective starts next Monday, September 21, 2009. Please contact the UTMB registrar tomorrow if you are interested in taking this popular course.

DIG Video/Teleconference Success

DIG held its first combined video and teleconference this afternoon with great success! With the two campuses combined, we had almost 20 people in attendance.

Thank you to Dr. Ashley Group, Dr. Neda Nosrati and Dr. Nathan Davis for sharing their time and insights with us as we embark on our residency applications. We are grateful to have had all the first year residents share their advice.

Please join us at our upcoming Stay Shady! presentation at Odyssey Academy. Contact our Community Service Outreach Chair Rebecca Philips (rcphilip@utmb.edu) for more information.

Future volunteer opportunities discussed tonight include a skin cancer screening at the LPGA golf tournament in Houston, TX Nov. 20-22, our annual Miles for Melanoma Walk in May, and the Galveston County Health fair in April.

Do you have a school in mind that would benefit from Stay Shady! A Sun Protection Children's Education Project? Want to get more involved with DIG and our community outreach?
Contact Alison Wiesenthal at acwiesen@utmb.edu.

DIG Meeting Today at 5 pm: Attend, Call In or Videoconference

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

Please join us for our DIG meeting this this afternoon 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.

Starting today at 4:45 pm, you may call in to 409-797-1298. Access code is DERM (3376).

We look forward to seeing and/or hearing from everyone this afternoon!

If you have any questions, please contact DIG Co-President Alison Wiesenthal (acwiesen@utmb.edu).

"Iked" UTMB MS4 Students Rapidly Recover

Four current UTMB MS4 (senior) medical students have had their Dermatology Research Honors Proposals approved by the UTMB Honors Program Committee. The successful seniors are, in alphabetical order:

Doug Heiner: "Preventing Ultraviolet Light Scalp Injury: Scalp Cancer Awareness and Protective Behaviors in Men" (UTMB Faculty Advisor, Dr. Richard Wagner)

Jarad Levin: "Presentation of Skin Cancers in Latin Americans as Related to Their Access to Healthcare” (UTMB Faculty Advisor, Dr. Brent Kelly)

David Rains: "Ear Protection from Ultraviolet Light Injury at the Beach"(UTMB Faculty Advisor, Dr. Richard Wagner)

Alison Wiesenthal: "Dermal Scatter Reduction in Human Skin to Enhance Efficacy of Laser in Tattoo Removal" (UTMB Faculty Advisor, Dr. Dayna Diven)

Despite Hurricane Ike in September 2008, and the disruption of scheduled third year academic schedules in its aftermath, all four of these senior medical students were able to enter the Dermatology Research Honors Program at UTMB. If all of these students are able to successfully defend their research thesis, the Class of 2010 will have more Dermatology Research Honors Graduates than any previous graduating class! Good luck with your research this academic year!