Three Year US Medical Schools and Residency Implications for Dermatology

The concept of offering MD degrees to US medical students after 3 years of study is becoming popular again. Historically this was previously attempted in the 1970s, but concerns about graduate performance led to its demise. The motivation for its re-emergence is largely the same—more graduates to address a perceived future physician shortage and less debt for medical students (Grossman RI, Abramson SB. Needed: A Three-Year Medical Degree. Wall Street Jounal, page A11, February 18, 2016). Drs. Grossman and Abramson describe their experience with a 3 year medical school curriculum at one of our nation’s top medical school, New York University (NYU). When NYU initiated their 3 year program in 2013, accepted students had to know what type of residency they wanted so they could spend the first 6 weeks of medical school with that department. They were “pre-accepted” for residency at NYU into that specialty as long as they performed well academically in medical school. How “pre-acceptance” into residency programs during the first year of medical school will evolve will be of interest, especially for competitive specialties such as dermatology. At UTMB first year medical students already arrive on campus knowing that they want to specialize in dermatology. Is it possible that in the future all of the dermatology residency positions will be pre-matched for 3 year medical school graduates who had high MCAT scores?

Educating UTMB House Staff About Depression and Suicide

Physicians are not immune from depression and suicide. Help is readily available! The UTMB Graduate Medical Education will conduct a mandatory lecture, “Depression, Suicide and Physicians” on Monday, February 29^th or Tuesday, March 1^st. All UTMB  house staff are required to attend.

Annual Dermatology ITE this Week

The UTMB DIG wishes all of our UTMB dermatology residents good luck on their dermatology ITE on Thursday, February 18th. We know that you have been preparing for this test all year, and it will be great to have it done!

Fame

2016 Mardi Gras celebrants were treated to a rare Texas public performance by the 1990s rock band Zaemon in Galveston on January 30th. Guitarist Dr. Brent Kelly (photo) leads the festivities. We hope to see them back performing in Galveston soon!

UTMB MS3 Awarded Summer 2016 AAD Diversity Mentorship Scholarship

The UTMB DIG congratulates UTMB MS3 Jorge Roman for his recent award of a Diversity Mentorship Scholarship from the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). Jorge plans to use this award to study dermatology at UT Southwestern this summer in Dallas. Dr. Richard Wagner, our Dermatology Interest Group faculty advisor, sponsored Jorge’s scholarship application for this award.

Baylor Medical School Off Probation

According to the February 14, 2016 edition of the Houston Chronicle, Baylor Medical School has been taken off probation by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education after 19 months for multiple administrative deficiencies. The entire article by reporter Todd Ackerman is a worthwhile read for medical educators, since Baylor is considered one of the elite medical schools in Texas (Baylor medical school freed from probation: President says changes made in last 19 months made the university better. Pages B1 and B2).

Post-Dermatology Residency Interview Communication: What Should Programs Tell the Applicant?

Communications with applicants after residency interviews was addressed in the timely February issue of Journal of Graduate Medical Education (Grimm, LJ, Avery CS, Maxfield CM. Residency postinterview communications: more  harm than Good? Volume 8, Number 1, pages 7-9, 2016). According to these Duke physicians, applicants may misinterpret communications from programs where they interviewed and then be disappointed when they do not match at that program. The “simplest solution” according to the authors is to “…ban all communications.” Alternative solutions involve complex rules that may be difficult for residency programs to monitor and implement without error. Since about 46% of surveyed program directors agree with a total communication ban postinterview, applicants should not be concerned if they don’t receive a response to their postinterview “thank you” communication that indicates their desire to join the program.

Uber Discontinues Service in Galveston

A dispute between Uber and Galveston’s new regulations requiring Uber drivers to be fingerprinted, vehicle charges and caps has led Uber to withdraw its services from Galveston, as reported by Houston Chronicle Reporter Dug Begley (Uber pulls its operations out of Galveston: Ride service objects to regulations that are tailored for taxicab service, Houston Chronicle, Friday, February 5, 2016, page B4).

Only One Invitee to UTMB Dermatology Residency Interviews Canceled This Year

UTMB usually invites about 30 outside applicants to interview for 4 available residency positions each year. Over the past few years, about 6 invitees typically cancel their interview. However, this year only one out-of-state invitee canceled. This observed change in the number of interview cancellations may indicate increased interest in the UTMB dermatology residency program. Dermatology residency positions at UTMB appear to have become more competitive compared to previous years!

DIGA Winter Newsletter Special Feature: Advice to Dermatology Applicants- A Q&A with the Chairman and Associate Program Director at Thomas Jefferson University

The Dermatology Interest Group Association (DIGA) recently published it's Winter Newsletter featuring an interview with Dr. Uitto and Dr. Keller, the chairman and associate program director at Thomas Jefferson University. This interview contains valuable information to future applicants. They encouraged medical students to build rapport with their university's dermatology program early and participate in quality research projects to show sustained interest. AOA, away rotations, interviews, and ways to stand out as an applicant were also discussed.  Interestingly, Dr. Uitto was previously not a proponent of away rotations but has changed his mind and strongly encourages applicants to do dermatology clinical rotations at other institutions during their fourth year to demonstrate true commitment and initiative.  

Interview link: http://us12.campaign-archive2.com/?u=87e06011a087bf7c3fc72dfff&id=08793559a6

Dermatology Night at St. Vincent’s Clinic on Feb 4th, 2016

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

When: Thursday, Feb 4th, 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/

Scribe Added to UTMB Dermatology Clinic in 2016

A dermatology scribe is now present in the Bay Colony UTMB faculty dermatology clinics to aid faculty and residents in their clinic visit documentation. The UTMB scribe program is currently on a trial basis to see if it will be effective for improving clinic workflow and patient care.

US Medical Educators Seek Reform

Authors K.M. Aagaard and M. Abaza recently wrote about their perceptions of the 4^th year of medical school in US (Becoming a physician: the residency application process—burdens and consequences, NEJM 373:303-305, 2016). Surprisingly, they seem to think that since 66% of MS4s taking away rotations do not match into that particular away program, it may not be a worthwhile matching strategy. Do they really think that 34% of the matching students would have really matched at that particular away rotation residency program without an audition interview? Unfortunately, they do not present statistics about these particular students that match at their own school after doing one or more away rotations. Conventional wisdom in the highly competitive world of dermatology matching is that an applicants’ best match chances are at their home program and at the away programs where they auditioned. Nothing in this article contradicts this observation. 

UTMB’s First Mohs Fellow Announced

The UTMB Department of dermatology has selected UTMB PGY4 dermatology resident Dr. Helen Malone as the first UTMB Micrographic Surgery (Mohs) and Dermatologic Oncology fellow. She will begin the one year Mohs fellowship at UTMB in July 2016, immediately following completion of dermatology residency.  Dr. Malone is currently a chief resident in the UTMB Department of Dermatology.  She began dermatology residency training at UTMB in 2013 after completing a general surgery internship year and three years of plastic surgery training at Southern Illinois University.  During her dermatology residency at UTMB, she has been actively involved in dermatology research, especially as it relates to Mohs reconstruction and dermatologic oncology.   Recent projects include three peer-reviewed publications in the Journal of American Academy of Dermatology, a comprehensive review paper on applications of deepithelialized flaps and grafts in dermatologic surgery, a Mohs surgical education project designed to train UTMB dermatology and plastic surgery residents about the use of skin flaps, and a some case reports about unusual aspects of skin cancers treated at UTMB on the Mohs service.  The UTMB DIG extends its congratulations to Dr. Malone. We are eager to learn from you when we rotate on the Mohs service.

Do You Want to Present Your Dermatology Research at the Texas Dermatological Society 2016 Spring Meeting?

The annual spring meeting of the Texas Dermatological Society will be held in Houston at the Omni Hotel on April 15th and 16th. Many UTMB medical students have historically presented dermatology research as posters at this meeting. If you have been working on dermatology research, please contact the faculty or resident you have been working with about presenting a poster. Several of our DIG members have presented at this meeting before, and they are happy to share what they have learned about the process. The meeting is well-attended by many Texas dermatology chairs, program directors and other dermatology faculty, so there is a good opportunity for professional networking. Many attendees will view the posters and give you an opportunity to find out about their residency programs and away rotations with them. The deadline for this meeting is March 11, 2016.

UTMB Dermatology Approved for Micrographic Surgery and Dermatologic Oncology Fellowship (Mohs) for July 2016

Congratulations to the UTMB Department of Dermatology for receiving approval for a 1 year fellowship in Micrographic Surgery (Mohs) and Dermatologic Oncology from the ACGME Dermatology Residency Committee this week. If institutional funding is approved, UTMB’s first Mohs fellow will commence training in July 2016. Dr. Richard Wagner is the first UTMB Mohs fellowship director, and Dr. David Raimer will join him in providing supervision to the UTMB Mohs fellow. 

The UTMB Mohs fellowship was designed to create an exceptional educational environment for the fellow using multidisciplinary and interdepartmental strengths at UTMB, and it will expose the fellow to academic Mohs at UTMB in Galveston with Dr. Wagner and private practice Mohs with Dr. Raimer in Webster, Texas. 

Dr. Wagner completed dermatology residency at the combined Boston/Tufts University program and took his Mohs fellowship at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas. He also had Mohs training as a dermatology resident under Dr. Frederic Mohs in Madison, Wisconsin. Dr. Wagner has been performing Mohs surgery at UTMB since 1988 and has published more than 180 peer-reviewed articles in the medical literature during his dermatology career, many in the areas of skin cancer and medical education. He is a tenured Professor at UTMB and the holder of the Edgar B. Smith Professorship in Dermatology. 

Dr. Raimer graduated from UTMB’s School of Medicine and completed dermatology residency at UTMB under Dr. Wagner and the other UTMB dermatology faculty. Following dermatology residency, Dr. Raimer completed a Mohs fellowship at the University of Alabama, Birmingham.

Zika Diagnosed in Texas

Zika, a mosquito-borne viral disease that presents with rash, joint pain, and muscle aches was diagnosed recently in a Houston-area patient. This virus has also been linked to microcephaly in Brazil. Although this disease has usually been restricted to visitors to endemic regions, since the two known mosquito vectors ( Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus) are present on the Texas gulf coast area, it is possible that Zika could establish itself in Texas. Additional information about Zika is available from http://www.wsj.com/articles/houston-area-woman-diagnosed-with-mosquito-borne-zika-virus-1452628952

Keep this Date

UTMB Dermatology faculty, residents and medical students are very familiar with the funk rock band Zaemon that features UTMB Associate Professor of Dermatology and Dermatopathology Director, Dr. Brent Kelly. Zaemon recently performed in Baton Rouge at the Varsity Theatre last month. The band will play in Galveston this month as part of the 2016 Mardi Gras festivities on January 30 at 4:15 pm on the Budweiser Stage (2300 Strand). Tickets are available at http://www.mardigrasgalveston.com/tickets.asp See you there!

Dermatology Night at St. Vincent’s Clinic on January 7th, 2016

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, Jan 7th, 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/

When “Candor” Replaces “Nice” at Work

Reporter Rachel Feintzeig highlights an emerging business trend (When ‘Nice’ is a Four-Letter Word, WSJ, December 31, 2015, Pages D1, D3). Encouragement of workplace candor by coworkers decentralizes traditional workplace feedback from the boss, and is a management concept that may be adopted to address “…stalled projects, low performers, resentment that festers…” in the work environment. 

A related concept is “mokitas”. Mokitas, as applied to the work environment, is something that everyone at work knows but does not verbalize. According to Feintzeig, some workplaces schedule “mokita amnesty days” where these issues are freely discussed. Some mokita applications are about improving employee punctuality, teamwork, and productivity. Employees unable to improve performance following group feedback may be terminated or leave.

UTMB Adds MBA Option to MD Degree

In 2016 UTMB begins to offer the opportunity to add an MBA degree from the University of Houston Clear Lake campus to our medical students. The additional 54 credit hour MBA degree will typically require an additional year of full time graduate study between the MS3 and MS4 year. GMAT requirement is waived in lieu of MCAT score. Many US medical schools are currently offering  dual degree tracks, including MD/PhD, MD/MS, MD/JD and MD/MBA. Of all the dual degrees available, US dermatology residency programs appear to preferentially match with MD/PhD applicants. Additional information about this new program is available at http://www.utmb.edu/newsroom/article10770.aspx

1095 Days of Dermatology Residency

Dr. Cherise Mizrahi-Levi has provided interested readers with a personal insight about her experiences in dermatology residency (Resident journal—a graduate’s perspective on the full residency experience, Directions in Residency, Winter 2015, pages 1, 3, 7). She advises first year dermatology residents to be humble, open-minded, and self-aware in order to best benefit from dermatology residency training.

2015 UTMB Dermatology Mock Mock Boards!

Thanks to Dr. Cris Berlingeri who again organized a dermatology practice ITE examination (the official “mock” board examination)for the UTMB dermatology residents. There were 121 questions this year and included 21 dermatopathology images for identification. Also included were new procedural dermatology questions. This optional practice test is designed to familiarize UTMB dermatology residents with annual ITE and board certification examination format, and serves to identify subject areas were more study may be needed. Last year was the first time Dr. Berlingeri offered this type of practice examination to UTMB dermatology residents, and that year our dermatology residents scored in the 90^th percentile on the official American Board of Dermatology Certification Examination. Dr. Berlingeri is currently Assistant Professor of Dermatology at UTMB.

DIG Interviews Dr. Ashley Sturgeon of Texas Tech HSC on Medical Volunteerism

At the recent Texas Dermatology Society meeting in Lubbock TX (Oct 2015), Dr. Ashley Sturgeon presented on “International and Domestic Volunteer Experiences and Ethical Dilemmas.” Dr. Sturgeon is an assistant professor at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in Lubbock, TX. She is a board certified dermatologist with interests in Mohs micrographic surgery, cosmetics, general dermatology, and medical volunteerism. Her most recent endeavor is a dermatology-related medical mission trip to Nicaragua. UTMB DIG members were able to inquire Dr. Sturgeon more on her volunteer experiences in an email interview. 

DIG: Can you describe to us your medical mission to Nicaragua? 
Dr. Sturgeon: Our medical mission is based in Jinotega, several hours on a bus from the capital city of Managua. It is in a beautiful mountainous rainforest, fed by the economy from coffee production. We often travel during the day to rural communities that are hugely underserved, particularly from the medicine standpoint. 8-10 providers are able to see around 2000 patients per week. Many people in these rural communities never leave their hometown. There is no consistent follow up for these patients, unless they are able to travel to the “home base” in Jinotega, where there is a year-round clinic with a local doctor that serves 900 patients a month with a budget of $1200 a month for medications. I treated patients with a huge range of medical conditions from rare dermatologic diseases to heart murmurs to bizarre malignancies. 

DIG: Can you share with us a memorable moment during your trip? 
Dr. Sturgeon: I remember one patient I saw, a young mother who was visibly cushingoid from years of oral steroids for severe asthma. She came in huffing and puffing, barely able to breathe, and probably in adrenal crisis. She had taken at least 40mg of prednisone per day since she was a child and the local clinic had no more. We were able to give her extra prednisone to have in reserve for when this happened – even a layperson knows it’s dangerous to stop oral corticosteroids abruptly. She was so ill that, if in the United States, I would have intubated her: not an option in rural Nicaragua. 

DIG: How has the medical mission impacted you? 
Dr. Sturgeon: Nicaragua is the 2nd poorest country in the world, with a history riddled with civil wars and economic collapse. Most people there live on less than a dollar or two a day. Despite this, the people of Nicaragua are amazingly resilient. They are a smiling, happy people with a culture of hard work and survivalism. I went to make a difference for the people there; I know they did more for me than I did for them. I am a better doctor and a better human being because of my trips. The experience of helping those who have nowhere else to turn to is incredibly moving.

Meeting Recap from 12/01/2016

1.    Special welcome to visiting student (Allison Pye from UTHSCSA) for attending our meeting today.

2.     Fall Bake Sale results- Thanks to our volunteers (Paige Hoyer, Michaela Sljivich, Lauren Williams, Tim Allen, Julie Croley, Dung Mac, Tara Akunna, David Parker III, and Kristyna Gleghorn) for helping out with this event.  We received $129 in sales and donations.

3.     TDS Meeting Spring 2016 (April 14-16, The Omni Hotel Houston, TX)-

a)    keep an eye out for the registration for this event, http://texasdermatology.org/tds-meetings/annual-meetings/

b)   for students interested into helping a project with resident for presentation at the meeting, email dhmac@utmb.edu

4.      Camp Discovery for Summer 2016-

a)    this is a wonderful opportunity to volunteer for a dermatology related camp

b)   https://www.aad.org/dermatology-a-to-z/for-kids/camp-discovery/about-camp-discovery

c)    usually a 1 week volunteering event in the summer months

5.    Derm Night at St. Vincents-

a)    Next one is on 12/03 (occurs first Thursday of every month)

b)   http://www.stvsc.org/index.php/students/

6.     Stay Shady- dates in Spring 2016 (TBA on blog).

7.     Melanoma Walk 2016- to help with this event (date in March or April) email  Neil and Julie (both) at ndjackso@utmb.edu and jaamthor@utmb.edu

8.     Resident’s workshop (practice suturing, biopsy, and injection skills)- will be organized by Kristyna. To help with event , email klglegho@utmb.edu

9.    2016 Galveston County Science Fair Judging-

a)    Will be held on Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. 

b)   The fair is sponsored jointly by Galveston College (GC), Texas A&M University at Galveston (TAMUG) and The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and will be held this year at Galveston College.  

c)    7th-12th grade students from across the county will be presenting the top projects from their respective schools.

d)   To help judging, complete the judging form: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1X_P-TTWEkiTV9NSFA1RW81YU0/view?usp=sharing

e)    Email judging form to Dr. Recinos (arecinos@utmb.edu)

10. Honors Thesis project- Email Neil if you have any questions regarding how to start an Honors Thesis project at ndjackso@utmb.edu.

UTMB Dermatology Sends Residency Interview Invitations

UTMB has invited 30 outside (non-UTMB) applicants through ERAS for dermatology residency interviews from 428 applications received. Included in this group are all 7 outside applicants who rotated through the UTMB dermatology clinics during the current academic year. 15 offers to interview were made to Texas medical students attending 6 different Texas medical schools. Other invited applicants were from 11 medical schools outside of Texas in 8 other states. The mean Step 1 score for outside applicants was 251 and ranged from 230 to 263. 23 were elected to AOA at their medical schools. Interviews for outside applicants will be conducted on February 4th and 5th next year. There are 4 advanced dermatology positions (PGY2) positions offered by UTMB in the 2016 NRMP Match. UTMB also has invited 6 UTMB MS4s and 2 UTMB SOM graduates to interview this month.
 

Dermatology Night at St. Vincent’s Clinic on December 3rd, 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, Dec 3^rd, 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/

UTMB Department of Dermatology Employee Recognized

Congratulations to Ms. Betty Head, a long term employee in the UTMB Department of Dermatology. Ms. Head’s career at UTMB was nicely summarized in an article published in the November 2015 issue of Health System Friday Focus. She has worked at UTMB for 67 years. If you want to know anything about the history of the UTMB Department of Dermatology, just ask Ms. Head!

UTMB MS3 has UTMB Dermatology Honors Research Project Approved

Congratulations to UTMB MS3 Kristyna Gleghorn for the approval of her UTMB Dermatology Honors Research Project entitled, “Severe Cutaneous Drug Reactions in Pediatric Patients with an Emphasis on Recently Approved Medications.” Her faculty advisor on this project is UTMB Associate Professor of Dermatology and Dermatopathology Director, Dr. Brent Kelly.

Upcoming DIG Meeting on Dec 1st

Join the Dermatology Interest Group (DIG) for our last meeting for the fall semester on Dec 1st. We will be discussing upcoming volunteer activities and how to get involved in the Texas Dermatology Society meeting in Spring 2016 (April 14-16, The Omni Hotel Houston, TX). This will be an important meeting for MS1, 2, and 3.   

Date & time:  December 1st (Tuesday) at 5:00-6:00 pm 
Location: Dermatology Conference Room 4.112 McCullough Building

UTMB House Staff Pay Raise on July 1, 2016

UTMB residents and fellows will get a pay increase next July. Salaries for dermatology residents and fellows will be:   

PGY2:                    $51,876   

PGY3:                    $53,483   

PGY4:                    $55,994   

PGY5 (fellow):       $58,538   

PGY1 residents at UTMB will be paid $50,176.

UTMB GME Requires Departmental Financial Supplement for Residents Exceeding Initial Residency Funding Determination

The UTMB GME Office has started requiring departments on campus to partially fund residents that exceed their initial residency funding. Determination of initial residency funding is usually determined on match day. If a dermatology applicant matches into a preliminary medicine year and does not obtain a dermatology position at the same time, initial residency funding is  automatically set at 3 years (the time required to complete internal medicine residency). It cannot be reset. If this applicant re-applies to dermatology in the PGY1 year and matches, at UTMB the dermatology department is required to fund $8000 during the PGY4 year of dermatology residency. Since many departments across the nation do not have extra funds available to support the additional year of resident funding, this financial limitation may well result in far fewer dermatology re-applicants obtaining dermatology residency positions even after completing non-ACGME clinical dermatology fellowships. Two ways to avoid this funding issue are for dermatology applicants to initially match into a transitional PGY1 year (it will not start the clock for initial residency funding determination) or to match into a specialty with more than three years of initial residency funding that will also count toward the required PGY1 year for dermatology (such as general surgery). Philanthropic organizations could potentially come to the aid of dermatology departments and fund departments that want to train residents who will run out of their initial residency funding during dermatology residency or those who have already completed a residency in another specialty (most commonly, internal medicine).

What are Dermatology Applicants Looking for in a Residency Program?

A new study from Wake Forest sheds light on this important question [Guffey D, Feldman SR, Huang WW. What are the most important factors that determine the overall quality of dermatology residency training: A resident Survey. DOJ 21 (10) http://escholarship.org/uc/item/0j11p97g]. Dermatology residents responded that quality of clinical training (71.4%), happiness of current residents (12.2%), and camaraderie of current residents (8.2%) were the three most important factors. However, more respondents considered factors such as happiness of current residents (16.3%), camaraderie of current residents (14.3%), and perceived fit during an away rotation (8.2%) as being least important factors. Surprisingly, some of the other least important factors included number of NIH funded investigators (2%), number of full-time faculty who sit on editorial boards of peer-reviewed journals (2%), and proximity to family (4%).

Dermatology Night at St. Vincent’s Clinic on November 5th, 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, Nov 5th, 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/

UTMB DIG Annual Bake Sale on Nov 4, 2015

DIG will be hosting our Annual Bake Sale. Money raised from this sale will go towards educational projects such as Stay Shady for grade school students to learn about skin cancer and procedural workshops for medical students to practice their suture and injection skills.

Date: Nov 4 (Wed), 2015
Location: Joe’s Café (Jamail Student Center)
Time: 11am-2pm

Would you like to donate baked goods or volunteer at the bake sale? Please sign up via the link below:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1mcun3Ror_wdWzzvwPFDEL70afOaMXepnx9G177TOSNo/edit?usp=sharing

UTMB Researchers Develop 2 Hour Diagnostic Test for Chikungunya

Congratulations to UTMB researchers, who have developed a new diagnostic test for Chikunguna that only takes two hours! For additional information about this breakthrough, please see http://www.utmb.edu/newsroom/article10719.aspx

UTMB Presentations at 2015 Fall Texas Dermatological Society Annual Meeting in Lubbock, Texas

UTMB medical students, current and former dermatology residents, former dermatopathology fellow, and dermatology faculty actively participated at the recent Texas Dermatological Society meeting held on October 23rd and 24th, 2015. Congratulations to Dr. Rebecca Philips (UTMB PGY4 dermatology resident) and her faculty supervisor Dr. Cris Berlingeri-Raimos for having the best poster at this meeting! Dr. Philips will remain at UTMB during the 2016-2017 academic year for the dermatopathology fellowship, along with another current UTMB PGY4 dermatology resident, Dr. Janice Wilson.

Podium

Julie Ann Croley (UTMB MS4), Kyralessa Ramirez: Cutis marmorata telangiectasia congenita: a case report of a persistent lesion and long-term management.

Posters 

Julie Croley (UTMB MS4), Amber Gill, Katherine Tinkey (UTMB MS4), Zach Jones, Lindsey Hunter-Ellul, Brent Kelly: Evaluation of Inpatient Dermatologic Consultations: A 3-Year Retrospective Review at a Texas Tertiary Care Center. 

KL Gleghorn (UTMB MS3), JM Wilson, WE Tausend, MG Wilkerson: Striking black nail discoloration in a patient with onychomycosis. 

Dung Mac (UTMB MS4), Chinelo Ikpeama, Michael Wilkerson, Luan Truong: The diagnosis of Alport syndrome from a punch biopsy of the skin. 

Rebecca Philips, Leila Langston, Tanya Trynosky, Alma C. Berlingeri-Ramos: Primary cutaneous adnexal carcinoma versus metastatic carcinoma of unknown primary: A diagnostic challenge. 

Julie Croley (MS4) at the podium discussing a case report on cutis marmorata telangiectasia congenita. 

Katherine Tinkey (MS4, left) and Julie Croley (MS4, right) presenting their poster titled “Evaluation of inpatient dermatologic consultations: A 3-year retrospective review at a Texas tertiary care center.”

Dung Mac (MS4) presenting his poster titled “The diagnosis of Alport syndrome from a punch biopsy of the skin.”

Congratulations to Dr. Cris Berlingeri!

Dr. Cris Berlingeri has been accepted as a new member of UTMB's Academy of Master Teachers. She has excelled in medical student and dermatology resident education, especially in the area of dermatopathology teaching and teaching dermatology residents how to teach medical students. She joins the UTMB Department of Dermatology's other Academy of Master Teachers faculty, Dr. Brent Kelly.

Walk to Cure Psoriasis a Success

The UTMB DIG recently participated in the National Psoriasis Foundation's "Walk to Cure Psoriasis" on October 10, 2015. We raised $125.00 as the UTMB DIG team. There was over 230 participants this year and a total of $21,531 was raised to support research and education about psoriasis. Thank you for your donations and support! 

2015 Welch Conference on Chemical Research

The Welch Foundation will be hosting its 2015 Conference on Chemical Research in Houston on Oct 26-27. The conference is titled “Next Generation Medicine”, and includes an all-star cast of speakers presenting their latest discoveries in biomedical science. Topics will cover genome sequencing, mapping the brain, new signaling pathways, molecular pathogenesis of common diseases, and modern approaches to drug therapy.  This highly informative event is open to all and there is no registration fee.  See below for the registration link:

http://www.welch1.org/chemical-conference/registration-form