Upcoming DIG Meeting on April 4th

Join the Dermatology Interest Group (DIG) for our next meeting on April 4th. Important topics for this meeting include community volunteering, melanoma walk, and words of wisdom from our senior medical student members. MSIVs, please try to attend this meeting, as we would like to hear from you and bid our farewells.

Date & time:  April 4th (Monday) at 5:15-6:15 pm
Location: Dermatology Conference Room 4.112 McCullough Building

We will also be passing out Certificates of Appreciation for our current officers and there will be New Officers Election. For a list of officer positions visit http://digutmb.blogspot.com/2009/04/officers.html

2016 NRMP UTMB Dermatology Residency Results

Congratulations to our 4 newest dermatology residents, who will begin dermatology training at UTMB on July 1, 2017 following completion of their required PGY1 year:

Julie Amthor Croley (UTMB MS4)

Adam Nguyen (UT Houston MS4)

Arathi Ramamurthi (Texas A&M MS4)

Skyler White (UTMB MS4)

Congratulations to UTMB Class of 2016 MS4s on Their Dermatology Matches!

Julie Amthor Croley (UTMB)



Skyler White (UTMB)

Photo legend: UTMB senior medical students Skyler White (left) and Julie Croley (right) after matching into the UTMB dermatology residency program on Match Day in Levin Hall

Attention UTMB MS3s—C Form Needed to Register for Dermatology Acting Internship (AI)

UTMB MS3s register online for their MS4 next week (Tuesday, March 22). Those planning to take the dermatology AI need to electronically submit their C Form to Ms. Keeswood (makeeswo@utmb.edu) for faculty signature.  She will return them to you electronically. There are only two dermatology AI positions offered during the Periods it is offered at UTMB, and they will fill in the order they are electronically received by Ms. Keeswood. Good luck getting the dermatology AI you want!

UTMB MS3 Wins Prestigious 2016 UTMB Psychiatry Award

Congratulations to UTMB MS3 Matthew L. Edwards, for receiving the 2016 Ivan Bruce Memorial Award from the UTMB Department of Psychiatry. Mr. Edwards wrote the winning essay about Morgellons Disease, a psychocutaneous disorder, during Period 13 of the current academic year when he was taking Dr. Richard Wagner’s History of Dermatology elective (DERU-4008). DERU-4008 requires that elective students write an original essay about the history of dermatology as it applies to an area of medicine that the student has interest. The Ivan Bruce Memorial Award, established in 1990, is given annually for the best manuscript about the history of psychiatry.

Up to 29% of Residents Depressed?

According to Mary Ann Moon, as reported in the March 2016 issue of Dermatology News ("Analysis finds 29% prevalence of depression in residents," Page 62), depression or depressive symptoms were present in 20.9 to 43.2 percent of residents in a meta-analysis of 54 worldwide studies. Depressed residents at UTMB should contact their program director or the institutional DIO if they are feeling depressed and want help.

Yes, Galveston is Charging for Strand Parking Again!

Readers may be aware that the City of Galveston temporarily stopped charging for parking on the Strand. However, free parking will mostly disappear again on April 4, 2016. According to a recent City of Galveston post (http://www.cityofgalveston.org/557/Downtown-Parking ):

•Parking Downtown will be enforced daily between 9 AM and 6 PM, Monday through Saturday
•Parking within Downtown is $1.50/hour with a minimum of 1 hour
•Pay by Phone transactions incur a 25 cent fee per transaction
•Improperly parked vehicles are subject to a $30 citation
•15 minute grace periods will be given

Nominations for UTMB 2016 Dermatology Faculty and Resident Awards

UTMB Dermatology Interest Group is now accepting nominations from all the MS4 members to select one of the PGY4 UTMB dermatology residents for the medical student teaching award and one dermatology faculty for the medical student teaching award. Have you had an awesome experience with a faculty or resident? Have they impacted your education and you would like to express your gratitude? Well now you can by nominating them for these teaching awards! 

Please vote on the survey link below by Wed 4/01/16 @ 10PM: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7D7SNPN 

These awards will be made by a DIG officer at an upcoming Friday dermatology journal club when the awardees are present and before the 2016 SOM graduation. 

Thanks, 
UTMB DIG Officers

Man O'Wars Appear on Galveston Beaches

Thousands of Man O'Wars ("bluebottles") have washed up on Galveston beaches over the past few days. Dermatologists are familiar with the skin injury they cause. KHOU recently reported on their current influx during the spring break period: http://www.khou.com/story/news/local/2016/03/09/man-owars-washing-up-galveston-beaches/81550568/

UTMB Filled All Dermatology Match Positions

Congratulations to the UTMB Department of Dermatology for matching all 4 of the PGY2 positions it offered this year in the NRMP match. Applicants are officially notified on match day, March 18th . Good luck to all of our UTMB dermatology applicants this year! DIG members are welcome at our annual match day ceremony that starts at 11 am in Levin Hall.

Big Change Announced for the 2016 American Board of Dermatology Certification Examination!

Current PGY4 dermatology residents planning to take the American Board of Dermatology (ABD) Certification Examination (“The Boards”) this July encountered added uncertainty about exam preparation when the ABD recently announced that they were changing the content of the examination with about 4 months to go before testing. Forty new questions (“applied knowledge”) out of 285 total questions (14%) will be used to test dermatology knowledge. Fortunately for many of these test takers, they were previously exposed to this new question type during the 2015 and 2016 In-Training Examinations (ITE) given annually by the ABD.

Vote for upcoming DIG meeting date in April

DIG will be holding it's next meeting in April (date to be announced). Important topics for this meeting includes community volunteering, melanoma walk, and words of wisdom from our senior medical student members. 

Please vote below for your preferred meeting date(s):
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/GJJTNTC

UTMB Releases Online Campus Carry Information

For further information, please see http://www.utmb.edu/campus-carry/

Rip Currents More Dangerous than Sharks in Galveston

Yes, the danger of drowning in Galveston due to our local rip currents is much more dangerous than a shark attack, according to researchers at Texas A&M University in Galveston (TAMUG). Galveston Daily News reporter John Wayne Ferguson’s article was front page news in the Galveston Daily News (Texas A&M study: Rip currents are more dangerous than sharks, Thursday, March 10, 2016, pages A1, A4 ).
Rip tides are often encountered when near Galveston’s jetties, so please be careful when enjoying the Gulf!

Alex Holliday, MD Publishes in New England Journal of Medicine

Congratulations to Dr. Alex Holliday, a UTMB SOM graduate and recent UTMB internal medicine house staff. Dr. Holliday's electronic publication, "Tinea Versicolor" that was published in the journal's March 10, 2016 issue in the "Images in Clinical Medicine" section, and is available at http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMicm1501201
Dr. Holliday is currently a PGY2 dermatology resident at the Carilion Clinic in Roanoke, Virginia.

UTMB Presents 5 Posters, 2 Gross and Microscopic Symposium presentations, and a presentation in the Dermatology Teachers Exchange at the 2016 Annual American Academy of Dermatology Conference.

UTMB was once again well-represented by its medical students, residents and faculty at the 2016 annual American Academy of Dermatology Conference in Washington D.C. this past weekend. Authors of the UTMB presentations were:

Posters: 
- Can Valproic Acid Cause Dress? (Kristyna Gleghorn, Chinelo Ikpeama, Elizabeth Schepp, Brent Kelly)
- A Case of Pediatric Keratosis Lichenoides Chrnica (Adrian Subrt, Rebecca Philips, Megan Neill, Brent Kelly, Sharon Raimer)
- Cutaneous Squamous Cell Carcinoma with Invasion Through Ear Cartilage. (Julie Boisen, Brent Kelly, C. Helen Malone, Richard Wagner)
- Nodular Fasciitis Complicating A Staged Surgical Excision of Dermatfibrosarcoma Protuberans. (C. Helen Malone, Brandon Goodwin, Brent Kelly, Vincente Resto, Richard F Wagner)
- Sclerodermoid Changes and Dystrophic Calcification: A Unique Presentation of Porphyria Cutanea Tarda. (Erica Grilletta, Conner Chad, Lindsey Hunter-Ellul, Alison Lowe)

Gross and Microscopic Symposium
- A Case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy (Kristyna Gleghorn, Janice Wilson, Young McMahan, Sharon Raimer)
- Necrolytic Acral Erythema: A Case Report of Extensive Disease and Rapid Improvement with Elemental Zinc Supplementation. (Julie Amthor Croley, Amber Gill, Samantha Robare-Stout, Brent Kelly)

Dermatology Teachers Exchange
- Mohs Reconstruction Surgical Educational Activity. (Julie Amthor Croley, Helen Malone, Brandon Goodwin, Eric Cole, Linda Phillips, Richard Wagner)

UTMB MS3, Kristyna Gleghorn, and MS4, Julie Croley, return from the Annual AAD Conference

The Annual American Academy of Dermatology Conference was held in Washington D.C. this past weekend (March 4-8).  UTMB MS3 Kristyna Gleghorn and MS4 Julie Croley received funding from the UTMB Student Government Association to attend. Both Julie and Kristyna were selected by a competitive process to present their research at the Gross and Microscopic Symposium. Kristyna presented a case of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy at the Gross and Microscopic Symposium and a poster entitled "Can Valproic Acid Cause DRESS?". Julie Croley presented "Necrolytic Acral Erythema: A Case Report of Extensive Disease and Rapid Improvement with Elemental Zinc Supplementation" at the Gross and Microscopic Symposium and also participated in Dermatology Teachers Exchange where she presented her research on Mohs Surgical Reconstruction Education. Kristyna and Julie will present what they learned at the conference during the next UTMB DIG meeting (date TBD). 

Thank you to the UTMB Student Government Association for funding this wonderful learning experience for Kristyna, Julie, and the UTMB DIG!

Please email Kristyna Gleghorn (klglegho@utmb.edu) or Julie Croley (jaamthor@utmb.edu) with any inquiries on the topic or conference.

Kristyna Gleghorn (UTMB MSIII) and Julie Croley (UTMB MSIV) at the AAD podium after their Gross & Microscopic presentations. 

Kristyna Gleghorn (MSIII) at the podium discussing a case report of Munchausen Syndrome by Proxy. 

Julie Croley (MS4) at the podium discussing her reserach on Mohs Surgical Reconstruction Education. 

Stay Shady Volunteering

DIG will be hosting Stay Shady, an educational program which consists of giving a short presentation about Sun safety at local elementary and middle schools followed by making UV bracelets with the kids! Please help out and sign up for this fun activity!

Upcoming Presentations:
Tuesday, 3/8 at 2:30pm at Satori Elementary School
Friday, 3/11 at 8:30am and 10:45am at Crenshaw elementary

Sign up via
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a9zNP60xQA4VN6qqItv0Jme7LOddstNeXoYHqnmzPIU/edit?usp=sharing

Dr. Brandon Goodwin Joins UTMB Dermatology Faculty

Congratulations to Dr. Brandon Goodwin for his decision to join the UTMB dermatology faculty upon completion of his dermatopathology fellowship at UTMB in June 2016. Dr. Goodwin graduated from South Alabama School of Medicine (Mobile) and completed his PGY1 internal medicine year at Tulane (New Orleans) before coming to UTMB for dermatology residency. His innovative dermatology resident scholarly project explored the best way to teach dermatology residents about skin grafts and skin flaps, and his work was presented at the Dermatology Teachers Exchange Group and later published in a peer-reviewed journal. The UTMB DIG welcomes the newest UTMB dermatology faculty member. His addition to our faculty will bring the faculty total up to 9 dermatologists, in addition to UTMB’s 12 dermatology residents, 2 dermatopathology fellows, and 1 Micrographic Surgery and Dermatologic Oncology Fellow in July 2016.

St. Vincent’s Student Clinic Annual Benefit Concert 2016

St. Vincent’s student-run free clinic will be hosting their annual benefit concert this Thursday, Mar 3^rd at the 1894 Grand Opera House (2020 Postoffice St, Galveston, TX). Shows open at 7pm.

Tickets for purchase starts at $10 per person. See link below for more info:

http://www.stvsc.org/index.php/concert/

Good luck in the NRMP Dermatology Match!

Last week dermatology residency programs and applicants submitted their confidential final rank order lists to the NRMP. Now all wait for match day on Friday, March 18, 2016.  Six UTMB MS4s are hoping to match into dermatology residency positions next month. Our UTMB dermatology residency program hopes to fill all 4 available positions offered through the match. Good luck everyone from the UTMB DIG!

Dr. Vail C. Reese Headlines April Spring 2016 Texas Dermatological Society Meeting in Houston

UTMB medical students are encouraged to attend the annual spring Texas Dermatological Society Meeting in Houston at the Omni Hotel. Registration for medical students is free!  Excellent resident and faculty speakers on multiple interesting dermatology topics are scheduled to lecture starting on Friday afternoon, April 15^th at 1 pm. Educational activities continue the next day at 8 am. On Saturday afternoon, April 16, 2016 at 1 pm Dr. Reese will lecture on “Dermatology in the Cinema.” Dr. Wagner’s dermatology film class students are very familiar with Dr. Reese’s vast academic contributions to dermatology film study through is famous website, skinema.com (a great resource for medical students who want to learn more about skin diseases depicted in movies). Please welcome Dr. Reese to Houston and let him know what you have learned from his website! To register for this meeting, please contact Ms. Sylvia Hall (Registration Coordinator for the Texas Dermatological Society),  sylvia.hall@texmed.org

Volunteer to Present Stay Shady at Crenshaw Elementary

DIG has two Stay Shady presentations scheduled for next week: The first is at Satori Elementary School K-2nd grade on Tuesday, March 8th at 2:30 pm. The second is at Crenshaw Elementary 3rd-5th grade on Friday, March 11th at 8:30 am and 10:45 am. 

Please sign up using the google doc below and let us know when you are available to help out! Just as a refresher, the Stay Shady program consists of giving a short presentation (about 10-15mins) about Sun safety followed by helping the kids make UV color changing bracelets with beads! Please sign up to help out with this fun activity!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1a9zNP60xQA4VN6qqItv0Jme7LOddstNeXoYHqnmzPIU/edit?usp=sharing

Thank you and feel free to contact us with any questions!

Tim Allen MSII tirallen2@utmb.edu
Tara Akunna MSII taakunna@utmb.edu

Gold Honor Humanism Society Residency Mentorship Meeting

Gold Honor Humanism Society (GHHS) is hosting a residency mentorship meeting on March 9th from 5-7 pm in Jamail. MSIIIs will have the opportunity to talk with current MSIVs matching into their specialty of choice for advice on away rotations, applications, and interviews. Current dermatology applicants will be attending this meeting to help future applicants. Please follow the link below to sign up:  

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LNlX_GWjdeKbWkOc7sOVtWVkFfsmfLyySYyw0_LAmo0/viewform?c=0&w=1

UTMB Dedicates New Hospital

Last week UTMB held a dedication ceremony for our newest hospital, Jennie Sealy Hospital (Ackerman T. New hospital capstone of Ike recovery: UTMB Galveston dedicates facility designed to withstand anything Gulf ‘can throw at it,’ Houston Chronicle, Saturday, February 27, 2016, pages B1, B3). It cost $438 million to build this 310 bed facility. The new hospital has 12 floors and is elevated 25 feet above sea level. Jennie Sealy Hospital will begin admitting patients in March 2016.

Where is the Galveston Trolley?

Pre-Ike island visitors and Galveston residents recall the Galveston trolley. There are plans to return it to Galveston, but the date remains indeterminate (Ferguson JW, Year after OK, Galveston’s trolley still year away, Volume 173, Number 321, Saturday February 27, 2016, pages A1, A4). We are hopeful that everything will be running by next summer.

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.