From the editor
From the Editor
Dr. Schwarzenberger is the former physician editor of DermWorld.
By Kathryn Schwarzenberger, MD, May 1, 2019
And to think I thought dermatology would be boring. I will be the first to admit that I was completely wrong. I never did a dermatology rotation as a medical student, and somehow got the impression that dermatology could be a boring specialty. Looking back, I suspect the joy of dermatology was a well-kept secret. After all, how could any specialty that sees so many diverse diseases, some of which may only come around once in a lifetime, be boring? Moreover, no two dermatology careers are alike, and there are many different paths through which we can pursue personal and professional interests.
While we may suffer from a lack of racial diversity in our field, our members have an amazing diversity of professional interests and skills. And with this, they have an incredible wealth of expertise. This really struck me as I read this month’s Dermatology World. We have colleagues such as Drs. Lindy Fox and Lauren Madigan, who have helped build the subspecialty of inpatient consultative dermatology from its infancy to its now valued maturity. Work such as this helps highlight the value of our specialty in the entire house of medicine. Dermatologists, such as Drs. Seth Matarasso, Suzanne Bruce, and Robert Anolik, share their expertise about therapeutic and cosmetic use of toxins, and Dr. Beth Santmyire-Rosenberger offers words of wisdom about the practical realities of expanding the cosmetic side of your practice. We have colleagues who are active in the political arena, fighting for any number of things legislative, including tanning regulation. Read Assistant Managing Editor Allison Evan’s enlightening article on the state of in-office compounding. Not only will you finally understand what the USP (United States Pharmacopoeia) is and does, but you will learn more about the AADA’s ongoing advocacy efforts to ensure that our patients continue to have access to safe, in-office preparations of medications we use every day, including buffered lidocaine and intralesional triamcinolone. We owe a debt to many of our colleagues such as Drs. Murad Alam, Larry Green, and Seemal R. Desai, as well as dedicated AADA staffers, who have spent countless hours fighting on our behalf. Their voices are being heard, but there is work yet to be done.
For many of us, the advent of electronic health records has changed the very way we practice medicine. While we could debate ad infinitum whether these changes are good or bad (or probably both), the reality is that they are here, and we will use them. I am grateful for the interest and efforts of our colleagues, including Dr. Erin Gardner, who chairs the AAD’s EHR Taskforce, for trying to make their use as efficient (and painless) as possible. We have all been well versed in using EHRs on the front end, but it is important to consider what will happen with these records when you leave a practice or retire. Or, what if you change EHR systems? How, and at what cost, will you access and maintain these archived records going forward? Make sure you prepare for this in your practices.
Dermatology is many things, but it should never be boring. Ask any of our colleagues in this month’s DW!
