What did you do during the COVID-19 epidemic, Mom?
From the Editor
Dr. Schwarzenberger is the former physician editor of DermWorld.
By Kathryn Schwarzenberger, MD, September 1, 2020
When our children and grandchildren ask us this question, some of us will have interesting stories to tell. For the most part, dermatologists would not be expected to be on the front lines fighting a viral pandemic. However, some of our colleagues rolled up their sleeves, dug out their stethoscopes, and returned to the wards providing medical care to patients suffering from this plague. Others joined the fight by helping in other innovative ways, including creating safer ways to conduct testing and harnessing our knowledge of ultraviolet radiation to allow us to reuse our precious personal protective equipment. The Dermatology COVID-19 Registry, which we introduced to you in an earlier edition, has grown and continues to help us learn more about the cutaneous manifestations of this unique infection. We share their stories with you in this month’s edition of Derm World, and I’m sure you will enjoy reading them. It might actually make you yearn to be an intern again.
The financial impact of COVID-19 on our patients and the economy make one of our features this month potentially very relevant. Assistant Managing Editor Allison Evans speaks with some of our colleagues, as well as other experts in the field, about the concept of universal health care. What could it look like for us as health care providers and, perhaps more importantly, how might it impact our patients? I was in Vermont when then Gov. Peter Shumlin tried to legislate the nation’s first single-payer health system. Even with my liberal-leaning interest in health care policy, I was unable to see how this particular proposal could be actualized, as it seemed that implementing this on a state-by-state basis was uniquely challenging. His efforts, as well as similar efforts in other states, ultimately failed. However, I am confident that the discussion will continue in the future, and the thoughts explored in this article are likely to remain very relevant.
This month, we wrap up our series of articles on physician entrepreneurship. While you took away an amazing amount of knowledge from your medical training, the skills needed to succeed as a business entrepreneur were not likely to be among them. In the past decade, I have watched my husband grow from being an academic physician to one successfully running his own medical device company. It’s a very different “ball game” than medicine, and I now understand why some physician inventors, even those with great ideas, may not succeed. The business world does not think like we do in medicine. But some of us will succeed, and we explore some of the specifics you may want to consider if you want to be one of these success stories.
In case any of you noticed that I referenced Derm World instead of DW, I commend your powers of observation! After years of hearing all of you, and, frankly, even all of us calling the magazine “Derm World,” we have officially changed the look and logo of our beloved publication to Derm World! Go back to the cover and take a good look at the cool graphics, featuring our new Academy logo and our organization’s very own typeface. I hope you like it as much as I do. I would like to offer a well-deserved shout-out to the team members who made this, and all our issues, look so fabulous: Creative Manager Nicole Torling and Senior Graphic Designer Theresa Oloier. With cooperation from the rest of the publication team, they made a great magazine look even better! (OK, I admit I am a little biased, but doesn’t it look good?!)
