Community
From the Editor
Dr. Schwarzenberger is the former physician editor of DermWorld.
By Kathryn Schwarzenberger, MD, FAAD, August 1, 2021
So easy to take for granted, until it is gone. I think if we learned nothing else from the pandemic, we learned how valuable our communities are, and how much we miss the many things they provide when we no longer are able to engage with others in our circles. The social isolation needed to help get this virus under control, separated us from our colleagues, friends and family, and the toll this has taken on individuals and society has been high. As we start to come out of our virtual bunkers, it has been interesting seeing the varied approaches to reentry that are being taken. Some have quickly and gleefully shed their masks and are fully back to the world, while others remain cautiously cloaked. Who could have anticipated that feeling of vulnerability would come from doing things we never before gave a second thought? Having dinner with friends? Scary? For some of us, at least at first. But regardless of the speed with which we move, we will reenter. This month marks a big moment of reentry for our organization, as we finally get to meet again in person. We move forward…
Living in Portland, Oregon is never dull (as anyone who has watched the iconic series “Portlandia” knows) and, yes, we do have our eccentricities here. I recall walking to work one morning and passing a woman wearing a lifejacket and carrying a paddle on her commute to work; her conveyance was the kayak she used to cross the river. Alternative thinking is mainstream for many in Portland, so perhaps it should not be surprising that many of our patients seek medical care through alternative pathways. Licensed naturopaths (NDs) in Oregon, as in a growing number of other states, have an expansive scope of practice and can diagnose and treat any condition that an allopathic physician can. NDs can perform minor surgery, deliver babies, and prescribe the same medications I can prescribe. Without debating whether this is a good thing, it helped me realize that the medicine that I practice does not provide everything that some of my patients may need. Several of our colleagues have moved into the realm of integrative dermatology and share their stories with us in our feature article this month. I encourage you to read it with an open mind, because if I have learned anything over my many years of practice, it is that there is still so much more to be learned.
Fortunately, one thing we do know about is psoriasis. Our feature article on psoriasis this month discussed exciting new advances in the treatment of this classic disorder. And our final feature offers strategies for keeping up with all these exciting advances; the rapidity with which our medical knowledge base is growing makes it difficult to stay on top. We have some ideas, and some of them won’t even require that you remove the plastic cover from your old journals!
The weather has been on many of our minds this summer. My amazing neighborhood community recently came together to cut down a tree that threatened to fall on our street. Three chainsaws and several hours later, the tree was no longer standing, and neither were we. It was 115 degrees at the time. In Portland, Oregon. Climate change is real. I offer a shout out to the AAD’s Expert Resource Group (ERG) on Climate Change and Environmental Issues. They are doing some amazing work, both on the educational and advocacy fronts, and I encourage you to join them, even just to listen.
Hope to see you in Tampa!
