Monthly Archives: June 2014

ODEAR: Most-Favored Specialties

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Hi, Dr. Elpern, I am contacting you in hopes that you may be able to assist me in attaining my goal of gaining acceptance to a Dermatology residency, and also to see if you had any advice on how to shine during my dermatology rotations, or any contacts at my away school who may assist me in research opportunities such as case reports/letters. I receive emails like this with regularity.  In the 1960s when I was in medical school, dermatologists were at, or near, the bottom of the physician feeding chain.  Internists, with their haughty demeanor, were the self-proclaimed real brains of medicine and lorded it over most other practitioners.  Radiologists … Continue reading →

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Brooding Over the Changes to Come in Dermatology

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Keywords:  Adrienne Rich, dermatology, ICD-10, solo practice, death, middle age, Maya, provision of medical care, Obamacare, doctor patient relationship Adrienne Cecile Rich (May 16, 1929 – March 27, 2012), an American poet, essayist and feminist, was one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the 20th century. She was put on the map by her early poems written while she was an undergraduate at Radcliffe College. In 1951, her last year at college, Rich’s first collection of poetry, “A Change of World,” was selected by W. H. Auden for the Yale Series of Younger Poets Award. He went on to write the introduction to … Continue reading →

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Stations of the Heart: Book Review

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“Stations of the Heart: Parting with a son” by Robert Lischer is a moving and important book by the father of a 33 yo man with metastatic melanoma.  It chronicles the last three months of Adam Lischer’s life.  The book describes the medical, spiritual and philosophical aspects of Adam’s death.  It’s a valuable resource.  I have typed out a few pages of quotations which may interest you.. There are many medical details that a dermatologist would like to know, but they are less important than the view from the family’s standpoint. See Book Review: Stations of the Heart. Quotations from Stations of the Heart.

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Kentucky Fried Marla

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It seems like I’m not the only one who isn’t going to take her keratosis pilaris, aka ‘chicken skin,’ diagnosis lying down. A light bulb went off when I saw this home-made video of a young woman and KP sufferer, who went to a hot climate for a brief vacation and her KP miraculously disappeared, just like mine did when I went to Los Angeles last summer. I think there’s something to this sun/heat thing. Something more than meets the eye. It meets the skin too.  I believe the strength and heat of the sun is penetrating the skin, opening up the pores and (to my mind), actually melting that … Continue reading →

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Waiting for Toctino

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itch scratch ache burn crack bleed toss turn wounds deep swollen red open cuts skin dead rash gash tender sore anguish pain scabs tore throb hurt sting weep ooze pus drain seep agony injury soak smear distress disease blisters tears dig rub gnaw claw rough dry scaly raw

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