raising funds to preserve dermatologic history
The building that houses the largest and most important collection of dermatology moulages has a leaky roof, and the collection of these precious artifacts is in danger of being lost forever due to water damage. All ‘modern dermatologists’ can trace their lineage and training to its roots at the Hôpital Saint Louis in Paris. The trinity of the birth of […]
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In addition to coining the word “keratinocyte”, Walter B. Shelley was also a feminist. Back in the 1970’s he was concerned with the lack of women’s representation at the AAD (still a problem at the leadership level). So, he chatted with Miriam Reed and Wilma Bergfeld about creating a society that would correct this disparity […]
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What does arsenic have to do with dermatology? Quite a bit, actually. As it turns out, arsenic was virtually everywhere in Europe during the 1800’s when dermatology was developing as a specialty. I always wondered why we spent so much time in residency studying arsenical keratoses, and had always just associated it with drinking contaminated well-water, because over 100 million […]
Read MoreVeering off the usual historical vignette this month, I decided to write instead about something that’s a hot topic this time of year: the residency application personal statement. I do this partly for my own sake; I read at least 200 every year. Foremost, this should be what it states: personal (but not too personal). […]
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Steve Feldman is a question generating machine and maker of magic with tongue depressors. It takes an unusual mind to find links between medical research, mathematical models and world peace, but somehow Dr. Feldman manages to do exactly that. Why dermatology? I went into dermatology because I had a really bad case of poison ivy. At the end of the […]
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Around the time of the International Congress in 1889, the first Japanese dermatologist came to Europe to study dermatology. His name was Kentaro Murata, and he taught the inaugural dermatology course at the Imperial University (University of Tokyo) in 1890. Shortly thereafter, Murata died in 1892– leaving Japan without a professor of dermatology. This coincided with young physician Keizo […]
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Next time you have jet lag and need some melatonin, thank Aaron Lerner. Who knew a dermatologist discovered and coined the term “melatonin” in his quest to understand skin pigmentation? Reading about Dr. Lerner makes me feel like I’m not doing enough with my life. He was invited by Paul Beeson (who has been […]
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“Attitude is everything” is Dr. Tim Berger’s motto—obviously, words he has lived by. Despite an unplanned path, his extraordinary curiosity about whatever he encounters has molded him into a leader in dermatology education. He is also an expert on itch and HIV dermatoses, and is a co-author of Andrews’ Diseases of the Skin with Dr. William […]
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Dr. James Clarke White was a man of firsts: first independent chair of dermatology, first full-professor of dermatology, the first President of the American Dermatological Association, and the first to describe keratosis follicularis, also known as “Darier-White Disease”. Dr. White wouldn’t really ever back down from something about which he had strong convictions. It’s hard […]
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Bill James is not one to toot his own horn, so we will do so here. Dr. James shares some qualities with Louis A. Duhring: both are scholars, quietly studious, and interested in passing on dermatologic knowledge. Dr. James is one of those benevolent people who will go out of his way to say a kind word of inspiration […]
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For the inaugural post of save the moulages, we are highlighting a founding-father of dermatology in the United States, Louis A. Duhring. He was a proponent of moulage to teach dermatology and was the first physician to describe and recognize the unique set of cutaneous disease associated with gluten allergy. Duhring created a unifying […]
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