Daphne Chan, a dermatology researcher, says it’s important to establish a “human to human connection” with patients seeking skin care, especially for people of color.
And “having that additional barrier of not finding a care provider who looks like them and who can feel like who they are as people remains to be the biggest challenge,” Ms. Chan, head of dermatology medical affairs at Johnson & Johnson, said of the need for more minorities to enter her field.
Ms. Chan participated Thursday in a program administered by the American Academy of Dermatology, in collaboration with Johnson & Johnson, aimed at increasing the number of Black, Latino and Indigenous skin specialists by more than 50% by 2027.
The program, called Pathways: Inclusivity in Dermatology, was held at George Washington University, where a diverse group of pre-med students were trained in a variety of skills, from how to perform certain procedures to clinical photography during the “Dermatology Career Prep” event.
“We are ensuring that the pipeline of future dermatologists is just as diverse as our U.S. population,” said Dr. Adam Friedman, chair of dermatology at George Washington.
The Career Prep event also aimed to unpack some of the sensitive conversations around skin color, by teaching students how to objectively assess skin tone and how skin diseases can be presented differently across skin tones, Ms. Chan said.
In 2020, just 65 of the 796 applicants for dermatology residencies were Black or African American, and only 39 were Hispanic, Latino, or of Spanish origin, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges.
Pathways reaches out to students as early as high school and offers them a “comprehensive package” with skills training, leadership training, mentoring opportunities, and guidance on applying to programs- all to improve their success rate.
Nia White, a student at Norfolk State University in Virginia, had been in the program for four days but had already developed her personal statement, advanced her network and has toured medical schools like Howard where she wishes to attend.
Dr. Friedman says Pathways’ students like Ms. White “are so far ahead of where I was at their age,” which “inspires me in my own job and roles here at GW to really put [a lot] into everything I do, because it’s for them, because they’re gonna be the future of what I’m doing now.”
Ms. Chan encouraged more people to commit to fostering diversity and inclusion in the practice of medicine by engaging in programs like Pathways that help out the next generation.
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