Last year, the College of Medicine created a Department of Dermatology. I’m happy to report that we’ve hired a new chair for the department – Dr. Ashley Wysong. In turn, Dr. Wysong has already successfully recruited three faculty who will join the department over the course of the summer.
This means that UNMC/Nebraska Medicine will soon be providing dermatologic care for the state of Nebraska and the region. This is a long overdue advance for UNMC/Nebraska Medicine and fills a major void for our medical center. Without a dermatology department, there has been a huge gap in the education of our medical students and residents.
In addition, as a large center for organ transplantation and with the recent opening of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center, Nebraska Medicine has an extensive need for experienced dermatologists. Transplant and cancer patients often take immunosuppressive drugs, which put them at a much higher risk for multiple dermatologic problems. It’s estimated that transplant patients have a 100-fold increased risk for skin cancer over the general public, and they require much more extensive follow-up care.
We are thrilled to have Dr. Wysong leading the department. She comes to us from my medical school alma mater, the University of Southern California, where she has been the director of the Mohs surgery program. But, she has Midwest roots, growing up in Nevada, Mo.
She brings tremendous energy and vision to the position. She will be here part-time starting May 1 and full-time July 1. Dr. Wysong brings a unique skillset to UNMC/Nebraska Medicine. She is a fellowship-trained Mohs surgeon and procedural dermatologist. Her clinical areas of expertise are skin cancer, reconstructive surgery, and high-risk transplant dermatology.
As noted above she has already recruited three dermatologists to join her this summer, all of whom have medical school connections to Omaha. Drs. Megan Arthur and Adam Sutton are recent UNMC graduates and Dr. Ryan Trowbridge graduated from Creighton University.
Dr. Arthur is finishing residency training at Oregon Health Sciences University and in addition to practicing general dermatology will be co-leading an interdisciplinary dermatology/rheumatology clinic. Dr. Sutton (USC dermatology residency and Scripps Mohs fellowship) will direct the Mohs program. Dr. Trowbridge, who is completing his dermatology residency at Harvard, will lead the inpatient dermatology consult service effort at Nebraska Medicine, as well as providing outpatient general dermatology evaluations.
They hope to begin seeing dermatology patients in late summer/early fall. The general dermatology clinic will be located in the Lauritzen Outpatient Center, and specialty clinics will likely be created in the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and Village Pointe campus. Dermatology will have a strong presence in treating hospital inpatients at Nebraska Medicine through a consultative dermatology inpatient service.
The plan is for Dr. Wysong to recruit a minimum of eight dermatologists over the next five years. The need for more dermatologists is significant in Nebraska. Our state has one of the lowest ratios of dermatologists in the country with only one dermatologist for every 52,000 people. The ratio recommended by the American Professors of Dermatology is one dermatologist for every 20,000 to 30,000 people.
The shortage of dermatologists is especially acute in rural Nebraska, where farm workers have increased exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun and are twice as likely to contract melanoma because of their use of pesticides. To meet this need, Dr. Wysong plans to start a tele-dermatology program in which patients from around the state will be able to connect with our dermatologists without having to come to Omaha.
Another key goal for Dr. Wysong will be to establish teaching programs for UNMC students, as well as a dermatology residency program and post-residency fellowship program. She hopes to get this accomplished within five years.
On a different topic, commencement ceremonies will take place for the College of Medicine on Saturday, May 5. This will no doubt be a thrilling day for our graduates, but it also promises to be especially memorable for Dr. Jeff Hill, who has served as associate dean for admissions and student affairs for nearly 30 years. This will be Dr. Hill’s final commencement, as he is retiring on June 30. This year’s graduating medical students acknowledged Dr. Hill at Match Day, and I would like to pass along my own personal congratulations and thanks to Jeff on a job well done.
Finally, I want to recognize the Department of Genetics, Cell Biology and Anatomy for winning the University-wide Departmental Teaching Award. This is a highly competitive award that could go to any department in the entire university system. Remarkably, GCBA is the only department that has the honor of receiving this university-wide award twice since the award’s inception.
GCBA plays a critical role in the education of our medical students, as well as those in other health science disciplines. The department not only excels in research but also is at the forefront of our educational mission. Kudos to Dr. Vimla Band for her outstanding leadership as department chair and to all the faculty and staff who earned this outstanding recognition.