Trading Tips

Dermatology must be understood at many levels, from the biochemical, through the histopathologic, to the clinical (and perhaps on to the epidemiologic from there). Our growing knowledge base is disseminated in many forms and venues: textbooks, journal articles, e-mail discussions and lectures, to name a few. Within this smorgasbord of information sources, Skin & Aging attempts to provide a source for practical information in an easily digestible format. The practice of dermatology is extraordinarily diverse. We care for patients of all sizes, flavors and tastes. The skin is affected by all sorts of genetic, developmental, pharmacologic, inflammatory, neoplastic, infectious, traumatic and psychiatric processes. For nearly every condition, a range of therapeutic options may be appropriate. The utter complexity would be impossible to manage without recognition of common patterns and approaches to deal with them. Share Your Stories The art of dermatologic practice is guided by themes, principles and aphorisms. These include quick tips on how to do a procedure a smarter way, a phrase or story you use to better communicate with patients, or a better way to perform some type of office function. Sometimes the most valuable of these are extremely pithy: the “ugly duckling sign” needs little added explanation. Skin & Aging is beginning a new monthly section to capture and feature these tips. Please submit those you find most useful and most enlightening. Just a few sentences may be all that’s needed. For those you learned from another dermatologist, please take the opportunity to acknowledge that practitioner and honor the teacher for the contribution he or she made to your skill. E-mail your submissions to me at sfeldman@wfubmc.edu. I look forward to hearing from you and to sharing your tips with our readers. Steven R. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D. Chief Medical Editor

Dermatology must be understood at many levels, from the biochemical, through the histopathologic, to the clinical (and perhaps on to the epidemiologic from there). Our growing knowledge base is disseminated in many forms and venues: textbooks, journal articles, e-mail discussions and lectures, to name a few. Within this smorgasbord of information sources, Skin & Aging attempts to provide a source for practical information in an easily digestible format. The practice of dermatology is extraordinarily diverse. We care for patients of all sizes, flavors and tastes. The skin is affected by all sorts of genetic, developmental, pharmacologic, inflammatory, neoplastic, infectious, traumatic and psychiatric processes. For nearly every condition, a range of therapeutic options may be appropriate. The utter complexity would be impossible to manage without recognition of common patterns and approaches to deal with them. Share Your Stories The art of dermatologic practice is guided by themes, principles and aphorisms. These include quick tips on how to do a procedure a smarter way, a phrase or story you use to better communicate with patients, or a better way to perform some type of office function. Sometimes the most valuable of these are extremely pithy: the “ugly duckling sign” needs little added explanation. Skin & Aging is beginning a new monthly section to capture and feature these tips. Please submit those you find most useful and most enlightening. Just a few sentences may be all that’s needed. For those you learned from another dermatologist, please take the opportunity to acknowledge that practitioner and honor the teacher for the contribution he or she made to your skill. E-mail your submissions to me at sfeldman@wfubmc.edu. I look forward to hearing from you and to sharing your tips with our readers. Steven R. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D. Chief Medical Editor