When she was approached about AAD/A 003, Dr. Guttman-Yassky says she thought she was simply supporting the idea that a conversation take place among AAD members. “I did not expect my name to be listed as a co-author and as I understood, this [was intended] to create a discussion to bring antisemitism into the mix and to make DEI more inclusive to also include antisemitism,” she told Allure. The dermatology chair points to the diversity in her department’s faculty, residency program, and patient population, along with its community outreach and research aimed at serving a diverse population. For example, says Dr. Guttman-Yassky, “Mount Sinai has the largest clinical trials underway for keloids and for scarring alopecia, something that affects disproportionately, particularly, women of color.”
While the framework of DEI has become a political lightning rod in recent years, in the context of dermatology, diversity and inclusion have practical applications that can benefit the people sitting on exam tables in awkward paper gowns. “The AAD diversity initiatives which were started in 1994 have contributed to a flourishing of ideas and efforts to make the way we teach dermatology more expansive,” says Kavita Mariwalla, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and member of the AAD’s Diversity Committee. She points to both the uptick in initiatives to include photographs on how common skin diseases present in skin of color, as well as — on the aesthetic side of dermatology — an increase in teaching injection techniques in a global way, rather than relying on facial structures based on Western facial archetypes.
“As a South Asian woman, I am not considered underrepresented in the field of medicine even though I am a minority in the United States,” says Dr. Mariwalla. “DEI may mean I personally get less opportunity to serve on AAD committees — because I am not from an underrepresented group and I practice in New York and not an underrepresented area — but if it’s better for our specialty, I am okay with that. Varied voices and perspectives generate better ideas for clinical trials, deeper understanding of skin diseases, and evolving ideas about aesthetics. The goal of DEI is to not need DEI, but we are not at that point.”
Victoria Barbosa, MD, a board-certified dermatologist, associate professor of dermatology at the University of Chicago, and president-elect of the Skin of Color Society, shared similar sentiments in an email to Allure. “Diversity and inclusion in our specialty foster diagnostic and therapeutic advances, build community trust, improve cultural competence, result in better patient outcomes, and ultimately move us toward health equity for all patients,” says Dr. Barbosa. “This is borne out by the scientific literature and the vast collective clinical experience of our members.”