Underrepresented Groups and Perceived Educational Barriers for Residency and Fellowship Success.

BACKGROUND: The study aimed to compare barriers perceived by medical students and resident physicians identifying as of underrepresented groups in medicine (UIM) and/or as sexual and gender minorities (SGM) to individuals not identifying with these groups, especially for trainees with an interest in dermatology. METHODS: Cross-sectional survey of medical students and resident physicians based in the United States from February 2021 to July 2021, with subgroup analysis of trainees with interest in dermatology. FINDINGS: Among trainees interested in dermatology, the most notable barriers for the UIM group were 1) lack of home program in specialty/fellowship of interest (4.71±1.73); 2) lack of connections/networking opportunities (4.14±1.29); 3) lack of opportunity to obtain AOA membership (4.00±1.96); 4) obtaining mentorship (4.00±1.47); and lack of diversity in specialty/fellowship of interest (3.93±1.14). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Increasing focused mentorship programs and fostering environments that embrace diversity are key to reducing perceived barriers for minority candidates. J Drugs Dermatol. 2023;22(12):1210-1215. doi:10.36849/JDD.7528R1.

Perceived Barriers to Career Advancement: Medical Students and Resident Physicians.

BACKGROUND: The path to becoming a physician is challenging, with various barriers influencing medical student and resident physician residency and fellowship training career decisions. Studies comparing perceived obstacles at disparate training levels are limited and given these obstacles are dynamic, studies are frequently needed to evaluate perceived barriers to pursuing residency specialty or fellowship of interest for physician trainees. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate and compare perceived barriers to obtaining residency specialty or fellowship of choice for medical students and resident physicians, respectively. METHODS: A Likert scale survey assessing perceived barriers was administered via the listservs of medical schools and organizations in 2021. Differences in the Likert scale score mean between medical students and resident physicians were measured with student t-tests (2-sided). RESULTS: A total of 404 medical trainees participated (301 medical students and 103 resident physicians). Medical students indicated lack of opportunity to obtain alpha omega alpha membership as the most crucial perceived barrier (mean Likert scale score ± standard deviation, 4.01±1.97), followed by USMLE Step 1 score (3.92±1.89) and lack of home program in specialty/fellowship of interest (3.62±1.85). Similarly, resident physicians implicated the lack of a home program in a specialty/fellowship of interest as the most prominent barrier (3.48±1.78), followed by lack of connections/networking (3.17±1.50) and probability of matching (3.14±1.44). CONCLUSIONS: The lack of a home program was an important barrier to pursuing a specialty or fellowship of choice for both medical students and resident physicians, respectively, and may have been heightened during the COVID-19 pandemic. J Drugs Dermatol. 2023;22(11):e17-e20    doi:10.36849/JDD.7005e.

The Risk of COVID-19 Infection in Individuals with Alopecia Areata.

Objective: We sought to determine the risk of contracting coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in individuals with alopecia areata (AA) compared to individuals without AA. Methods: We queried the Symphony Health-derived data from the COVID-19 Research Database, and individuals with a diagnosis of AA from 2019 to 2020 were included in the AA cohort. Subjects with no record of AA diagnosis from 2019 to 2020 were randomly placed in the control group in a 4:1 size ratio compared with the AA group. Laboratory-confirmed cases of COVID-19 between January 1, 2020, and September 1, 2021, were identified. Results: The AA and non-AA cohorts included 73,784 and 280,991 subjects, respectively. The COVID-19 incidence rate ratio (IRR) for adults with AA was 0.72 (95% CI 0.68, 0.76) compared with adults without AA (p<0.001). Within the AA cohort, moderate-severe AA showed a similar decreased risk in COVID-19 infection compared to mild AA. Limitations: This study is limited by its retrospective nature and the use of ICD-10 codes for the identification of individuals with AA and COVID-19, which may underestimate the true burden of disease. Conclusion: Individuals with AA have a slightly decreased risk of contracting COVID-19. Notably, it has been demonstrated that interferon-gamma (IFN- γ) leads to the downregulation of the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), the SARS-CoV receptor.1 Thus, it is possible that increased levels of IFN- γ seen in individuals with AA confer some protection against this viral infection.

Emerging Intralesional Treatments for Plantar Warts: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: Therapies for plantar warts remain subjective and unclear, which has led to continual pursuit of an optimal treatment. As a consequence, many intralesional therapies have emerged over the last decade. This warrants a systematic review from a clinical lens which provides updates on intralesional treatment options for plantar warts from the last decade. METHODS: A PubMed/MEDLINE literature search was performed, in accordance with PRISMA reporting guidelines for systematic reviews. Original peer-reviewed articles on safety/efficacy of intralesional plantar wart treatments, published from January 2012 to January 2021, were considered for inclusion. RESULTS: Twenty-6 studies were included and the following intralesional modalities were identified (median cure rates): vitamin D3 (80%), bleomycin (74%), 5-fluorouracil (59%), Candida antigen (66%), zinc sulfate (70%), and purified protein derivative (67%). CONCLUSION: Intralesional vitamin D3, in particular, demonstrated promising results as a potential second- or even first-line agent although not accessible in the United States. Candida antigen and bleomycin are less effective than intralesional vitamin D3, but given their greater accessibility and superiority to cryotherapy, should continue to be considered for treating recalcitrant plantar warts. Moreover, the quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, showing success in case reports, warrants further attention for both the treatment and prevention of plantar warts. J Drugs Dermatol. 2022;21(12):1322-1329. doi:10.36849/JDD.6735.

Total body skin exams: the role of gynecology and dermatology-a cross-sectional study.

The literature demonstrates practice gaps in performance of the genital skin examination. To further elucidate and understand these practice gaps, we surveyed dermatologist and obstetrician-gynecologist (OB/GYN) attending and resident physicians. Analysis of 73 dermatology survey responses revealed a lack of satisfaction with training received in examination of the female genitalia. Moreover, examination of 69 OB/GYN survey responses showed a lack of satisfaction with residency training received to identify high risk skin lesions. Interestingly, only 52.2% of OB/GYN respondents inspect perianal skin during pelvic region examinations. Our results highlight the need to improve residency training through standardization of breast/genitalia skin examinations during both dermatology and OB/GYN residency and for increased collaboration between specialties.

Interleukin-17 Inhibitor Combination Therapies for the Treatment of Psoriasis: A Systematic Review.

Objective: Although biologics are highly effective in the treatment of psoriasis, some patients consistently fail monotherapy. For these patients, combination therapy is commonly employed. However, evidence-based recommendations for combination therapy in the treatment of psoriasis with interleukin-17 (IL-17) inhibitors are currently lacking. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a systematic review of existing literature discussing the efficacy and safety of IL-17 inhibitors in combination with other therapeutic modalities in the treatment of psoriasis. Methods of Literature Search: By way of a search of PubMed, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases in March 2021, we identified peer-reviewed articles with data on the safety and/or efficacy of IL-17 inhibitor combination therapies in adults with psoriasis and/or psoriatic arthritis (PsA). A modified version of the 2011 Oxford Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine Scheme was utilized for assessing study quality. Results: Twenty-four articles with a total of 3,154 patients met inclusion/exclusion criteria. These articles comprised six post-hoc/subgroup analyses of randomized controlled trials (RCTs), four uncontrolled clinical trials, three case series, and 11 case reports that provided data on IL-17 inhibitor therapy in combination with conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (cDMARDs), apremilast, acitretin, topical therapy, phototherapy, and/or medications for comorbid diseases. Limitations: Our results are limited by the lack of data from RCTs. Conclusion: Although cDMARDs are often used in psoriasis combination therapies, the current literature suggests concomitant cDMARDs with IL-17 inhibitor therapy provides no added benefit compared to IL-17 inhibitor monotherapy. However, IL-17 inhibitor in combination with apremilast or acitretin shows efficacy and safety in case series/reports and may allow for a reduction in medication dosing and/or frequency, thereby minimizing costs and adverse events. Future RCTs investigating IL-17 inhibitor therapy in combination with acitretin or apremilast are warranted.

Risk of Skin Cancer with Phototherapy in Moderate-to-Severe Psoriasis: An Updated Systematic Review.

Phototherapy is a standard treatment for moderate-to-severe psoriasis. However, concern remains regarding the associated cutaneous carcinogenic risk. Our objective is to conduct a systematic review of skin cancer risk for psoriasis patients treated with phototherapy. To achieve our goal, we searched Cochrane, PubMed, and Embase databases. We aimed to evaluate existing literature (from July 1, 2010, to December 31, 2020) on phototherapy for all Fitzpatrick skin phototypes (FSP) which includes 71 articles, and eight articles being categorized in this review. Five studies did not report an increased skin cancer risk with narrowband-ultraviolet blue (UVB) and unspecified UVB for FSP II through VI, with one study not reporting FSP. Three studies did report an increased risk of skin cancer with narrowband-UVB and broadband-UVB for FSP I-VI, with one study also not specifying skin phototypes or UVB phototherapy type. Additionally, a study with psoralen and ultraviolet A with and without narrowband-UVB demonstrated an increased risk of skin cancer in phototypes III and IV. The most commonly reported secondary outcomes with phototherapy were actinic keratosis (123) and solar lentigines (10). Numerous patients were also on additional therapies including methotrexate, acitretin, and biologics. Study limitations include publication bias due to limited number of studies published on this topic in the last ten years along with heterogeneity in reporting. The relationship between phototherapy, psoriasis, and cutaneous oncogenic risk remains contradictory. While phototherapy for psoriasis is an efficacious therapy, further studies are needed to understand the cutaneous oncogenic risk based on FSP to help clinicals tailor treatment recommendations based on skin phototypes.