When dermatologists from across Middle Tennessee gathered May 1 at Vanderbilt Health’s One Hundred Oaks facility, the mission was a simple one: to offer a free skin-cancer screening to anyone who walked through the door … and 250 people did.

 

The screening, which moves from hospital to hospital in Nashville each year, is a public service of the Nashville Dermatology Society, a loosely knit organization comprised of most of the board-certified dermatologists in the Nashville area. The NDS is organized by dermatology residents in the Vanderbilt College of Medicine.

 

“It’s a very good mix of Vanderbilt and other community dermatologists,” explained Michel Alice McDonald, MD, with the Vanderbilt Division of Dermatology. McDonald came to Vanderbilt in 1994 for her residency, “and my mom says I forgot to come home,” she quipped. Originally from Louisville, Ky., she earned her medical degree at the University of Louisville.

 

McDonald said NDS members gather several times a month, and dermatologists simply come when they can. In addition to monthly journal clubs, every other Thursday morning features grand rounds with a speaker. The alternating Thursdays are “patient unknowns,” when the dermatologists – about 30 on average along with about 10 residents – take a look at patient cases presented by their colleagues. Reasons to be presented include looking at particularly troubling cases and studying unusual or rare dermatology disorders. The patients arrive at One Hundred Oaks, and each is asked to wait in an exam room. Then all the dermatologists visit each patient.

 

“Then we dismiss the patients and go into a big conference room and discuss what we saw and what the treatment plan options would be,” McDonald said. “A lot of times, it’s for treatment plan options, but other times, it’s just because it’s a fascinating case that we want to share.”

 

The patients aren’t checked in or charged for the visit, and then the referring dermatologist follows up with the patient regarding treatment options or other tests recommended by fellow physicians. “It’s terrific, in a lot of ways, in terms of learning,” McDonald said. In her case, the patient unknowns allow her to study pediatric skin cancer patients, which are very infrequent in her practice.

 

“The cases of patients with rare genetic disorders are always educational,” she added. “We had a case of a patient with Klippel-Trenaunay-Weber syndrome.  These patients have vascular skin malformations which are visible, but also underlying bone and soft tissue disorders. The discussion focused on treatment options, including laser therapy of the patient’s port wine stain.  While learning about a rare disorder, it was also educational to review when laser treatment can be beneficial in vascular lesions and when laser would benefit the patient.”

 

Once a quarter, the NDS meets on a Friday evening for patient unknowns. “That gets a wider attendance,” she said. “Then we all go out to dinner, so it’s collegial as well.”