Dr. Feldman is Professor of Dermatology, Pathology and Public Health Sciences at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC.
Dr. Feldman’s chief clinical interest is psoriasis. His passion is to help guide how patients with psoriasis are treated.
Dr. Feldman directs the Center for Dermatology Research, a health services research center with a mission to improve the care of patients with skin disease. His research team has focused on demonstrating the quality of medical dermatology services provided by dermatologists; defining the role of dermatologists in performing dermatopathology; and understanding the effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of outpatient dermatologic surgery.
Dr. Feldman has published more than 300 articles in books and peer-reviewed journals. He has been a primary investigator or co-investigator on numerous industry, foundation or federally-funded research grants. He is also Chief Medical Editor of Skin & Aging.
Q. What part of your work gives you most pleasure?
A. Discovery. Nothing floats my boat more than learning something new —especially if it feels like I found it on my own. It’s like finding a treasure. Fortunately, we have such “discovery experiences” occasionally with our patients, and in clinical and health services research, we have it much more often than one would in a typical test-tube research lab setting.
Q. Are an understanding and appreciation for the humanities important in dermatology?
A. Being an empiricist, I’d start with a definition of “humanities,” which Google tells me is “subjects such as English, philosophy, language, and literature as distinguished from the social sciences, and natural and physical sciences.”
I’m not convinced that humanities are important (but do enjoy them, if you will). Dermatology is a lot more than biology and chemistry, but the areas that I think deserve focus are other sciences — the soft sciences of economics, sociology and psychology. In these disciplines, I find a tremendous depth of interesting aspects of dermatology, and of patient care in general.
Through my clinical focus on psoriasis, I’ve developed an interest in the physician-patient interaction and its impact on patients’ satisfaction and treatment outcomes.
Now, most of you natural-born empathetic humanists probably understood the importance of this while you were still in diapers, but I’m a former slide-rule-toting, wallflower-at-parties (prior to becoming a dermatologist), science nerd. Coming to an understanding of the need to at least appear empathetic to patients took me a while. Once you see it, though, innumerable components of it appear that lend themselves to research study and clinical application.
Q. If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
A. I’ve come to realize that many of the conflicts we see are due not to evil forces but simply the different perspectives people hold. A large part of these differences in perspectives is due to what I’d call “systematic selection bias,” a tendency to observe only one of a set of outcomes that occur. It would be great if the world were more transparent, so that this bias would not be so prevalent.
However, this bias is incredibly prevalent in our compartmentalized world. Dermatologists never see patients whose skin disease was effectively managed by their primary care doctors. Surgeons rarely see a patient whose skin cancer was effectively managed by a dermatologist. We only see each others’ failures. That can’t help but impact how we view each other. I think this type of bias has a huge impact even on world affairs. Consider, for example, what the U.S. population sees and knows about the Islamic world and what those in the Islamic world see and know about ours.
The world would probably be a better place if we made more effort to see beyond the borders of our own compartments.
Q. What do you think is the greatest political danger to the field of dermatology?
A. Perhaps the greatest political danger facing dermatology is people’s tendency to view things from their own perspectives. Our patients have little to no idea how hard we work to become and to stay exceptionally good at skin disease management. If they have a bad experience in our office, they will think we are uncaring.
Surgeons, anesthesiologists and pathologists want to pass legislation that would reduce our scope of practice; they don’t do it out of spite, but rather because they believe (from their perspective) that they are truly helping patients.
The factors that drive people to mistrust and mistreat others are natural, unavoidable, and often imperceptible. They manifest at every level of human interaction. We need to fully appreciate this to provide care our patients will perceive as excellent. We need to fully appreciate this to have effective interactions with other medical specialties. And we need to fully appreciate this in world affairs, or we and our children will face continued and growing violent conflict.
Dr. Feldman is Professor of Dermatology, Pathology and Public Health Sciences at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC.
Dr. Feldman’s chief clinical interest is psoriasis. His passion is to help guide how patients with psoriasis are treated.
Dr. Feldman directs the Center for Dermatology Research, a health services research center with a mission to improve the care of patients with skin disease. His research team has focused on demonstrating the quality of medical dermatology services provided by dermatologists; defining the role of dermatologists in performing dermatopathology; and understanding the effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of outpatient dermatologic surgery.
Dr. Feldman has published more than 300 articles in books and peer-reviewed journals. He has been a primary investigator or co-investigator on numerous industry, foundation or federally-funded research grants. He is also Chief Medical Editor of Skin & Aging.
Q. What part of your work gives you most pleasure?
A. Discovery. Nothing floats my boat more than learning something new —especially if it feels like I found it on my own. It’s like finding a treasure. Fortunately, we have such “discovery experiences” occasionally with our patients, and in clinical and health services research, we have it much more often than one would in a typical test-tube research lab setting.
Q. Are an understanding and appreciation for the humanities important in dermatology?
A. Being an empiricist, I’d start with a definition of “humanities,” which Google tells me is “subjects such as English, philosophy, language, and literature as distinguished from the social sciences, and natural and physical sciences.”
I’m not convinced that humanities are important (but do enjoy them, if you will). Dermatology is a lot more than biology and chemistry, but the areas that I think deserve focus are other sciences — the soft sciences of economics, sociology and psychology. In these disciplines, I find a tremendous depth of interesting aspects of dermatology, and of patient care in general.
Through my clinical focus on psoriasis, I’ve developed an interest in the physician-patient interaction and its impact on patients’ satisfaction and treatment outcomes.
Now, most of you natural-born empathetic humanists probably understood the importance of this while you were still in diapers, but I’m a former slide-rule-toting, wallflower-at-parties (prior to becoming a dermatologist), science nerd. Coming to an understanding of the need to at least appear empathetic to patients took me a while. Once you see it, though, innumerable components of it appear that lend themselves to research study and clinical application.
Q. If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
A. I’ve come to realize that many of the conflicts we see are due not to evil forces but simply the different perspectives people hold. A large part of these differences in perspectives is due to what I’d call “systematic selection bias,” a tendency to observe only one of a set of outcomes that occur. It would be great if the world were more transparent, so that this bias would not be so prevalent.
However, this bias is incredibly prevalent in our compartmentalized world. Dermatologists never see patients whose skin disease was effectively managed by their primary care doctors. Surgeons rarely see a patient whose skin cancer was effectively managed by a dermatologist. We only see each others’ failures. That can’t help but impact how we view each other. I think this type of bias has a huge impact even on world affairs. Consider, for example, what the U.S. population sees and knows about the Islamic world and what those in the Islamic world see and know about ours.
The world would probably be a better place if we made more effort to see beyond the borders of our own compartments.
Q. What do you think is the greatest political danger to the field of dermatology?
A. Perhaps the greatest political danger facing dermatology is people’s tendency to view things from their own perspectives. Our patients have little to no idea how hard we work to become and to stay exceptionally good at skin disease management. If they have a bad experience in our office, they will think we are uncaring.
Surgeons, anesthesiologists and pathologists want to pass legislation that would reduce our scope of practice; they don’t do it out of spite, but rather because they believe (from their perspective) that they are truly helping patients.
The factors that drive people to mistrust and mistreat others are natural, unavoidable, and often imperceptible. They manifest at every level of human interaction. We need to fully appreciate this to provide care our patients will perceive as excellent. We need to fully appreciate this to have effective interactions with other medical specialties. And we need to fully appreciate this in world affairs, or we and our children will face continued and growing violent conflict.
Dr. Feldman is Professor of Dermatology, Pathology and Public Health Sciences at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, NC.
Dr. Feldman’s chief clinical interest is psoriasis. His passion is to help guide how patients with psoriasis are treated.
Dr. Feldman directs the Center for Dermatology Research, a health services research center with a mission to improve the care of patients with skin disease. His research team has focused on demonstrating the quality of medical dermatology services provided by dermatologists; defining the role of dermatologists in performing dermatopathology; and understanding the effectiveness, safety and cost-effectiveness of outpatient dermatologic surgery.
Dr. Feldman has published more than 300 articles in books and peer-reviewed journals. He has been a primary investigator or co-investigator on numerous industry, foundation or federally-funded research grants. He is also Chief Medical Editor of Skin & Aging.
Q. What part of your work gives you most pleasure?
A. Discovery. Nothing floats my boat more than learning something new —especially if it feels like I found it on my own. It’s like finding a treasure. Fortunately, we have such “discovery experiences” occasionally with our patients, and in clinical and health services research, we have it much more often than one would in a typical test-tube research lab setting.
Q. Are an understanding and appreciation for the humanities important in dermatology?
A. Being an empiricist, I’d start with a definition of “humanities,” which Google tells me is “subjects such as English, philosophy, language, and literature as distinguished from the social sciences, and natural and physical sciences.”
I’m not convinced that humanities are important (but do enjoy them, if you will). Dermatology is a lot more than biology and chemistry, but the areas that I think deserve focus are other sciences — the soft sciences of economics, sociology and psychology. In these disciplines, I find a tremendous depth of interesting aspects of dermatology, and of patient care in general.
Through my clinical focus on psoriasis, I’ve developed an interest in the physician-patient interaction and its impact on patients’ satisfaction and treatment outcomes.
Now, most of you natural-born empathetic humanists probably understood the importance of this while you were still in diapers, but I’m a former slide-rule-toting, wallflower-at-parties (prior to becoming a dermatologist), science nerd. Coming to an understanding of the need to at least appear empathetic to patients took me a while. Once you see it, though, innumerable components of it appear that lend themselves to research study and clinical application.
Q. If you could change one thing in the world, what would it be?
A. I’ve come to realize that many of the conflicts we see are due not to evil forces but simply the different perspectives people hold. A large part of these differences in perspectives is due to what I’d call “systematic selection bias,” a tendency to observe only one of a set of outcomes that occur. It would be great if the world were more transparent, so that this bias would not be so prevalent.
However, this bias is incredibly prevalent in our compartmentalized world. Dermatologists never see patients whose skin disease was effectively managed by their primary care doctors. Surgeons rarely see a patient whose skin cancer was effectively managed by a dermatologist. We only see each others’ failures. That can’t help but impact how we view each other. I think this type of bias has a huge impact even on world affairs. Consider, for example, what the U.S. population sees and knows about the Islamic world and what those in the Islamic world see and know about ours.
The world would probably be a better place if we made more effort to see beyond the borders of our own compartments.
Q. What do you think is the greatest political danger to the field of dermatology?
A. Perhaps the greatest political danger facing dermatology is people’s tendency to view things from their own perspectives. Our patients have little to no idea how hard we work to become and to stay exceptionally good at skin disease management. If they have a bad experience in our office, they will think we are uncaring.
Surgeons, anesthesiologists and pathologists want to pass legislation that would reduce our scope of practice; they don’t do it out of spite, but rather because they believe (from their perspective) that they are truly helping patients.
The factors that drive people to mistrust and mistreat others are natural, unavoidable, and often imperceptible. They manifest at every level of human interaction. We need to fully appreciate this to provide care our patients will perceive as excellent. We need to fully appreciate this to have effective interactions with other medical specialties. And we need to fully appreciate this in world affairs, or we and our children will face continued and growing violent conflict.
