Dr. Tor Shwayder was born in Detroit, MI, the third of four sons. His father was a chemical engineer and his mother, a concert pianist. He graduated from Harvard University (1976), the University of Michigan Medical School (1980) and a University of Michigan pediatric residency (1983), before joining a pediatric practice in Ann Arbor, MI.
By good luck and persistence, he was accepted into a dermatology residency at the University of Rochester-Strong Memorial Hospital under the leadership of a (young) Lowell Goldsmith, M.D. In 1987, Dr. Edward Krull recruited him to Henry Ford Hospital, where he joined the faculty and established the pediatric dermatology division. Dr. Shwayder is boarded in both pediatrics and dermatology and practices dermatology exclusively for children. His special interests are ichthyoses, epidermolysis bullosa, rashes of newborns, vascular malformations/hemangiomas, and the latest treatments for scabies and lice.
Parallel to his academic and medical training, Dr. Shwayder also studied the violin from the age of six. For many years, he took lessons from Mischa Mischakoff, a renowned violinist who was concertmaster at the New York Philharmonic under Arturo Toscanini before coming to Detroit.
Q. What part of your work gives you the most pleasure?
A. Three things give me the most pleasure:
1. Getting a smile out of a reluctant child whose skin condition has been ameliorated by my treatments.
2. Having a tacit acknowledgment of my expertise, which I have come to recognize because of the long distances some patients travel to see me.
3. Teaching dermatology residents.
Q. Are an understanding and appreciation for the humanities important in dermatology?
A. I tell the residents to study art. If you can tell a Monet from a Manet (at a glance), then you will be a great diagnostician. I tell them if you read Shakespeare, you will have the understanding of human emotions and frailties. Lastly, I urge them to study history because much of a patient’s emotional “baggage” is tied up in his or her family’s past.
Q. Which patient has had the most effect on your work and why?
A. A young African-American man with full-body epidermolytic hyperkeratosis had the greatest impact. I first saw him when he was 11 years old. I introduced him to the world outside of his Detroit home and wrote about this in “A Piece of My Mind, A Call of the Loon.” (Journal of the American Medical Association. October 14, 1998;280(14):1221-1222.)
After his family fell apart and his mother died, I became his sole psychological support. He is now 22 and struggling to stay in college. He has so many strikes against him: absolutely poor, from the inner city and a broken family, and with a skin disease that can be seen and smelled from across the room. I try hard to not to let my patients’ problems come home with me at night, but this young man has broken that rule.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you have received, and from whom?
A. Medical advice from Dr. Robert Kelsch of the University of Michigan Pediatric Department who told me: “Always sit down when talking to your patients. This is a simple way to convey to them that you have taken your time and really listened to their problems.”
Personal advice from Dr. Virginia Sybert of the University of Washington Genetics: “No person is indispensable to his or her job.” This short sentence allowed me to take a year off from the hospital for a sabbatical a few years ago.
Musical advice from Mischa Mischakoff, concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra: “From the beginning of time, F natural has always been low on the E string.” (Every violinist will get this.)
Q. What medical figure from history would you most like to have a drink with? Why?
A. Dr Nicolaes Tulp, the famous anatomist in the portrait by Rembrandt (1632), which is now hanging in the Mauritshaus in The Hague. During that time, for the first time in hundreds of years, people were allowed to explore the whole subject of medicine, anatomy, science and logical thought freed from the constricting bonds of religious and governmental zealots who constantly tried to squash this. What a great time that would have been. All that was forbidden is now open to discussion and exploration. n
Dr. Barankin is a dermatologist based in Toronto, Canada. He is author-editor of five books in dermatology, and is widely published in the dermatology and humanities literature.
He is also co-editor of Dermanities (dermanities.com), an online journal devoted to the humanities as they relate to dermatology.
Dr. Tor Shwayder was born in Detroit, MI, the third of four sons. His father was a chemical engineer and his mother, a concert pianist. He graduated from Harvard University (1976), the University of Michigan Medical School (1980) and a University of Michigan pediatric residency (1983), before joining a pediatric practice in Ann Arbor, MI.
By good luck and persistence, he was accepted into a dermatology residency at the University of Rochester-Strong Memorial Hospital under the leadership of a (young) Lowell Goldsmith, M.D. In 1987, Dr. Edward Krull recruited him to Henry Ford Hospital, where he joined the faculty and established the pediatric dermatology division. Dr. Shwayder is boarded in both pediatrics and dermatology and practices dermatology exclusively for children. His special interests are ichthyoses, epidermolysis bullosa, rashes of newborns, vascular malformations/hemangiomas, and the latest treatments for scabies and lice.
Parallel to his academic and medical training, Dr. Shwayder also studied the violin from the age of six. For many years, he took lessons from Mischa Mischakoff, a renowned violinist who was concertmaster at the New York Philharmonic under Arturo Toscanini before coming to Detroit.
Q. What part of your work gives you the most pleasure?
A. Three things give me the most pleasure:
1. Getting a smile out of a reluctant child whose skin condition has been ameliorated by my treatments.
2. Having a tacit acknowledgment of my expertise, which I have come to recognize because of the long distances some patients travel to see me.
3. Teaching dermatology residents.
Q. Are an understanding and appreciation for the humanities important in dermatology?
A. I tell the residents to study art. If you can tell a Monet from a Manet (at a glance), then you will be a great diagnostician. I tell them if you read Shakespeare, you will have the understanding of human emotions and frailties. Lastly, I urge them to study history because much of a patient’s emotional “baggage” is tied up in his or her family’s past.
Q. Which patient has had the most effect on your work and why?
A. A young African-American man with full-body epidermolytic hyperkeratosis had the greatest impact. I first saw him when he was 11 years old. I introduced him to the world outside of his Detroit home and wrote about this in “A Piece of My Mind, A Call of the Loon.” (Journal of the American Medical Association. October 14, 1998;280(14):1221-1222.)
After his family fell apart and his mother died, I became his sole psychological support. He is now 22 and struggling to stay in college. He has so many strikes against him: absolutely poor, from the inner city and a broken family, and with a skin disease that can be seen and smelled from across the room. I try hard to not to let my patients’ problems come home with me at night, but this young man has broken that rule.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you have received, and from whom?
A. Medical advice from Dr. Robert Kelsch of the University of Michigan Pediatric Department who told me: “Always sit down when talking to your patients. This is a simple way to convey to them that you have taken your time and really listened to their problems.”
Personal advice from Dr. Virginia Sybert of the University of Washington Genetics: “No person is indispensable to his or her job.” This short sentence allowed me to take a year off from the hospital for a sabbatical a few years ago.
Musical advice from Mischa Mischakoff, concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra: “From the beginning of time, F natural has always been low on the E string.” (Every violinist will get this.)
Q. What medical figure from history would you most like to have a drink with? Why?
A. Dr Nicolaes Tulp, the famous anatomist in the portrait by Rembrandt (1632), which is now hanging in the Mauritshaus in The Hague. During that time, for the first time in hundreds of years, people were allowed to explore the whole subject of medicine, anatomy, science and logical thought freed from the constricting bonds of religious and governmental zealots who constantly tried to squash this. What a great time that would have been. All that was forbidden is now open to discussion and exploration. n
Dr. Barankin is a dermatologist based in Toronto, Canada. He is author-editor of five books in dermatology, and is widely published in the dermatology and humanities literature.
He is also co-editor of Dermanities (dermanities.com), an online journal devoted to the humanities as they relate to dermatology.
Dr. Tor Shwayder was born in Detroit, MI, the third of four sons. His father was a chemical engineer and his mother, a concert pianist. He graduated from Harvard University (1976), the University of Michigan Medical School (1980) and a University of Michigan pediatric residency (1983), before joining a pediatric practice in Ann Arbor, MI.
By good luck and persistence, he was accepted into a dermatology residency at the University of Rochester-Strong Memorial Hospital under the leadership of a (young) Lowell Goldsmith, M.D. In 1987, Dr. Edward Krull recruited him to Henry Ford Hospital, where he joined the faculty and established the pediatric dermatology division. Dr. Shwayder is boarded in both pediatrics and dermatology and practices dermatology exclusively for children. His special interests are ichthyoses, epidermolysis bullosa, rashes of newborns, vascular malformations/hemangiomas, and the latest treatments for scabies and lice.
Parallel to his academic and medical training, Dr. Shwayder also studied the violin from the age of six. For many years, he took lessons from Mischa Mischakoff, a renowned violinist who was concertmaster at the New York Philharmonic under Arturo Toscanini before coming to Detroit.
Q. What part of your work gives you the most pleasure?
A. Three things give me the most pleasure:
1. Getting a smile out of a reluctant child whose skin condition has been ameliorated by my treatments.
2. Having a tacit acknowledgment of my expertise, which I have come to recognize because of the long distances some patients travel to see me.
3. Teaching dermatology residents.
Q. Are an understanding and appreciation for the humanities important in dermatology?
A. I tell the residents to study art. If you can tell a Monet from a Manet (at a glance), then you will be a great diagnostician. I tell them if you read Shakespeare, you will have the understanding of human emotions and frailties. Lastly, I urge them to study history because much of a patient’s emotional “baggage” is tied up in his or her family’s past.
Q. Which patient has had the most effect on your work and why?
A. A young African-American man with full-body epidermolytic hyperkeratosis had the greatest impact. I first saw him when he was 11 years old. I introduced him to the world outside of his Detroit home and wrote about this in “A Piece of My Mind, A Call of the Loon.” (Journal of the American Medical Association. October 14, 1998;280(14):1221-1222.)
After his family fell apart and his mother died, I became his sole psychological support. He is now 22 and struggling to stay in college. He has so many strikes against him: absolutely poor, from the inner city and a broken family, and with a skin disease that can be seen and smelled from across the room. I try hard to not to let my patients’ problems come home with me at night, but this young man has broken that rule.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you have received, and from whom?
A. Medical advice from Dr. Robert Kelsch of the University of Michigan Pediatric Department who told me: “Always sit down when talking to your patients. This is a simple way to convey to them that you have taken your time and really listened to their problems.”
Personal advice from Dr. Virginia Sybert of the University of Washington Genetics: “No person is indispensable to his or her job.” This short sentence allowed me to take a year off from the hospital for a sabbatical a few years ago.
Musical advice from Mischa Mischakoff, concertmaster of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra: “From the beginning of time, F natural has always been low on the E string.” (Every violinist will get this.)
Q. What medical figure from history would you most like to have a drink with? Why?
A. Dr Nicolaes Tulp, the famous anatomist in the portrait by Rembrandt (1632), which is now hanging in the Mauritshaus in The Hague. During that time, for the first time in hundreds of years, people were allowed to explore the whole subject of medicine, anatomy, science and logical thought freed from the constricting bonds of religious and governmental zealots who constantly tried to squash this. What a great time that would have been. All that was forbidden is now open to discussion and exploration. n
Dr. Barankin is a dermatologist based in Toronto, Canada. He is author-editor of five books in dermatology, and is widely published in the dermatology and humanities literature.
He is also co-editor of Dermanities (dermanities.com), an online journal devoted to the humanities as they relate to dermatology.
