Dr Heymann received his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, NY in 1979. He completed an internship in internal medicine at New York University Bellevue Hospital Center in 1980, a residency in dermatology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1983, and a fellowship in dermatopathology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1985. Dr Heymann is board certified in dermatology, dermatopathology, and pediatric dermatology.
Since 1986, Dr Heymann has been affiliated with the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, NJ, where he is currently a professor of medicine and pediatrics and head of the division of dermatology. He is also a clinical professor of dermatology at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and serves as a director on the American Board of Dermatology.
Dr Heymann is a coeditor of the textbook Treatment of Skin Disease and maintains the website Dermatology Insights and Inquiries.
He was named as a Master Educator at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in 2015. In 2018, the Medical Dermatology Society presented him with the “Lifetime Achievement” Award for his contributions to the discipline. Dr Heymann has received many other honors in dermatology and medical education.
Q. What part of your work gives you the most pleasure?
A. Although I try to integrate patient care, education, and publishing as seamlessly as possible, my career is really a pyramid with patient care at the top and everything else I do supporting that function. Nothing compares to patients, or their families, expressing gratitude to me for changing their life—either by diagnosis or therapy. Although, there are close runners-up. I am thrilled each year watching residents graduate after seeing their transformation from dermatologic neophytes to skilled, confident clinicians. I also am delighted when patients or colleagues tell me how an article I wrote helped them in some way. It is very gratifying to realize that I have some impact beyond my immediate practice.
Q. Which medical figure in history would you want to have a drink with and why?
A. Sir Jonathan Hutchinson—an extraordinary dermatologist, syphilologist, neurologist, ophthalmologist, and surgeon. His observational skills and prolific publications were profound. He was most likely the model for Sherlock Holmes’ dermatology consultant, Dr James Saunders. His most famous contributions include Hutchinson triad, hydroa vaccinifome, lentigo maligna, arsenical keratosis, and many others. I would like to ask him how did he get his inspiration; I would like to know how he could help us live up to his epitaph—“A man of hope and forward-looking mind.”
Q. Who is your mentor and why?
A. Michael Fisher, MD, the former chief of the division of dermatology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, NY, was my first teacher and mentor in dermatology. He is the most brilliant clinician imaginable and a professor par excellence. He showed me how a clinician-educator could be the nidus of an academic dermatology department focused on patients first.
Q. Which patient had the most effect on your work and why?
A. Early in my academic career, a middle-aged woman presented with an extensive urticarial-erythrodermic rash. I concluded that it was a severe drug eruption (it was likely drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms or DRESS, a name that was not used then). I recall pointing out the fine points of her physical examination to the medical student who was rotating with me. I prescribed prednisone and asked to see her in a few days to make sure she was improving.
When she returned, I did not even recognize her—the rash had resolved. I thought she would be delighted, but she was furious and lambasted me. “The only reason I came back was to tell you how upset I was that you were more concerned with my rash than you were about me as a person behind the rash.” I was stunned but thanked her. She was right. No matter how interesting or intriguing the lesion before us, there is a human being behind it. Since then, I make sure I know the patient first—their fears, anxieties, hopes, expectations, and frustrations.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you have received and from whom?
A. For personal guidance, I have my late mother’s advice: “Do your very best, because if you do not you are only fooling yourself. There will always be someone smarter, richer, and handsomer than you. Just strive to achieve all you can without worrying about anyone else.” For professional advice, I am grateful to the late Wallace Clark, MD, who admonished me to always keep working on a new manuscript upon completion of an article, saying, it will keep your mind sharp, focused, and facile. He was correct.
Dr Barankin is a dermatologist in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is author-editor of 7 books in dermatology and is widely published in the dermatology and humanities literature.
Dr Heymann received his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, NY in 1979. He completed an internship in internal medicine at New York University Bellevue Hospital Center in 1980, a residency in dermatology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1983, and a fellowship in dermatopathology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1985. Dr Heymann is board certified in dermatology, dermatopathology, and pediatric dermatology.
Since 1986, Dr Heymann has been affiliated with the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, NJ, where he is currently a professor of medicine and pediatrics and head of the division of dermatology. He is also a clinical professor of dermatology at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and serves as a director on the American Board of Dermatology.
Dr Heymann is a coeditor of the textbook Treatment of Skin Disease and maintains the website Dermatology Insights and Inquiries.
He was named as a Master Educator at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in 2015. In 2018, the Medical Dermatology Society presented him with the “Lifetime Achievement” Award for his contributions to the discipline. Dr Heymann has received many other honors in dermatology and medical education.
Q. What part of your work gives you the most pleasure?
A. Although I try to integrate patient care, education, and publishing as seamlessly as possible, my career is really a pyramid with patient care at the top and everything else I do supporting that function. Nothing compares to patients, or their families, expressing gratitude to me for changing their life—either by diagnosis or therapy. Although, there are close runners-up. I am thrilled each year watching residents graduate after seeing their transformation from dermatologic neophytes to skilled, confident clinicians. I also am delighted when patients or colleagues tell me how an article I wrote helped them in some way. It is very gratifying to realize that I have some impact beyond my immediate practice.
Q. Which medical figure in history would you want to have a drink with and why?
A. Sir Jonathan Hutchinson—an extraordinary dermatologist, syphilologist, neurologist, ophthalmologist, and surgeon. His observational skills and prolific publications were profound. He was most likely the model for Sherlock Holmes’ dermatology consultant, Dr James Saunders. His most famous contributions include Hutchinson triad, hydroa vaccinifome, lentigo maligna, arsenical keratosis, and many others. I would like to ask him how did he get his inspiration; I would like to know how he could help us live up to his epitaph—“A man of hope and forward-looking mind.”
Q. Who is your mentor and why?
A. Michael Fisher, MD, the former chief of the division of dermatology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, NY, was my first teacher and mentor in dermatology. He is the most brilliant clinician imaginable and a professor par excellence. He showed me how a clinician-educator could be the nidus of an academic dermatology department focused on patients first.
Q. Which patient had the most effect on your work and why?
A. Early in my academic career, a middle-aged woman presented with an extensive urticarial-erythrodermic rash. I concluded that it was a severe drug eruption (it was likely drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms or DRESS, a name that was not used then). I recall pointing out the fine points of her physical examination to the medical student who was rotating with me. I prescribed prednisone and asked to see her in a few days to make sure she was improving.
When she returned, I did not even recognize her—the rash had resolved. I thought she would be delighted, but she was furious and lambasted me. “The only reason I came back was to tell you how upset I was that you were more concerned with my rash than you were about me as a person behind the rash.” I was stunned but thanked her. She was right. No matter how interesting or intriguing the lesion before us, there is a human being behind it. Since then, I make sure I know the patient first—their fears, anxieties, hopes, expectations, and frustrations.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you have received and from whom?
A. For personal guidance, I have my late mother’s advice: “Do your very best, because if you do not you are only fooling yourself. There will always be someone smarter, richer, and handsomer than you. Just strive to achieve all you can without worrying about anyone else.” For professional advice, I am grateful to the late Wallace Clark, MD, who admonished me to always keep working on a new manuscript upon completion of an article, saying, it will keep your mind sharp, focused, and facile. He was correct.
Dr Barankin is a dermatologist in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is author-editor of 7 books in dermatology and is widely published in the dermatology and humanities literature.
Dr Heymann received his medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, NY in 1979. He completed an internship in internal medicine at New York University Bellevue Hospital Center in 1980, a residency in dermatology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 1983, and a fellowship in dermatopathology at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia in 1985. Dr Heymann is board certified in dermatology, dermatopathology, and pediatric dermatology.
Since 1986, Dr Heymann has been affiliated with the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in Camden, NJ, where he is currently a professor of medicine and pediatrics and head of the division of dermatology. He is also a clinical professor of dermatology at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and serves as a director on the American Board of Dermatology.
Dr Heymann is a coeditor of the textbook Treatment of Skin Disease and maintains the website Dermatology Insights and Inquiries.
He was named as a Master Educator at the Cooper Medical School of Rowan University in 2015. In 2018, the Medical Dermatology Society presented him with the “Lifetime Achievement” Award for his contributions to the discipline. Dr Heymann has received many other honors in dermatology and medical education.
Q. What part of your work gives you the most pleasure?
A. Although I try to integrate patient care, education, and publishing as seamlessly as possible, my career is really a pyramid with patient care at the top and everything else I do supporting that function. Nothing compares to patients, or their families, expressing gratitude to me for changing their life—either by diagnosis or therapy. Although, there are close runners-up. I am thrilled each year watching residents graduate after seeing their transformation from dermatologic neophytes to skilled, confident clinicians. I also am delighted when patients or colleagues tell me how an article I wrote helped them in some way. It is very gratifying to realize that I have some impact beyond my immediate practice.
Q. Which medical figure in history would you want to have a drink with and why?
A. Sir Jonathan Hutchinson—an extraordinary dermatologist, syphilologist, neurologist, ophthalmologist, and surgeon. His observational skills and prolific publications were profound. He was most likely the model for Sherlock Holmes’ dermatology consultant, Dr James Saunders. His most famous contributions include Hutchinson triad, hydroa vaccinifome, lentigo maligna, arsenical keratosis, and many others. I would like to ask him how did he get his inspiration; I would like to know how he could help us live up to his epitaph—“A man of hope and forward-looking mind.”
Q. Who is your mentor and why?
A. Michael Fisher, MD, the former chief of the division of dermatology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, NY, was my first teacher and mentor in dermatology. He is the most brilliant clinician imaginable and a professor par excellence. He showed me how a clinician-educator could be the nidus of an academic dermatology department focused on patients first.
Q. Which patient had the most effect on your work and why?
A. Early in my academic career, a middle-aged woman presented with an extensive urticarial-erythrodermic rash. I concluded that it was a severe drug eruption (it was likely drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms or DRESS, a name that was not used then). I recall pointing out the fine points of her physical examination to the medical student who was rotating with me. I prescribed prednisone and asked to see her in a few days to make sure she was improving.
When she returned, I did not even recognize her—the rash had resolved. I thought she would be delighted, but she was furious and lambasted me. “The only reason I came back was to tell you how upset I was that you were more concerned with my rash than you were about me as a person behind the rash.” I was stunned but thanked her. She was right. No matter how interesting or intriguing the lesion before us, there is a human being behind it. Since then, I make sure I know the patient first—their fears, anxieties, hopes, expectations, and frustrations.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you have received and from whom?
A. For personal guidance, I have my late mother’s advice: “Do your very best, because if you do not you are only fooling yourself. There will always be someone smarter, richer, and handsomer than you. Just strive to achieve all you can without worrying about anyone else.” For professional advice, I am grateful to the late Wallace Clark, MD, who admonished me to always keep working on a new manuscript upon completion of an article, saying, it will keep your mind sharp, focused, and facile. He was correct.
Dr Barankin is a dermatologist in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He is author-editor of 7 books in dermatology and is widely published in the dermatology and humanities literature.
