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Spotlight

A Conversation With Kurt Ashack, MD

December 2024
© 2024 HMP Global. All Rights Reserved.
Any views and opinixons expressed are those of the author(s) and/or participants and do not necessarily reflect the views, policy, or position of The Dermatologist or HMP Global, their employees, and affiliates. 

Kurt Ashack
Dr Ashack is a native of Grand Rapids, MI. He completed his undergraduate degree in chemistry at Hope College in Holland, MI, then obtained a master’s degree in biomedical sciences at Grand Valley State University and went on to medical school at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine in Grand Rapids. He completed an internship at St Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis and his residency training in dermatology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr Ashack returned to Grand Rapids to work with his father before he retired after more than 30 years in dermatology. He married his medical school sweetheart, Laura, who is a radiation oncologist in Kalamazoo, MI. He enjoys spending time with his wife and their dog, Guinness. His other personal interests include traveling within and outside of the United States, attempting to cook, running marathons and half marathons, water sports, golf, and watching the Detroit Tigers and Indiana Hoosier basketball. He is an assistant professor at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and the faculty advisor of its dermatology group. Dr Ashack greatly enjoys teaching medical students and residents about dermatology. His professional interests include connective tissue diseases, blistering diseases, psoriasis, skin of color, pediatric dermatology, procedural dermatology, cosmetic dermatology, and laser dermatology.

Q. What part of your work gives you the most pleasure?

A. Aside from taking pleasure in delivering the best possible care for my patients, the flexibility of my work schedule is another area that I enjoy. I love the ability to practice general dermatology for both adult and pediatric patients in the same day, while also being able to perform surgical and cosmetic procedures. I am also a big pathology and immunology nerd, so I love understanding the complex pathophysiology of skin conditions like psoriasis or atopic dermatitis and being able to see the patient from initial skin rash to viewing the pathology under the microscope and then seeing the improvement in both skin and quality of life based on my treatment plan.

Q. Who was your hero/mentor and why?

A. My father is my hero/mentor. He is the reason I was interested in dermatology from the very beginning. Watching him enjoy what he did every day and seeing how he interacted with patients motivated me to want to become just like him. Thirty years later, I had the pleasure of getting to work with him while also being mentored by him for my first year and a half of practice. I feel that I am the dermatologist I am today because of his support and mentorship. While we have some differences, I take pride in the fact that I practice dermatology just like him.

Q. Which patient had the most effect on your work?

A. Every patient influences my work, but early on in my training I had 2 different patients with dermatomyositis who had a lasting impact on me. Seeing them struggle with this difficult to treat disease and lose quality of life made me a more sympathetic physician and I learned that sometimes just listening to patients is what they need most. I was motivated to join social media groups for patients with dermatomyositis and gain a new perspective outside of the medical office. Seeing how patients view their physicians and cope with their disease in a free space is very enlightening and has motivated me to become a better listener with my patients.

Q. What is the best piece of advice you have received and from whom?

A. Sit down with each patient and try to learn something about them. My father instilled this in me, and it is something I practice faithfully every day. We have such quick visits in dermatology, but if you take the time to sit down and engage in some short but meaningful conversation, it improves patient relations, rapport, and treatment outcomes.

Q. Which medical figure in history would you want to have a drink with and why?

A. I would love to have a drink with Dr Rose Hirschler. She was a pioneer for women in the field of dermatology and an important figure in the history of the American Academy of Dermatology. She coordinated radiation therapy for the treatment of skin cancer, and I would be fascinated to hear how she came about this.

Q. What is the greatest political danger in the field of dermatology?

A. Unfortunately, there are many political dangers in the field of dermatology like rising drug prices, private equity groups, and reduced reimbursement rates. Additionally, looking at dermatology or medicine as a business model is another danger as it inadvertently impacts patient care, mostly in a negative way. At the end of the day, running a practice is a business, but we are increasingly being pushed into focusing on how to survive financially with increased prices of medications and supplies, alongside decreasing reimbursements. This in turn makes it necessary to see more patients with less time and resources to keep things afloat. In the end, many feel pressured to give in to a larger entity who “streamlines” their practice to make things more efficient and take the costs out of the physician’s hands, but perhaps at the cost of delivering excellent patient care.