Women's Dermatologic Society

The Many Paths to a Successful Dermatology Career  By:  Shawna A. Flanagan, MD There is no such thing as a “typical” dermatology career. What begins as a carefully planned path often evolves into something entirely unexpected shaped by opportunities, challenges, and the courage to take risks at pivotal moments. Being later in my career, I have had the privilege of gaining a deep understanding of the many possible paths within dermatology. A career in dermatology rarely follows a straight line; instead, it evolves over time, shaped by opportunities, interests, and life circumstances.  As a newly graduated resident today, you have far more options than were available in decades past. These include pursuing a cosmetic fellowship, completing a Mohs micrographic surgery fellowship, engaging in research, joining a private equity–backed practice, working with industry, or even building a presence as an influencer. First and foremost , it is important to reflect on which path wil...

An Interview with Efe Kakpovbia, MD, MSc Interviewed by Brianna Olamiju, MD and Priyanka Kumar, MD

 By Marie Leger, MD, PhD WDS News You Can Use Committee Going to medical school was an honor for me. As products of the American dream, both my sister and I went to graduate school, but the women in my family who came before us, including my mom, my grandmothers, my eight aunts, did not go to college. My mom worked as a legal secretary in San Francisco. When I think of my mom in that era, I think of Joan in Mad Men , fending off advances, clearly brilliant, navigating not just grammar and shorthand, but business decisions, personalities, and her male colleagues. When she worked in San Francisco in the 1960s and ‘70s, her law firm had 25 attorneys, all of them men, and the secretaries were all women. She says, “It was a really big deal the day my friend Pat came to work wearing pants instead of a dress, and all of the other secretaries came running down to our cubicles to observe her.” Medicine has its own version of this story. As I was interviewing for my internal medicine prelimi...

 Young Physicians Spotlight An Interview with Lauren Wizina, MD, FAAD Private Practice, New York City Clinical Assistant Professor, Ronald O.Perelman Department of Dermatology at NYU Grossman School of Medicine Interviewed by Brianna Olamiju, MD, Amaris Geisler, MD, and Bianca Coffel, MD

  By Noelle S. Sherber, M.D., F.A.A.D.  WDS News You Can Use Committee The Women’s Dermatologic Society is celebrating the 35th anniversary of our mentoring program this year! Throughout National Mentoring Month in January I asked WDS members to share the best bits of advice they have received through mentorship, and in sharing them here I hope we can all benefit from this shared wisdom.

curated by the WDS Academic Dermatology Committee

By Cather McKay MD, FAAD  WDS News You Can Use Committee The field of dermatology seems to advance faster each year, with 2025 being no exception! Here are some of the year’s exciting updates.