Young Physician Spotlight - Aileen Chang, MD

Aileen Chang, MD, is an early career dermatologist and postdoctoral scholar in the Department of Dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco. Her interests include infectious diseases, HIV-associated diseases, socioeconomic and cultural determinants of health, and improving dermatology capacity in resource-limited settings. As a medical student and resident she spent time in Botswana, where she led the creation and implementation of a mobile learning project that increases access to health information at point-of-care, now fully adopted by the University of Botswana, and helped to provide regionally relevant dermatology training modules for medical students. As a 2016-2017 GloCal Health Fellow and Fogarty Global Health Fellow based at the Infectious Disease Institute in Kampala, Uganda, Dr. Chang is involved with several Kaposi sarcoma projects. She is also engaged in the development of dermatology training programs in East Africa. Dr. Chang has clinical experience in Kenya, Uganda, Botswana, India, China, and Navajo Nation. She received her MD from the University of Pennsylvania and completed her dermatology residency at the University of Pennsylvania.

1)      How did you find your WDS mentor, Dr. Daniela Kroshinksy? How did your time with her affect your career goals and path?

I was introduced to Dr. Daniela Kroshinsky by another mentor of mine. We connected on our mutual interests in medical dermatology and teledermatology. She mentored me remotely while I rotated with the Department of Dermatology at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research in Pondicherry, India. This experience was a very formative one for my career. I was exposed to dermatologic conditions that I had never seen before, as well as familiar ones but with different presentations in that setting. I also saw how much socioeconomic and cultural factors drive patients' ability to engage in healthcare. When I compared my observations of the healthcare system and challenges faced by patients in India with my patient care experiences in Philadelphia and sub-Saharan Africa, I realized that there were many more similarities than differences among patients across these different world regions. This realization has continued to serve as a major source of my motivation and passion for improving dermatologic care in resource limited settings, both local and global.

2)      What advice do you have for residents who want to perform research projects during residency?

As with almost everything in your career, mentorship is key. If you don't already have a mentor, meeting with your program director or associate program director is a great place start. He or she will be able to connect you with faculty in your department (or perhaps at another institution) who have similar interests, as well as steer you towards individuals who have the bandwidth to dedicate to mentoring and those who are known to be good mentors. It's also important to make short and long term goals for pursuing your research interest during residency. For example, in your first year, your goals could be identifying a mentor, developing a project idea, and exploring funding options if needed. In your second year, you could work on the protocol and make the necessary regulatory submissions. You might also be able to start your project. In your third year, you typically have more elective time and could devote this to data collection, data analysis, and drafting a manuscript. If you have academic or elective time in the first and second years, you'll be able to speed up the timeline. 

3)      How did you become interested in global health? Why did you decide to pursue fellowship?

During my senior year of college, I led a health and medicine interest group for freshmen that was focused on global health. Through that experience, I realized that I really enjoyed the topics we discussed and began to read and explore more. I went to Botswana for the first time as a medical student. At the time, I knew I really liked dermatology but had been unsure how global health would fit. After being in the dermatology clinic at Princess Marina Hospital, I realized that there was so much dermatology need in global health. I saw that I could have a career pursuing both interests and have been committed to that ever since. Resource-limited settings stand to benefit tremendously from the visual diagnostic and chronic disease management skills that dermatology offers, and in places with histopathology and surgery infrastructure, the value of the dermatologist is even greater. I decided to pursue a fellowship year because I wanted an opportunity to live and work in sub-Saharan Africa for a year. Previously, I had only spent a month at a time in the region. I didn't have a strong grasp on what the reality is on the ground and thus wasn't able to identify the key and modifiable issues for patients and the local healthcare systems. I was fortunate to have been selected for a GloCal Health Fellowship & Fogarty Global Health Fellowship, which facilitated mentorship and provided funding and institutional support for the year. 

4)      What are your plans for after your fellowship?

I am joining faculty at the University of California, San Francisco. I will be based at San Francisco General Hospital, where I will focus on building the inpatient dermatology consult service and also continue several projects in East Africa that I started during my fellowship year. 

5)      What activities do you like to do in your spare time?

I'm a foodie, so I love trying new restaurants and cooking my favorite dishes at home, especially when hosting family and friends. I also practice yoga and try to maximize time spent outdoors, closer to the ocean the better.