Women's Dermatologic Society

By Dr. Alyx Rosen Aigen - WDS Social Media Committee August is national breastfeeding awareness month. We want to take this time to highlight a few key facts regarding breastfeeding. There are numerous benefits of breastfeeding for both the mother and baby. Breast milk can provide the ideal nutrition for infants. It contains antibodies that help babies fight infections and has been shown to lower a baby’s risk of having asthma or allergies. There are also benefits for the breastfeeding mother including helping the uterus return to its pre-pregnancy size, decease risk of breast and ovarian cancer, and it may lower the risk of osteoporosis. Every baby is unique and each mother’s experience with breastfeeding will have it’s own challenges but always remember that fed is best!  As dermatologists, we are often encountered with questions from the pregnant or lactating patient about the safety of common dermatologic topical and systemic (oral/IV) medications. In 2013, WDS member and Co-Editor

Read featured COVID articles from the WDS Resident Fellow and Young Physicians Committee. Avoiding Burnout During the Pandemic Tips for Running Your Practice During COVID-19 Stories from the Frontline Avoiding Burnout During the Pandemic:  Interviews by Dr. Shari Lipner Dr. Neelam Khan, then a 3rd year dermatology resident at SUNY Downstate, volunteered to care for COVID-19 patients during March 2020, and was redeployed to the COVID-19 wards in April 2020. She related that she worked on a pediatric floor that was cleared out and converted to an adult COVID-19 adult ward. Downstate was vastly under sourced, treatment approaches were not working, and patients were dying daily. She worked long hours and found the experience stressful. Participating in WDS virtual networking events and speaking to other WDS members was one important way that she coped with her experiences. She reported that this time on the wards was the most valuable experience of her life. When I asked her about her feel

  By Shawna A. Flanagan, MD, FAAD Twenty plus years ago I decided to establish a practice that I could call my own.   However, I soon realized that establishing myself as a female business owner and doctor in a male dominated industry would be no easy feat.   Fast forward to 2020, I have established myself as a successful dermatologist and business owner. As my journey progressed, I somewhat foolishly believed that many of the gender specific roles placed on doctors in the past had dissipated.   However, this notion quickly vanished when one of my younger female colleagues lamented that she was struggling to get her patients to address her by her preferred title, “Doctor”.   Although I am not typically one to get hung up on the details, soon after she brought this issue to my attention I couldn’t help but notice thereafter every instance patients referred to me by my first name and not the title that I had worked so hard to gain.   No matter how hard I tried to ignore those unwilling