TIPP: Women’s Shelter Initiative to Empowering Women Through Dermatology

 

TIPP: Women’s Shelter Initiative to Empowering Women Through Dermatology
By Stephanie Choi, MS4, and Hanna Englander, MS2; UMass Chan Medical School 

Community engagement offers healthcare providers a unique opportunity to make a meaningful impact and gain valuable insights into caring for patients from diverse backgrounds and with varied needs. For UMass Chan medical students Stephanie and Hanna, one particularly rewarding opportunity has been the Women’s Dermatologic Society (WDS)’s Transformative and Interconnecting Program Project (TIPP), the women’s shelter initiative. 

Through the TIPP program, medical students and dermatologists can organize dermatology educational workshops for participants at women’s shelters. Each event requires involvement of a dermatologist with an active WDS membership; and interested dermatologists and medical students can utilize the toolkit detailed on the TIPP website to acquire WDS support materials. This includes the WDS pre-made slide decks on workshop topics ranging from sun safety and common skin diseases to skincare on a budget. Workshops may also cover important life skills topics such as interview tips. Thanks to the generous sponsorship of industry partners, participants are supplied with skincare goodie bags filled with dermatologist-approved skincare products, such as cleansers, moisturizers, sunscreen, and makeup.

Over the past year, Stephanie and Hanna, along with the support of Dr. Dori Goldberg and other medical student volunteers, have organized regular TIPP events at Jana’s Place, a women’s shelter in Worcester, MA. Jana’s Place offers a safe space for women who are victims of sexual abuse and violence and experience housing insecurity. The focus of their volunteer sessions centers on dermatologic health, including acne management, suncare safety, and scalp and hair health, along with a Q&A panel led by Dr. Goldberg. For survivors of trauma, dermatologic health can be particularly sensitive, as some skin conditions are related to trauma itself, and others might have been neglected due to limited resources. At the end of each session, participants with dermatologic needs are provided information to schedule clinical visits with local dermatologists through UMass Dermatology or WooDerm, a UMass faculty-run free dermatology clinic.

TIPP outreach events at Jana’s Place have been warmly received. Many participants expressed feeling empowered by their new understanding of skin health and heard by the medical community through engaging with medical students and dermatologists. The strength, resilience, and uplifting spirit of each beautiful woman they have met along the way has been incredibly humbling and heartwarming. In the medical field where efficiency is prioritized and is filled with endless to-do tasks, TIPP offers a space for us to slow down, give back to the community, and reflect on the role of medicine in serving humanity. 

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From Stephanie Choi and Hanna Englander: 

On behalf of the medical student volunteers, we want to express our sincerest gratitude to Jana’s Place for the incredible work they do, the brave women who have opened their space and welcomed us so warmly, and the Women’s Dermatologic Society for enabling us to continue this wonderful initiative. We hope our story and positive experience inspire others to lead similar efforts in their communities and amplify our collective work in empowering women. 

 

From Dr. Dori Goldberg, Dermatologist and Mohs Micrographic Surgeon:

Thank you to WDS for their support of this wonderful program and to the dedicated and caring UMass Medical Student group including Stephanie Choi and Hanna Englander.  I would like to especially thank the inspiring and brave women of Jana’s Place for welcoming us and allowing us to share this program with them. 

 

(Left to right: Hanna Englander, Dr. Dori Goldberg, Stephanie Choi)

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(Left to right: Haley Neff, Stephanie Choi, Yuying Zhang)

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