PATIENTS & PUBLIC
This year’s Black History Month (BHM) focuses on family as its theme, exploring perspectives on Representation, Identity and Diversity, according to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASNLH), an organization dedicated to researching and promoting achievements by Black Americans and other individuals of African descent.
We are touched that several members of the Skin of Color Society (SOCS) have remarked over the years that our unique global organization “feels like family,” a sentiment that seemingly comes from common values and shared visions to make a difference in the lives of aspiring and working physicians, patients of color and society as a whole.
This has been a historic year on many fronts. The oft-repeated phrase, “In these unprecedented and challenging times” prefaces myriad if not most of the communications we take in on a daily basis.
It has been a remarkable year for SOCS in many respects in terms of soaring awareness and interest in the longtime work of the Skin of Color Society. We are grateful for the outpouring of support and interest in collaboration that has emerged from this pivotal period.
We are thrilled to see such phenomenal attendance and response to our virtual series addressing “The Impact of Skin Color and Ethnicity on Clinical Diagnosis and Research.” This educational series is collaborative, presented by the Skin of Color Society (SOCS), the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) Group, and VisualDx, with in-kind support from Zoom Video Communications.
Media guests from several dozen news outlets gathered with high interest and engagement for the 4th Annual Skin of Color Society Media Day, “Facing the Future.” This info-rich and people-packed event was graciously hosted by Dr. Dhaval Bhanusali, in his stylish offices of Hudson Dermatology and Laser Surgery. The program featured a rotating format so that smaller groups of editorial guests moved through each of the five presentation rooms featuring a pair of SOCS experts on their designated topic.
This year’s theme focused on what’s new and what’s next in skin of color dermatology treatments, trends and emerging tech.
As the Skin of Color Society’s 15th anniversary year draws to a close, we look back on 2019, and proudly say that it has been quite a banner year, with many exciting highlights!