Geisel School of Medicine medical students Chiamaka Okorie ('24) and Shahin Shahsavari ('25), along with Dr. Lynn Foster-Johnson (Department of Medical Education and The Dartmouth Institute at the Geisel School of Medicine) and Dr. Alicia Dagrosa (Department of Dermatology at Dartmouth Health and Department of Medical Education at Geisel School of Medicine) have received a grant from the Design Initiative at Dartmouth (DIAD) to advance "Dart Derm" a web-based educational resource that addresses the limited diagnostic tools and training for dermatologic conditions in intermediate and dark skin types. A lack of diversity is evident in Dermatology instructional materials. An informal audit of Geisel's Dermatology course curriculum revealed that many images of dermatologic diseases were of patients with light skin. Additionally, a cursory review of top Dermatology education websites shows that most images present dermatological diseases on lighter skin tones, with only a few sites providing comparative examples of conditions on darker skin. The limited representation in the Dermatology curriculum can result in missed or incorrect diagnoses, insufficient knowledge of unique skin presentations, poor dermatological health outcomes, and increased overall health disparities for people of color. Foster-Johnson and Dagrosa will use the funding to partner with the Data Experiences and Visualizations (DEV) Studio at Dartmouth to develop a prototype for the Dermatology course and produce an educational research plan to support an application for NIH and NSF funding to bring the web-based product to fruition.
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