Norma Goldberger first realized the mole on her neck looked different when make-up wouldn’t cover it anymore. Still, the change was slight. It hadn’t changed colors. It was just a little bigger. She thought about getting it checked, but she didn’t want to pay for a doctor’s visit. She’d wait for a skin screening, she thought. She showed it to some of her family members, but nobody seemed worried. Time went on, and Goldberger put off getting it checked. Finally, more than six months after she had noticed the change, […]

Driven to spread the word about the importance of sun protection, USF College of Medicine students are telling local high school students how to protect themselves from the skin cancer. Last fall, fourth-year medical student Salma Pothiawala helped start a local chapter of Check Your Skin, a national organization dedicated to raising awareness of skin cancer and the importance of sun protection. The USF chapter is under the guidance of Dr. Mary Lien, associate professor in the USF Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Surgery. Through community outreach programs and teach-ins, […]

Dr. Neil Fenske Neil Fenske, MD, professor and chair of Dermatology at USF Health, was among four dermatologists in the Southeast and 17 nationwide named among America’s Top Doctors for Women in Women’s Health magazine. Women’s Health magazine teamed up with research firm Castle Connolly to create a definitive list of America’s best doctors for women in 10 specialties. The list appears in the November 2008 issue of the magazine and is available online at WomensHealthMag.com. It was compiled through a comprehensive screening process conducted by Castle Connolly’s physician-led team […]

In the Tampa Bay area, nearly a third (32 percent) of the physicians who made the 2008 Best Doctors in America list work at USF Health. And when you include the generous volunteer faculty members (those who teach medical students several times each year) and College of Medicine alumni in private practice locally, the numbers go up even more – 62 percent of the list has a connection with USF Health. The annual list for Best Doctors in America is compiled from surveys of physicians asking them who they would […]

– Grant from American Academy of Dermatology will help build shade structure – A local elementary school that partnered with USF Health dermatologist Neil Alan Fenske, MD, is one of 37 organizations nationwide to receive a 2008 Shade Structure Program Grant from the American Academy of Dermatology. The $8,000 grant will support Cecile B. Essrig Elementary School’s fundraising initiative to build a pavilion that will cover the school’s existing outdoor basketball court. Essrig was one of only three schools in Florida receiving the AAD grant this year, and the only […]

It happens every first Monday in May – Melanoma Monday- a decades old tradition at the USF Clinic and a potential life-saver for patients! USF’s Department of Dermatology & Cutaneous Surgery has held an “open-house” of sorts, openning their doors to the community for a night of free skin cancer screenings. By the hundreds patients come. The event brings together the university’s skin cancer experts and medical residents with folks from across the Tampa Bay area – many of them “Melanoma Monday” veterans. This year’s event falls on May 5th. […]

Unexpected Ally in the Fight Against Skin Cancer Over the scalp she goes – running her fingers, parting the hair, scanning it inch by inch. When you sit in the chair of this hairdresser, you’re getting more than a haircut! Thrisha Rom scans the scalps of her clients looking for possible signs of cancer. She’s a hairdresser on double-duty – creating fabulous hairstyles and doing her part to save clients from the ravages of skin cancer. “You can’t check your own scalp the way someone else can who’s standing over […]

IN THE ZONE… With her knack for decorating, Carmen Guzman has helped make Dermatology an award-winning zone in the USF Health Clinic for the past 10 years. It starts every year in September and by Halloween the explosion of color and festive décor is impossible to miss! If you’re ‘in the zone’ of changing leaves, smiling pumpkins & scarecrows, pilgrims and mistletoe, chances are you’re at the medical clinic of USF Health. It’s a four month extravaganza of color and festive holiday décor that starts with the first Fall breeze […]

Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, Vice President of USF Health and Dean of the USF College of Medicine has been awarded the 2007 Health Care Heroes Award for Health Care Education. This year’s award in Health Care Innovation & Research goes to William S. Dalton, PhD, MD, President & CEO of H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and a Professor of Interdisciplinary Oncology in the USF College of Medicine. The Tampa Bay Business Journal announced this year’s awards during a ceremony, October 11th. In all, there were 33 finalists from throughout […]

For two hours, they looked for clues on dozens of backs, the soles of feet, scalps, legs and arms – the team from USF Health Dermatology on a mission to spot any signs of skin cancer on the bodies of faculty and staff in the university’s Athletics Department. With the “great outdoors” as their classroom, athletic coaches and staff know their chances of over exposure to the sun’s harmful rays are higher. On August 9th, the university’s “Health” side of the house helped take care of the “Athletics” side. In […]