Dermatology Department Named Center of Excellence

February 6, 2009

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The Department of Dermatology at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center has been named a Clinical Center of Excellence in Dermatology by Medical Economics magazine, which referred to the department as one of the finest in the country.

Seven other dermatology departments named Clinical Centers of Excellence in the current edition of the magazine include: Harvard Medical School, The Mayo Clinic, UCSF Medical Center, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York University Medical Center, University of Texas Health Sciences Center and the University of Michigan Health System.
The magazine’s editors surveyed physicians and key opinion leaders in dermatology. “The purpose is to recognize those hospitals that bring a little something extra to a specialty, whether through research, patient care, or community outreach.”

Alan B. Fleischer Jr., M.D., chairman of the Department of Dermatology, said, “Our publication and presentation numbers compare very favorably with many of the larger programs, in spite of our smaller faculty. We have seven faculty with enormous innovative research productivity, clinical care experience, and national and international presence.”

Other dermatology faculty members include: Joseph L. Jorizzo, M.D., professor and department founder; Steven R. Feldman, M.D., Ph.D., professor and director of the Center for Dermatology Research; Amy J. McMichael, M.D., associate professor and director of the Hair Disorders Clinic; Daniel Pearce, M.D., assistant professor of Dermatologic Surgery; Rita Pichardo-Geisinger, M.D., assistant professor; Omar Sangueza, M.D., professor of Pathology and Dermatology; Philip M. Williford, M.D., professor and director of Dermatologic Surgery; and Gil Yosipovitch, M.D., professor and director of the Skin Physiology Laboratory.

Last year the dermatology department ranked 13th in the country out of 107 programs based on results from a study by the Dermatology Online Journal. The programs were ranked by five measures during the period from 2001 to 2004: publications, NIH funding, Dermatology Foundation grants, faculty lectures delivered at national conferences, and the number of full-time faculty members who were on the editorial boards of the top three U.S. dermatology journals and the top four subspecialty journals.

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Media Contacts: Ann Hopkins, ahopkins@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-1280, or Bonnie Davis, bdavis@wfubmc.edu, (336) 716-4587.

Media Relations