Director: Robert
A. Schwartz MD
The dermatology service handles disorders of skin, hair,
nails and
accessible mucosal surfaces in both child and adult. The dermatologist
is both a primary care and a consultant physician with advanced
knowledge about skin disease whose efforts combine surgery,
pediatrics,
internal medicine and pathology. Most often, the skin lesion
itself
provides this experienced observer with the clues required
for the
diagnosis. If there is question, or if the diagnosis of cancer
is
entertained, a microscopic view (the skin biopsy) becomes
mandatory.
However, the dermatologist is more than a skin pathologist,
for
dermatology is as much a surgical specialty as a pathological
or medical
one. Nevertheless, the basis of sound medicine is pathophysiology.
We recognize that dermatology is a visual specialty. The dermatologist
is the quintessential observer. But to examine the skin is
not enough.
The observer looks at the patient. His appearance, his size,
every
gesture and motion tell something about the patient. A diagnosis
is not
simply the naming and cataloging of the disease. The one diseased
is as
important as the disease itself. Through observation, the
dermatologist
strives to grasp who is this individual, what are the signs
of his
disease, what is his disease as fundamental alterations of
anatomy and
physiology as well as its relation to his role and environment.
To achieve this end, one should elicit a proper history,
see and
understand all abnormal lesions of the skin, hair, nails and
contiguous
mucous membranes, understand the clinical and pathological
basis of
primary, secondary and special lesions of the skin, and interpret
the
clinical signs, historical data and general observations.
All of these data are then analyzed within the perspective
of a
system of classification wherein the problem may be further
understood.
Certain clinical and laboratory procedures may be utilized
to more
precisely define these data. In the final analysis, the questions:
Who
is this patient? What is his disease? What is the most prudent
management of this problem diagnostically and therapeutically?
will be
answered.
The skin is the largest body organ. It is composed of epidermis
and
dermis. It protects the body in a variety of ways, retaining
its
integrity physically, and providing sensory and thermoregulatory
control
and immunologic surveillance. Focused work on the structure
and
biochemistry of the epidermis as a permeability barrier has
led to a
much increased understanding of the epidermis and its function,
and
provide advanced therapeutic options to help patients.
DERMATOLOGY
New Jersey Medical School
185 South Orange Avenue, H 576
Newark, NJ 07103
973-972-6255
Fax 973-972-5877
Email
