Whether you currently have acne or have suffered from acne in the past, one thing we know for sure is that acne changes our skin. This includes dark spots, red spots and indentations that remain well after acne lesions have cleared. Exactly how this is treated is a common concern of patients. Whether you work in internal ...

As the universities and secondary schools are preparing for spring break, it is important that we are educated and educate our young patients on the dangers of ultraviolet exposure. I am going to focus this blog more specifically towards the use of tanning beds. As a dermatology specialist and a parent, I find it unconscionable that ...

The best care for scars starts immediately. Knowing the proper care and treatment for potential scarring is important to know before the damage is done. Among my favorite initial scar treatments is the topical use of Biocorneum. This silicone based gel acts as an anti-inflammatory, improves redness of scars and helps ...

Was it losing weight? Spending more time with your family? Dragging your body to the gym? Reading more books? When's the last year you set a new year's resolution? And how far did you get before you broke it? And why are you so discouraged about trying again in 2013? We students in the medical field are required to study behavior change ...

The skin around the eyes is one of the first places that reveal a person's age. The delicate skin under the eyes that contains less subcutaneous fat becomes thinner with age. The unsightly age-related changes include dark circles, ''bags'' or swelling and puffiness, crepy skin under the eyes and ''crows' feet.'' Patients often complain that ...

I don't know how many of my fellow NPs and PAs have seen and or heard about HBO's four-part documentary on obesity in America, The Weight of the Nation, but I can't recommend it enough: it is an awesome and totally relevant examination of health in the States. So many of the individuals profiled in this series were reminiscent of ...

As a future healthcare provider, I am learning a key concept when educating patients: be firm but kind; and it's ok to not get your point across. Many of the chronic diseases we face in healthcare require lifestyle changes and perpetual monitoring, which all hinge on our patients' vigilance. At a wellness class I teach once a month, I ...

My new position affords me the opportunity to provide care and management of patients living with HIV.  Living is the operative verb. Gone are the days of taking at least 17 pills PO q 24 hours. Patients in the United States, diagnosed with HIV, that commence Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) and are medication compliant, will more likely ...

STD screens and treatment are a bread-and-butter public health service. Screenings are usually handled by enhanced-role RNs trained in speculum exams, collecting cultures and wet mounts, though not performing Pap smears. Because our enhanced role RN is the lead nurse for the entire clinic, I do the STD screens when she's covering other ...

With 4 days left to go in my residency I decided to wallow in sentimentality by going through all of the accumulated folders related to my journey in nursing that began with nursing school at East Carolina University (ECU; 2nd degree) in 2003, public health nurse in 2005, then grad school at Duke in 2009. I came across this ...