Mentee: Marycarmen Flores, BA
Mentor: Andrew F. Alexis, MD, MPH
Weill Cornell Medicine
I had the privilege of being selected for the Skin of Color Society (SOCS) Observership Grant with Dr. Alexis. To say that I am grateful and blessed to have gone through this experience would be an understatement. Dr. Alexis’ practice of medicine truly emcompases the mission of SOCS. During my time at Cornell I saw many patients of different backgrounds seeking the care of Dr. Alexis after losing hope that their skin concerns could be diagnosed or treated. I witnessed and learned first hand how effortlessly Dr. Alexis listened and examined the patient to provide a clear diagnosis for their ailments.
Amongst the many different pathologies I was amazed at the wide breadth of different presentations associated with hair loss. When I saw how succinct his process of evaluating, diagnosing, and initiating treatment I was simply fascinated. During my time with Dr. Alexis I learned a lot about pathology in SOC, MOA, treatment plans, and tailored clinical reasoning for each patient. With each mentor I learn something different about how I want to practice medicine to best serve my patients. With Dr. Alexis I most importantly saw a physician address concerns with such compassion and dedication than I have ever seen.
With each patient he not only discussed their exam findings but also the pathology details. His practice was very involved in understanding the current literature and clinical studies. This process provided his patients the ability to understand their diagnosis and also how their treatment plan was based on the latest research. This gave the patients a lot of trust in his process because he had thorough explanations behind each of his clinical decisions. His staff and I intuitively began searching for vast cutaneous presentations to see if there could be other worrisome manifestations of systemic causes.
My favorite cases with Dr. Alexis were often the systemic and autoimmune disorders that subsequently presented with cutaneous manifestations. I was challenged to learn everything about the systemic disease and possible cutaneous presentations, in addition to worrisome complications that may not be commonly known. I quickly discovered my interest was strong in complex dermatology cases and this allowed me to constantly read about several treatment options for these conditions. This opportunity also demonstrated to me the key to competent care by working as a group and involving patient’s other physicians to create cohesive treatment plans.
The level of dedication during this process really showed me about the love of academic medicine, through care, and what it truly means to go above and beyond for patients as your normal everyday practice. This was Dr. Alexis’ way of practicing medicine and this is what I aspire to in my future practice. He practices with genuine compassion and dedication, he sets the standard of what care should look like.
I truly thank the SOCS for awarding me this observership!