Mentee Nickoo Merati with mentor Dr. Tarannum Jaleel
It has been an absolute pleasure to be mentored by Dr. Tarannum Jaleel through your program. As an Iranian immigrant with skin that sometimes passes as White and sometimes does not, I do not necessarily see my skin represented in traditional dermatology media – let alone that of my Black and Brown friends. When the pandemic struck in early 2020, I came across your SOCS mentorship program on Instagram. As a Canadian medical student, I was grateful to match to a mentor from the US, which is championing the SOC representation movement.
Despite the uncertain times of the pandemic, my final year of medical school, and Dr. Jaleel’s maternity leave, we still managed to meet a total of 3 meaningful times over the past year on Zoom. One of the most valuable outcomes for me was to learn more from Dr. Jaleel about the few SOC textbooks that existed at the time. With Dr. Jaleel’s encouragement, I helped make change in a big way on a local scale – I led the Dermatology component of an anti-racist review of McGill’s entire pre-clerkship curriculum. As the Dermatology lead, I dove into ethnodermatology resources and found SOC pictures to include alongside each condition in our dermatology lectures. I am most proud of the feedback we have received from classmates, residents, and staff physicians, who shared they are finally seeing themselves in their lectures.
With Dr. Jaleel, we also discussed advancing my other research interests. She connected me with International Dermatology Outcome Measures groups for these respective areas and liaised me with local leaders in Canada doing similar work.
Dr. Jaleel and I also had candid, meaningful conversations beyond research: her experience as a woman and mother in dermatology, how to advocate for appropriate maternity leave, renumeration as a dermatologist in Canada versus the US, and the ever-interesting debate of cosmetic versus medical dermatology. Dr. Jaleel held space for me to be open and vulnerable, and despite our never having met in-person I feel very connected to her.
Lastly, as a Canadian, I believe it is worthy to note my appreciation to the SOCS for opening this opportunity to Canadian medical students as well. I have learned so much from my American mentor, and I believe the international perspective and experience added much value to my experience. I sincerely hope more Canadian medical students will be able to benefit from this as much as I have!
Finally, as of 3 days ago (match day was April 12 2022 in Canada) I am now officially a future dermatologist! I matched to Dermatology at McGill University. I am elated to be able to continue the important SOC work that I have already begun here, and am indebted to Dr. Tarannum as well as many other leaders I have connected with through the SOCS. I met Dr. Alexis and Dr. Taylor in-person recently at the AAD 2022 Boston conference, and it was such a joy to thank them in person. I hope to attend the upcoming SOCS conference in New York later this year as well and continue to thank the SOCS leaders that have shaped the kind of future dermatologist I will be!
With many thanks,