News > October 18, 2007

By Steve Ettannani | Staff writer

The Wake Forest Baptist Dermatology Program was recently ranked No. 15 among 107 other programs in the country. The rankings were based on results from a study by the Dermatology Online Journal and were categorized by five measures.

These five categories include publications between the years 2001 and 2004, the amount of National Institutes of Health funding in 2004 and the number of full-time faculty members serving on the editorial boards of the top three U.S. dermatology journals and top four sub-specialty journals.

Alan Fleischer, Jr., professor and chairman of the dermatology department, said that the high ranking “did not come as a surprise.”

In spite of the fact that the program is not as competitive with regards to National Institute of Health funding as other larger dermatological programs, they did manage to find a competitive edge in the frequent publishing of the program’s findings and studies.

Also, the high numbers of continuous presence of faculty members at national and international conferences helped to ensure recognition of the university program.

Fittingly, five faculty members were present at the World Congress of Dermatology in Buenos Aires, Argentina. In their commitment to delivering world class medical care, the Wake Forest Baptist Dermatology Program is actively researching the latest treatments and examining new approaches in their respective field.

Fleischer and his colleagues are investigating patient compliance and how it relates to improvement in patient condition.

“Patients often may not be perfect at applying their medicines,” Fleischer said.

He also said such research “helps (dermatologists) understand real life barriers in terms of medicating patients and treating them.”