The dermatologist as an autobiographic author-Part 2

A dermatologist may choose to become an autobiographic author. Once that decision has been made, there are many potential writing presentations that have been used by these individuals to share their information. Writing a comprehensive autobiography and presenting the content in a book is the classic approach. The intent of the authors is to present a pair of papers summarizing the features of dermatologists who have published as autobiographic authors. In our first paper (Part 1), succinct biographic sketches summarize the characteristics of 10 dermatologists who have written autobiographies. In this paper (Part 2), the features of dermatologists who either provide autobiographic interviews, contribute to magazine columns regarding their interactions with patients, share memoirs of life-threatening non-dermatologic conditions, or write medical case reports about themselves are described; they include Dr Benjamin Barankin, Dr Jeffrey Benabio, Dr David Biro, Dr Philip R. Cohen, and Dr Alan S. Rockoff. Indeed, a variation on the traditional presentation of providing a complete autobiography has been adopted by two dermatologists; these individuals elected to only discuss their transition from being a physician to becoming a patient and to focus the novel that they wrote on a single life-threatening condition. Several alternative methods, however, have been embraced by other dermatologists. For example, a dermatologist selected various dermatologists and asked them to answer a series of questions that would allow them to share autobiographic information in their replies; he subsequently edited two volumes of a book that included the content he received in short chapters from 100 dermatologists. Thereafter, using a similar format, he created and edited a monthly journal feature that succinctly summarized the professional achievements and personal insights of a dermatologist in each issue. Monthly features that are published in dermatology magazines provide two dermatologists an opportunity to share insights into not only their personality and perspective toward dermatology but also their interactions with patients. One dermatologist, in addition, has decided to publish individual case reports that discuss not only his benign but also his more serious medical conditions. In conclusion, dermatologists who publish as autobiographical authors are a unique group of highly motivated individuals who have a sincere passion for sharing personal aspects of their life journey.

Abstract from PubMed