NSU Horizons Spring/Summer 2009

O n a recent Wednesday afternoon, it’s business as usual at the Dermatology Center at Nova Southeastern Univer- sity’s Health Care Centers—standing room only. Patients in the waiting room come in all shapes and sizes. Today, a double stroller carries a one-year-old boy and his three- year-old sister, two foster children brought in by a caregiver because of a rash on the young boy’s face. A student in scrubs from the College of Allied Health and Nursing is waiting to be seen for patches of dry skin on the underside of her arms. And a man in his 80s, who sits with his walker while his wife reads to him from a magazine, has arrived for a follow-up visit. Doctors will check on a precancerous skin lesion he had removed a few weeks ago. One by one, they are called in to a door on the left, while oth- ers leave from a door on the right. Beyond the door and into the hallways, it’s a hustle and bustle of activity. A first-year resident confers with the attending dermatologist about a patient he’s just seen. He’d like a second opinion on a dark mole on the woman’s leg. This patient is one of nearly 200 who are seen weekly at NSU’s on-campus dermatological center. Many of them come because of skin problems, but some are seeking ways to enhance their appear- ance. The center has state-of-the-art equipment to help treat ev- erything from embarrassing pimples and annoying wrinkles to skin diseases that can lower quality of life—or even threaten one’s life. The center is a place where patients can begin their road to recov- ery or find their fountain of youth. “The spectrum of skin diseases we treat covers just about ev- erything from skin cancers to acne to eczema,” said Tracy Favreau, D.O., the center’s director and assistant director of the Dermatol- ogy Residency Program at NSU’s College of Osteopathic Medicine. “We’re prepared to treat anything.” Robert Preziosi, a professor of man- agement at the H. Wayne Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneur- ship, has been a patient at the center for 10 years, where he has been treated for skin cancer. While it is conve- nient for Preziosi to visit the center be- cause it is on the campus where he works, he said it’s not the primary reason he selected the center for his skin assessments. “There are a lot of dermatologists I could go to. The center has the same equipment and uses the same techniques I’ve experi- enced at other places. But, they just do everything better here,” Preziosi said. What he said he likes most is the feeling that a team of doctors, not just one specialist, is tending to his needs. “As scien- tific as medicine is, it is nice when there is another perspective that someone can offer. You get that here,” he said. NSU is a university with on-campus health clinics, and therefore, patients are seen by a team of dermatology residents, as well as attending dermatologists including Favreau and Carlos Nousari, M.D., the former codirector of immunodermatol- ogy at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions and a nationally and internationally recognized authority in immunoderma- tology (the study of autoimmune diseases and how they affect the skin). “The teams are composed of faculty members, physicians, residents, or pre- and postdoctoral students under direct faculty supervision. It is structured this way so the team spends more time with each patient for consultation and for answering each and every question,” said Robert Oller, D.O., CEO of NSU’s clinic operations. Residents are part of the NSU College of Osteopathic residency program in dermatology and are also integral in day-to-day patient interaction. Julian Moore, D.O., a first- year dermatology resident, feels his time at NSU has already made him a better doctor. “My experience here is richer than I could have ever imagined. Florida, in terms of the overall general 31 horizons NSU’s Dermatology Team Treats Patients Like Family By Michelle F. Solomon Tracy Favreau, D.O., examines patient Robert Preziosi at NSU’s Dermatology Center. Preziosi has been a patient at the center for 10 years, receiving treatment for skin cancer. Julian Moore, D.O., treats a patient. Moore, a first-year dermatology resident, said that his time at NSU has already made him a better doctor. (continued on page 36)