Editorial

Getting involved

The American Academy ofDennatology (AAD)operates mainly on volunteer power. If you areinterested in becoming involved in the affairs ofthe Academy, please be assured that the Academywants and needs your help.

Those dennatologists who go into practice oftensuffer from what has been called "the Rip VanWinkle syndrome." The demands of opening anoffice, getting established, getting settled in ahome, and beginning and raising a family oftentake all available time during the first 10 or 15years after residency. Most of you have very littlespare time and often little interest in volunteeringfor committee work and other affairs of the Acad­emy. By the time you are available, you often donot know how to go about it.

The Academy needs people to serve. There aremany of you interested in service. All we have todo is figure out how to get you together.

It is important to start somewhere, to "get yourfeet wet," to do a good job and to begin to beknown. Involvement in local, regional, and statedennatologic societies is a 'good beginning. Theselocal organizations can provide a "testing ground"to see if you are really interested in the type ofcommittee and political work and to identify thetype of job that you perform well. Serving oncommittees, especially with people from otherareas and backgrounds, requires a sense of per­spective and an ability to see merits in other view­points. Many of these local and state societies aresmall enough that almost everyone can serve insome capacity.

The Advisory Council of the AAD is anothermeans of gaining such perspective. This requiresappointment or election by your local society torepresent them at the Advisory Council meeting,held at the annual meeting of the AAD. Both ofthese approaches are worthwhile and will serve tomake you known to others who are active both inlocal, regional, and state societies andin the Acad-

146

emy. Still another way of making yourself knownis to become proficient in a particular field andeither write for dennatologic journals or talk onyour subject at dermatologic meetings. If you havethe temperament and skills, this is a method thatwill make you known to a larger number of peoplein a shorter period of time.

Once you have decided that you would like toserve the AAD, then you must consider how youwould like to do this and in what capacity. Is therea specific committee or council that you wouldlike to serve on? Again, there are several waysthat you can become involved. First, the AADsolicits volunteers for service on various councilsand committees. This is done through the Bulletinof the American Academy of Dermatology andthrough the Executive Committee of the AdvisoryCouncil. These solicitations usually occur in sum­mer or early fall and are reasonably well publi­cized. You can also write the AAD office andrequest that your name be added to the list ofvolunteers to serve on a council or committee.Conversely, once you and your interests becomeknown, you will often be asked to serve on aspecific committee.

Selection of members for the specific commit­tees and councils is detennined by several factors.First, the chairman of the committee wants to becertain that the people who serve on his committeewill perform reliably and energetically. It is im­portant, therefore, that you make yourself knownto the chairman and to the other members of thecommittee on which you wish to serve. If you donot know the chairman, then it would be helpfulif someone familiar with your skills could rec­ommend you to the chairman. If you know mem­bers of the committee but not the chairman, askthem to contact the chairman on your behalf. Thereis a great deal of work done by most of the com­mittees and councils of the AAD, and the chairmanof each committee will seek committee members

Volume 13Number 1July, 1985

who are both pleasant and productive. The com­mittee chairmen are looking for people who willnot only perfonn but will also do so cooperativelywith other members of the committee.

Thus, there is no single way of becoming in­volved in the activities of the AAD. Given thedesire to get involved, there are almost as manyways as there are people. The AAD wants vol-

Getting involved 147

unteers. You want to serve. Get together by what­ever means are available for the mutual good ofboth yourself and the Academy.

Jerry H. Stephens, M.D.Chairman, Advisory Council

American Academy ofDermatologyHouston, TX

ABSTRACTS

Treatment of cutaneous abscess; a double-blindclinical study

Liera JL, Levy RC: Ann Emerg Med 14:15-19, 1985

A tidy study which shows that some or most cutaneousabscesses are not improved faster with a systemic antibiotic(cephradine) .

P. G.A.

The frequency of local recurrence andmicrosatellites as a guide to re-excision marginsfor cutaneous malignant melanoma

Kelly JW, Sagebiel RW, Calderon W, et al: AnnSurg 200:759-763, 1984

This fine study of the appropriate margins for the excisionof melanoma notes that the frequency of local recurrence isrelated to tumor thickness. Margins of 1 em are optimal ifthe melanoma is less than 1 rom in depth. The concepts areimportant and useful.

P.G.A.

Detection of antibodies to human parvovirus inerythema infectiosum (fifth disease)

Okabe N, Kobayashi S, Tatsuzawa 0, et a1: ArchDis Child 59:1016-1019, 1984

Worth reading to clarify the technics, the authors claimthat the cause of fifth disease is a tiny single-stranded de­oxyribonucleic acid (DNA) virus of the parvovirus group.

P. G.A.

Circulating Sezary cells. A new preparatorymethod for their identification and enumeration.

Fletcher V, Zackheim HS, Beckstead JH: ArchPathol Lab Med 108:954-958, 1984

The method uses separation on a density gradient, embed­ding in plastic, and special staining of an esterase. Validityis not known yet.

P. G.A.

Improving prognosis for malignant melanoma inBritain

Taylor BA, Hughes LE, Williams OT: Br J Surg71:950-953, 1984

The 5-year cumulative survival rate is about 75% in thisseries, which· is regarded poorly. Plans for better early di­agnosis and therapy are discussed.

P. G.A.

Epidermotropic malignant melanoma: Thedistinction between metastatic and new primarylesions in the skin

Jackson R: Can J Surg 27:533-555, 1984

One of the many unresolved problems in the accurate his­topathologic diagnoses of melanoma is discussed and helpfuladvice is detailed.

P. G.A.

Factors related to patient delay in seeking medicalattention for cutaneous malignant melanoma

Temoshok L, DiClemente RI, Sweet DM, et al:Cancer 54:3048-3053, 1984

Delay in seeking medical care for possible melanoma cor­relates with Clark's level of the melanoma. Patients lessknowledgeable about melanoma had longer delays. The im­plications of all this are discussed as an objective basis for aplan for the prevention of death from melanoma.

p.e.A.

Seasonal patterns in the diagnosis of malignantmelanoma of skin and eye in upstate New York

Polednak AP: Cancer 54:2587-2594, 1984

Melanoma of the leg in women is diagnosed more in sum­mer, not surprisingly. Other patterns are less notable, sUchas the March-April peak for truncal melanoma of men. Theyreport 2,403 cutaneous melanomas. Explanations are few.

p.e.A.