Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Aesculapius

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to analyze the lecture materials provided in medical schools through a diversity lens. Skin pathologies manifest distinctively on various shades of skin and physicians must be equipped with the proper knowledge to identify and diagnose these conditions accurately and promptly. For most medical students, images in prominent textbooks and lecture slides are their first encounter with disease presentations. Therefore, it is important to analyze the diversity of skin tones in the content that is being delivered. Specifically, the use of images featuring darker skin tones compared to those depicting lighter skin tones. This study analyzed lecture materials from two allopathic and two osteopathic medical schools. The analysis was limited to lectures given during the Skin/MSK block or dermatology block. The skin pathologies were organized into five categories: Inflammatory Disorders, Infectious Skin Disorders, Pigmented Disorders, Non-Pigmented Disorders, and Blistering Disorders. Images were classified as dark skin tones, light skin tones, and indeterminate based on the Fitzpatrick Scale. The results showed that of the 560 images analyzed, 96 images, or 17.14%, were representative of dark skin tones. 78.04% represented light skin-tone subjects and 4.82% were classified as indeterminate.

Publication Date

12-31-2024

Keywords

SoC, skin of color, ethnic skin, dark skin tones, light skin tones, under representation of SoC, Fitzpatrick scale, Fitzpatrick skin type, health disparities, racial disparities, SoC representation, skin disorders, inflammatory disorders, blistering disorders, pigmented disorders, non-pigmented disorders, infectious skin disorders, skin infections, call to action, interinstitutional analysis of SoC, dermatology lecture content, resident confidence, medical student confidence, diagnosing SoC

ISSN

2690-2648

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