A patient's social needs are the "elephant in the room" of many dermatology visits. Dermatologists' awareness of the structural and social determinants of healtheg, housing instability, transportation barriers, lack of health insurance-has increased substantially from the lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic. A renewed energy and focus by physician organizations, health care systems, public health agencies, policy makers, and regulators on health inequity presents an opportunity for dermatologists to reconsider how they may participate in addressing patients' social needs. Understandably, it can feel daunting to transition from awareness to action. In this Viewpoint, we underscore the role of structural and social determinants of health in dermatology and present examples of activities that dermatologists can engage in, as clinicians, advocates, researchers, and educators.
This cross-sectional study examines racial and ethnic diversity trends among dermatology resident trainees and applicants compared with other specialties.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.