US Army T-Derm

Since 2005, UM has provided store-and-forward teledermatology consultations for U.S. military personnel and their dependents at 31 bases in 17 states in the Great Plains Regional Medical Command, performing non-urgent consultations on Mondays. To date, over 2,500 teledermatology consultations have been provided by UM dermatologists. Starting in January 2009, UM TeleHealth refocused the service and limited consultations to two bases in Kansas, with daily consultation during the workweek. To date, the consult workload has increased over the prior Monday-only rotation in multiple states.

This project has also been demonstrated to be a valuable tool in the training of dermatology residents. Third-year UM dermatology residents perform the initial assessment of teledermatology cases. Then, a UM faculty (attending) dermatologist reviews and edits the resident’s diagnosis, treatment recommendations, and plans for follow-up prior to submitting the final consulting report to the referring physician. Also, the attending dermatologist completes an assessment of the resident’s performance that is shared with the resident.