Increasing skin of color representation in a medical school dermatology course through student and faculty engagement: The Dermatology IDD Image Verification Ensuring Representation of Skin of Color initiative

Abstract

To the Editor: The skin of color (SOC) has been underrepresented in dermatology study materials and academic publications1-3; nearly half of dermatologists report inadequate training on SOC.4 In addition, few studies have evaluated interventions addressing SOC representation in medical education, which have the potential to mitigate race-based disparities in dermatology. Therefore, we aimed to quantify and enhance the representation of diverse skin tones in a first-year medical school course and assess student and faculty experiences in an intervention-modified course.