Dr. Otley is professor and chair of the department of dermatology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He majored in religion at Williams College, received his medical degree at Duke University, completed a residency in dermatology at Harvard University and then a fellowship in Mohs and Dermatologic Surgery at Mayo Clinic.
He serves as a director of the American Board of Dermatology. He was the founding president of the International Transplant Skin Cancer Collaborative, and has served on the board of directors of the American College of Mohs Surgery and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.
He lives with his spouse Jill, a professor in education, and their 4 children in the country in Rochester where they love outdoor activities and exotic cooking.
Q. What part of your work gives you the most pleasure?
A. The whole mix of patient care, surgery, teaching, research, students and colleagues. I love the variety.
Q. Are an understanding and appreciation for the humanities important in dermatology?
A. They are essential, in that they allow physicians to appreciate the unique realities in which their patients live and think. A broad appreciation of life allows doctors to empathize and to recognize that their patients’ needs and understanding are often different than their own.
Q. What is your greatest regret?
A. I regret that I was unsuccessful in my application for a Watson fellowship after college to study Shamanism cross-culturally in Siberia, Africa and South America. I may do that when I retire.
Q. Who was your hero/mentor and why?
A. As cliché as this sounds, my father is both my hero and mentor because he demonstrates the value of living responsibly through actions rather than focusing on impressions.
Q. Which patient has had the most effect on your work and why?
A. The patient who impacted me the most was an amazing gentleman who had a cardiac transplant and suffered with more than 500 skin cancers, including 3 metastatic skin cancers. He relentlessly challenged me to help him and would not accept “standard of care” as good enough. He was the motivating force behind the International Transplant Skin Cancer Collaborative.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you have received and from whom?
A. “Figure out what you want … not what others think you should want.” — Victor C. Otley, Sr., my father.
Q. What medical figure from history would you most like to have a drink with? Why?
A. I would like to sit down with Israel Penn, MD, founder of the Israel Penn International Transplant Tumor Registry. He was the father of transplant oncology.
Q. What do you think is the greatest political danger to the field of dermatology?
A. Isolation from the broad perspective of other medical disciplines.
Dr. Barankin is a dermatologist in Toronto, Canada. He is author-editor of 6 books in dermatology and is widely published in the dermatology and humanities literature.
Dr. Otley is professor and chair of the department of dermatology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He majored in religion at Williams College, received his medical degree at Duke University, completed a residency in dermatology at Harvard University and then a fellowship in Mohs and Dermatologic Surgery at Mayo Clinic.
He serves as a director of the American Board of Dermatology. He was the founding president of the International Transplant Skin Cancer Collaborative, and has served on the board of directors of the American College of Mohs Surgery and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.
He lives with his spouse Jill, a professor in education, and their 4 children in the country in Rochester where they love outdoor activities and exotic cooking.
Q. What part of your work gives you the most pleasure?
A. The whole mix of patient care, surgery, teaching, research, students and colleagues. I love the variety.
Q. Are an understanding and appreciation for the humanities important in dermatology?
A. They are essential, in that they allow physicians to appreciate the unique realities in which their patients live and think. A broad appreciation of life allows doctors to empathize and to recognize that their patients’ needs and understanding are often different than their own.
Q. What is your greatest regret?
A. I regret that I was unsuccessful in my application for a Watson fellowship after college to study Shamanism cross-culturally in Siberia, Africa and South America. I may do that when I retire.
Q. Who was your hero/mentor and why?
A. As cliché as this sounds, my father is both my hero and mentor because he demonstrates the value of living responsibly through actions rather than focusing on impressions.
Q. Which patient has had the most effect on your work and why?
A. The patient who impacted me the most was an amazing gentleman who had a cardiac transplant and suffered with more than 500 skin cancers, including 3 metastatic skin cancers. He relentlessly challenged me to help him and would not accept “standard of care” as good enough. He was the motivating force behind the International Transplant Skin Cancer Collaborative.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you have received and from whom?
A. “Figure out what you want … not what others think you should want.” — Victor C. Otley, Sr., my father.
Q. What medical figure from history would you most like to have a drink with? Why?
A. I would like to sit down with Israel Penn, MD, founder of the Israel Penn International Transplant Tumor Registry. He was the father of transplant oncology.
Q. What do you think is the greatest political danger to the field of dermatology?
A. Isolation from the broad perspective of other medical disciplines.
Dr. Barankin is a dermatologist in Toronto, Canada. He is author-editor of 6 books in dermatology and is widely published in the dermatology and humanities literature.
Dr. Otley is professor and chair of the department of dermatology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. He majored in religion at Williams College, received his medical degree at Duke University, completed a residency in dermatology at Harvard University and then a fellowship in Mohs and Dermatologic Surgery at Mayo Clinic.
He serves as a director of the American Board of Dermatology. He was the founding president of the International Transplant Skin Cancer Collaborative, and has served on the board of directors of the American College of Mohs Surgery and the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.
He lives with his spouse Jill, a professor in education, and their 4 children in the country in Rochester where they love outdoor activities and exotic cooking.
Q. What part of your work gives you the most pleasure?
A. The whole mix of patient care, surgery, teaching, research, students and colleagues. I love the variety.
Q. Are an understanding and appreciation for the humanities important in dermatology?
A. They are essential, in that they allow physicians to appreciate the unique realities in which their patients live and think. A broad appreciation of life allows doctors to empathize and to recognize that their patients’ needs and understanding are often different than their own.
Q. What is your greatest regret?
A. I regret that I was unsuccessful in my application for a Watson fellowship after college to study Shamanism cross-culturally in Siberia, Africa and South America. I may do that when I retire.
Q. Who was your hero/mentor and why?
A. As cliché as this sounds, my father is both my hero and mentor because he demonstrates the value of living responsibly through actions rather than focusing on impressions.
Q. Which patient has had the most effect on your work and why?
A. The patient who impacted me the most was an amazing gentleman who had a cardiac transplant and suffered with more than 500 skin cancers, including 3 metastatic skin cancers. He relentlessly challenged me to help him and would not accept “standard of care” as good enough. He was the motivating force behind the International Transplant Skin Cancer Collaborative.
Q. What is the best piece of advice you have received and from whom?
A. “Figure out what you want … not what others think you should want.” — Victor C. Otley, Sr., my father.
Q. What medical figure from history would you most like to have a drink with? Why?
A. I would like to sit down with Israel Penn, MD, founder of the Israel Penn International Transplant Tumor Registry. He was the father of transplant oncology.
Q. What do you think is the greatest political danger to the field of dermatology?
A. Isolation from the broad perspective of other medical disciplines.
Dr. Barankin is a dermatologist in Toronto, Canada. He is author-editor of 6 books in dermatology and is widely published in the dermatology and humanities literature.
