Her Story
About Dana
I graduated from Tulane University School of Medicine in 2012 and stayed on for my dermatology residency, which I completed in 2016. I was honored to serve as chief resident during my time there, which is something I'll always be proud of and grateful for. After residency, I took my first position with a mentor who owned practices in Connecticut and New Orleans, and I primarily focused my time in Connecticut, learning a tremendous amount from her. In 2017, I moved back to California, a place that holds special meaning for me since I spent years training there as an Olympic athlete at the training center in Chula Vista. I took a position in Newport Beach, which was incredible. When COVID hit, my husband and I made the decision to move to Florida for his job, and I joined a private dermatology practice in the Sarasota area, where I've been for five and a half years now. I see patients from 8 to 5 every day, typically around 40-45 patients per day, focusing on medical, general, and surgical dermatology with some cosmetics. I give each patient as much time as they need and deserve, even if it means running behind, because I believe that's what they deserve as individuals. One of the reasons I fell in love with dermatology is that it's so visual - I don't need special tools to make a diagnosis, and for patients, their skin is the window to everything else. Being able to help people with something so important to their confidence and presentation in a meaningful way is incredibly rewarding.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Dana
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
I think any field that you're going to go into, you have to have a passion for it. Work shouldn't feel like work - I mean, work is work at the end of the day, but you just have to go into something loving it, so that work doesn't feel like work, and you get up every day being motivated to go and help people. I've learned through the good and bad over the years of being out now in private practice for 10 plus years that medicine is changing, for better or for worse, and I think we as providers and anybody going into medicine needs to keep that altruism - we should get into it because we ultimately want to help people and better patients' lives, health-wise. I think there's a few things in life that are important, and health should really be at the top. Health and happiness are key, and one drives the other as well. If we can get out there and help people with their health, and just to feel better, and help improve their quality of life, then that's huge. Unfortunately, everything in this world is driven by money, and medicine is no different than that, so keeping that core value at the center of your practice is key - really keeping the patient at the center of everything, and their well-being.
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