Specialty involves diagnosis of more than 1,500 skin conditions
LITTLE ROCK—Jameel Ahmad Brown, MD, has an unusual background for a physician. He grew up in Philadelphia, Pa., and has played the cello since the first grade. He moved to Louisville, Ky., as a teenager and attended the Youth Performing Arts High School. In college he majored in dance, attending The University of Oklahoma on a full dance scholarship after graduating from high school a year early.
After college he had a short professional dance career before he moved to Iowa to earn a second undergraduate degree in applied physiology at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Given his dance background, he originally planned to pursue a career in physical therapy and work with dancers and athletes.
“My aspirations evolved once I became knee deep in the science courses and I found myself wanting to pursue medicine as a more ambitious effort,” Brown said. “I attended medical school there and moved to Baltimore, MD, for residency. I trained for four years in pathology and one year as a fellow after medical school. My primary boarded specialty is anatomic pathology. My secondary boards are in dermatopathology.”
He trained under the tutelage of Bruce Smoller, MD, and Kim Hiatt, MD, as a fellow in dermatopathology at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). He stayed on as a faculty instructor for one year and then moved into private practice.
Brown is a Fellow of the American Society of Dermatopathology and Diplomate of the American Board of Pathology in Anatomic Pathology and Dermatopathology.
Currently Brown is director of dermatopathology for the Dermatology Group of Arkansas. He is also the founder and director of Arkansas Dermatopathology, a separate outreach practice.
Dermatopathology is a very demanding specialty that involves diagnosis and treatment recommendations for more than 1,500 different disorders of the skin. The specialty requires a broad base of knowledge in clinical dermatology combined with familiarity with several other specialty areas of medicine. Medicine is changing very rapidly right now, and these changes are significantly altering dermatopathology.
Brown was led to specialize in dermatopathology after finding himself more interested in the science behind the medicine rather than the day-to-day clinical practice.
“Dermatopathology is a very challenging field and lends itself to a niche-style practice,” Brown said. “I wanted to remain science-heavy while becoming highly specialized and dermatopathology was therefore a good fit.”
Brown only sees patients as a brief curbside consultation. His practice is based at the microscope where he combines the clinical presentation of a skin disorder with the histopathologic findings seen under the microscope to arrive at a diagnosis.
Skin cancers are one of the most common disorders seen, but he also sees
inflammatory disorders, infectious diseases, alopecia, and nail disorders.
“I am occasionally consulted when a patient is complicated and has either unusual or dramatic skin findings,” he said. “This style of practice allows for the best clinicopathologic correlation and increases positive patient outcomes.”
Instruments he uses include a microscope, a micrometer that allows him to measure structures within the microscope field, a polarizer to visualize refractile material, a dictaphone, a special stainer, and a machine which performs a more sophisticated form of stain called immunohistochemistry.
Although he rarely has face-to-face encounters with patients, that doesn’t diminish the fact that the most rewarding part of his work is issuing a diagnosis which truly helps relieve a patient’s suffering and/or saves their lives.
Brown loves living in Little Rock.
“I affectionately call it The Big Pebble because despite its small population, it dwarfs other cities of similar size with respect to its amenities and offerings,” Brown said. “I love the mostly warm climate, the ease with which one can live a comfortable life, and the accessibility of the politicians, business owners, and many socioeconomic classes. I see Little Rock on the rise and predict it will become even more a thriving Southern powerhouse in the near future.”
Brown is the author or co-author of multiple peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters, and has presented at national medical meetings. He has served as ad hoc reviewer for high-impact dermatopathology journals. Brown was honored with the UAMS Medical Student Teaching Award in 2009 and currently serves as a member of the UAMS Medical School Admissions Board.
For more information visit http://ardermpath.com/about.html or
http://dermgroupar.com/
