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Background: Impact of COVID-19 pandemic has been immense. An innocent casualty of this disaster is medical education and training. Dermatology, which primarily deals with out-patient services, medical and surgical interventions, and in-patient services, was one of the worst hit. The National Medical Commission of India has implemented competency-based medical education (CBME) in Dermatology, Venereology, and Leprosy since 2019. The new curriculum relies on acquiring practical and procedural skills, training skills in research methodology, professionalism, attitude, and communication. Objectives: The study was undertaken to understand the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on postgraduate dermatology CBME training in India. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire-based survey was carried out on postgraduate dermatology teachers and residents in India after obtaining ethics committee approval. An online semi-structured English questionnaire was administered by Google Forms. The calculated sample size was 366 dermatology faculty and 341 postgraduate students. Validity (Content validity ratio (CVR) ≥0.56) and reliability (Cronbach's alpha coefficient 0.7249) of the questionnaire were determined. Results: Among the 764 responses received, 51.4% reported that their institutes were converted to exclusive COVID hospitals. Domains of dermatology education affected were procedural training (n = 655), bedside clinical teaching (n = 613), outpatient department-based clinical teaching (n = 487), bedside laboratory procedures (n = 463), research activities (n = 453), histopathology (n = 412), and theory classes (n = 302). To keep up with the teaching-learning process, online platforms were mostly utilized: Zoom Meeting (n = 379), Google Meet (n = 287), and WhatsApp Interaction (n = 224). Teaching during ward rounds was significantly more affected in exclusively COVID institutes than non-exclusive COVID institutes (P < 0.001). Psychomotor skill development suffered a major jolt with 26.7% of respondents reporting a standstill (P < 0.001). Communication skills among students suffered due to social distancing, mask, and poor attendance of patients. According to 23.84% of respondents, formative assessment was discontinued. Conclusion: Online seminars, journal clubs, and assessments have been incorporated during the pandemic. Online modalities should be used as a supplementary method as psychomotor skills, communication skills, research work, and bedside clinics may not be replaced by the e-learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: COVID-19 pandemic has changed the approach of dermatologists, with respect to management of numerous conditions, vitiligo being one of them. However, there is a lack of consensus on how to deal with patients of vitiligo, as we battle this pandemic. Aim: To conduct a questionnaire-based survey, amongst expert dermatologists; in order to understand the impact of COVID-19 on the management of vitiligo. Materials and Methods: An online semi-structured English questionnaire was prepared and the link was circulated among 50 pan-Indian expert dermatologists, through various platforms (snowball sampling). Confidentiality and anonymity were strictly maintained. Responses were analyzed at the end of the study and a consensus statement was generated. Results: 42.22% of the respondents believed that teleconsultation is adequate for the diagnosis and management of most cases of vitiligo. 64.44% were found to be comfortable in prescribing oral medications, even during the COVID-19 pandemic; of which 62% would prefer to prescribe systemic steroids; followed by 17%, 11%, 7%, and 3% who would prefer cyclosporine, azathioprine, mycophenolate mofetil, and methotrexate, respectively. 64.44% respondents would recommend phototherapy in their office and 80% would prefer home-based phototherapy (PUVAsol or handheld NBUVB devices). 86.67% would prefer to stop the oral immunosuppressive drugs, till the COVID-19 RTPCR positive patients are tested negative. Limitations: The results are based on a survey of a small albeit selected group of dermatologists who decided on the currently available information on COVID-19. The same may change depending on the nature of further available information on the virus and its effect on how we manage the patients. Conclusions: Cases for initial consultation may be seen physically, and those for follow-up may be scheduled for teleconsultation. Topical therapy may be used without any hesitation. Phototherapy may be best advised with either PUVAsol or home-based phototherapy units (handheld NBUVB devices). With regards to systemic immunosuppressives, oral minipulse therapy may be preferable in view of lesser requirement of monitoring. Surgery for vitiligo should be performed only if the psychological well-being is severely affected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Given the all-encompassing foothold of COVID-19, it is plausible that the pandemic would have a long-lasting impact on medical training programs, including dermatology. We conducted a survey amongst the residents of dermatology (across India) to assess the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on their teaching and education programs. Materials and Methods: An online semi-structured English questionnaire was prepared on the Google-forms platform and the link was circulated among the residents. The questionnaire comprised of five sections (demographic details, impact on clinical training, procedural training, academic curriculum, and research activities). Appropriate statistical tests were carried out to analyze the data obtained. Results: Three-hundred and seventy-eight responses were taken into consideration. A majority of the respondents (63.5%) were engaged in both COVID-19-related duties and departmental work (out-patient and in-patient duty). Around two-thirds of the trainees (65.1%) claimed a reduction in patient footfall (greater than 50% compared to pre-COVID times). Sixty-nine percent reported a decline of more than 50% in in‑patient admission; 47.6% felt that the discontinuity in patient care had severely affected their residency training; 50.8% highlighted that no procedures were being performed in their department; 54.5% opined that academic activities were relatively unhampered as regular seminars were being conducted through online web-based applications; and 65.1% of the trainees were not able to devote any time to their thesis-related work. Conclusion: Since the after‑effects of this pandemic will last long, it is advisable that residents and faculties adapt themselves to web-based learning programs in the academic curriculum so that the training of the future consultants does not get jeopardized. Our survey, being the first of its kind in dermatology, will throw some light on the perspective of residents and the way forward to combat the untoward consequences on their training programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 pandemic has challenged and overwhelmed most healthcare institutions and healthcare workers, across the world. Despite being unprepared for this pandemic, frontline workers have worked relentlessly to provide the much-needed care to these patients. Doctors from different branches of medicine, including dermatologists, came forward and played a substantial role in mitigating the impact of this pandemic on the general population. Sadly, in the process, these healthcare workers faced many personal, social, psychological, economic, and health-related issues. The psychological burden and health-related issues received due attention in the main-stream news as well as scientific research papers. With most frontline workers isolated from their families, social media became the new platform to reduce the sense of isolation and share their anxiety, insomnia, and fatigue. This article is aimed at highlighting various challenges faced by healthcare workers during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has radical repercussions on every aspect of medical science, including dermatology. The magnitude of the impact on clinical dermatology cannot be overemphasized. Dermatologists have been forced to modify and reconsider the way they consult patients. Teledermatology has come up in a big way, with most of the clinicians resorting to technology and software-based consultations. Management of different dermatological conditions like papulosquamous disorders, vesiculobullous disorders, malignancies, etc., needs to be modified as per the different recommendations proposed by expert panels. This review is an attempt to highlight the impact of this destructive pandemic on various aspects of clinical dermatology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Frontline doctors engaged in COVID-19 duties have to adopt enhanced protective measures to minimize their risk of exposure. However, these measures may lead to several skin problems, thereby affecting their performance. Objectives: To analyze skin changes induced by enhanced protective measures and explore possible risk factors. Materials and Methods: A web-based descriptive study was conducted among 212 frontline COVID-19 doctors. Data were collected regarding their demography, duty, use of enhanced protective measures including prophylactic hydroxychloroquine, recent skin changes with affected sites, and possible risk factors. Results: Skin changes were reported by 41.5% of respondents (mean age 34.8 ± 5.6 years) across 210 sites. Hands were involved most commonly in 77.3% of doctors, followed by nasal bridge, cheeks, and retroauricular area. Dryness (84.1%) and skin peeling (79.5%) were the commonest clinical features. Regression model showed prolonged PPE wear (>6 h) adjusted odd's ratio (AOR) 2.9, P = 0.005], heavy sweating [AOR 12.8, P = 0.001] and frequent hand hygiene (>10 times/day) [AOR 3.1, P = 0.0006] to be significant risk factors. Hydroxychloroquine prophylaxis was deemed safe as treatment-emergent adverse events were uncommon (17.4%). Conclusion: Frontline doctors have an increased risk of developing skin damage due to enhanced protective measures. Appropriate steps should be taken to address the risk factors and minimize skin damage. Persistent cases mandate dermatology referral for optimum management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the COVID‑19 pandemic maintenance of hand hygiene has gathered unprecedented attention to prevent the spread of the virus. Topics include the no previous history of atopic dermatitis or hand eczema in any of the cases, the prescribed moisturizers and symptomatic treatment, and the hand hygiene involves washing with soap and water or alcohol‑based hand sanitizers but repeated hand washing can lead to irritant‑hand dermatitis.

An editorial is presented on the COVID‑19 and Dermatology. The article discusses that the pathogenesis of the disease has been attributed to a multitude of propositions. Recent updates have hypothesized that severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) likely targets and perturbs cellular PDZ proteins (postsynaptic density protein, Drosophila disk large tumor suppressor, and zonula occludens-1 protein).