Scope and purpose: This guide provides easier access to resources that talk about and show images of patients with skin of color with the ultimate goal of better representation and better treatment
Dermatology resources: Miner Library has additional dermatology books. ClinicalKey and AccessMedicine are good places to start. To find dermatology journals, go to the Journals part of our website to search or browse.
VisualDx
Clinical decision support tool with images of medical conditions and a differential diagnosis builder
VisualDx is a clinical decision support tool with 45,000 images of medical conditions and a differential diagnosis builder with 3,500 diagnoses. VisualDx is a leading skin of color atlas, and around a third of the images are skin type IV, V, or VI on the Fitzpatrick scale. Change the sex and age of the patient and filter images by body location, skin type, and stage of disease.
Click on a diagnosis to view a quick summary, the full article, or images associated with the diagnosis. Links to UpToDate & PubMed.
Medical students may want to explore LearnDerm, a self-study dermatology education resource that consists of 5 interactive lessons to help build a solid foundation in essential terminology and improve pattern recognition skills. The LearnDerm Tutorial covers the basic skin exam, lesion types, distribution and body location, configurations, and an introduction to disease variation.
VisualDx's Tutorials page to learn more about how to use this powerful resource.
Ebooks
Ethnic Dermatology by ISBN: 9780470658574Publication Date: 2013Ethnic Dermatology: Principles and Practice provides a practical approach to the dermatology of nonwhite skin. Written from a global perspective to include Asian, African-Caribbean and North African skin types, it covers all the bases of dermatology including: Grading scales in dermatologic disease Pediatric dermatology Dermatology and systemic disease Drug eruptions Hair and scalp disorders Cosmetic dermatology.
Searching Datbases
Below are databases that index journals whose content may cover skin of color.
- PubMed @ UR Indexes over 4,000 biomedical, nursing, dentistry and related journals, with over 27 million citations in MEDLINE, PreMEDLINE and related databases.
- Scopus International multi-disciplinary indexing & abstracting database for scientific, medical, technical, and social sciences.
- EMBASE More than 16 billion validated biomedical and pharmacological records from EMBASE and MEDLINE.
- CINAHL Primary journal index for nursing and allied health professions.
Search Terms
An effective search strategy contains both keywords and subject headings. Databases contain millions of journal articles, and most are indexed with specific subject headings (such as MeSH or Emtree), which can help make your searches more focused. Keywords are still useful, especially when searching highly specific terms or populations that don't have an indexing term.
Here are a few search terms which may be helpful for you. This list is not comprehensive.
| Skin of color terms | Race / ethnicity terms |
| "Skin of color” "Skin of colour" Skin tone "Dark skin" "Dark skinned" "Darker skin" "Black skin" "Brown skin" "Fitzpatrick skin phototype" "Skin pigmentation" Melanin Hyperpigmentation Hypopigmentation Dyschromia |
"Person of color" |
Websites
Black & Brown Skin (Formerly Brown Skin Matters)- Reference photos of dermatological conditions on non-white skin.
Mind the Gap - A clinical handbook of signs and symptoms in Black and Brown skin.
Skin Deep - Open-access bank of high-quality photographs of medical conditions in a range of skin tones. Browse skin pictures or search search by description, diagnoses, or body part. You can also view Diagnoses A-Z.
Skin of Color Society Dermatology Resources - Includes a list of Skin of Color textbooks and educational videos.
The Full Spectrum of Dermatology: A Diverse and Inclusive Atlas Online Gallery - The online image gallery for The Full Spectrum of Dermatology: A Diverse and Inclusive Atlas. Within this site you will find high-quality images that you will be able to use, free of charge, for non-commercial educational purposes.
JAAD Skin of Color Image Atlas - Atlas of images from the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology (JAAD).
UNC School of Medicine's Dermatology Image Library -A reference for students when learning about skin presentations of different disorders. This library was developed by the University of North Carolina (UNC) School of Medicine and provides easier access to a variety of images on different Fitzpatrick skin types.
UNM School of Medicine's Inclusive Dermatology Photo Gallery- The University of New Mexico (UNM) School of Medicine's goal is to collect and share images of dermatological conditions in all skin types, with an emphasis on including those who have been traditionally excluded in medical education.
DermNet NZ Image Library - DermNet is supported by New Zealand Dermatologists on behalf of the New Zealand Dermatological Society Incorporated. DermNet's contributors have included numerous volunteers from all over the world, including dermatologists, other health professionals and students.
EBooks
Taylor and Kelly's Dermatology for Skin of Color 2/e by ISBN: 9780071805520Publication Date: 2016Dermatology for Skin of Color provides comprehensive coverage of medical, surgical, and cosmetic treatment options, pediatric dermatology, differences between skin of color and Caucasian skin, differences between ethnic groups with skin of color, and important basic science information on the structure and function of skin of color.
