Dr. Kirkwood on Annual Skin Screening for Melanoma

John M. Kirkwood, MD, Usher Professor of Medicine, Dermatology & Translational Science, director, Melanoma and Skin Cancer Program, Division of Hematology/Oncology, University of Pittsburgh, discusses a recent study that trained general practitioners and nurses to conduct annual skin examinations.

Primary care physicians at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center underwent an online training module for annual skin examinations. The module was then tracked to see which practitioners conducted screening on an annual basis, Kirkwood explains.

Results showed that the number of melanoma cases detected by these trained physicians significantly increased. Kirkwood hopes that most physicians will be trained with this online module and that more cases will be detected at an earlier stage.