Perspectives: Interviewing the Experts

January 2016 Perspectives: Interviewing the Experts
Benjamin Barankin, MD, FRCPC
Dr. Babar K. Rao
Bio:
Dr. Babar K. Rao is board certified in both Dermatology and Dermatopathology and is a leading
authority on pigmented lesions, as well as a pioneer in Dermoscopy and Confocal Microscopy.
Doctor Babar Rao has completed residency training and fellowships at the University of London,
UT Southwestern, New York University, and Cornell University, and currently serves as the Acting
Chair and a Clinical Professor of Dermatology and Dermatopathology of the Department of
Dermatology at the Rutgers – Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. Doctor Rao is also an
Associate Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Weill Cornell Medical College at Cornell University.
1. What part of your work gives you the most pleasure?
It's great when I can walk into a patient room and everything falls immediately into place with the
exam and the patient discourse and I can make an immediate diagnosis and immediately improve
on the quality of my patient's life.
2. Are an understanding & appreciation of the humanities important in dermatology and
why?
There is a book called "Getting things done: The art of stress-free productivity" by David
Allen. When my career was really getting rolling with a department Chairmanship and private
offices, I was getting very overwhelmed and his book really provided a lot of clarification and
greatly improved both my personal and professional life.
3. Which patient had the most effect on your work and why?
When I was in medical school, we saw a patient with anthrax. This was in Pakistan and so she was
completely covered from head to toe and we could not completely examine her, and were only
supposed to examine a lesion on her face. My instructor had me walk her to the lab to do a wet
mount (not vaginal, obviously). It was amazing to me that we could diagnose and treat her
condition so quickly. This experience began the process of steering me towards dermatology.
4. What is the best piece of advice you have received and from whom?
When I was about to leave Pakistan for a skin pathology fellowship in Texas, a close family friend
took me aside and asked me what my plan was after the fellowship. I had just figured I would do
my one year fellowship and come back to practice in Pakistan. He asked me if there was any more
educational opportunities beyond the fellowship, and I told him about taking the Boards. He said
"Listen, don't go all the way over there and come back here after one year. If there is more you can
accomplish while you are there, then do it."
5. Which medical figure in history would you want to have a drink with and why?
I don't know if he counts as a medical figure but it would have to be Darwin. Darwin was the first
scientist who really separated species etc. based on pattern recognition, and so much of
Dermatology is based on pattern recognition, all the way down to dermatopathology.
Reprinted with the author’s permission from The Dermatologist.
Editorial Board /
Conseil de rédaction
National editor/
Rédacteur en chef
Regional editors /
Rédacteurs régionaux
Robert Jackson, MD
Ottawa, ON
Paul Kuzel, MD
Edmonton, AB
Charles W. Lynde, MD
Markham, ON
Benjamin Barankin, MD
Toronto, ON
Ian Landells, MD
St. John’s, NL
G. Daniel Schachter, MD
Toronto, MD
Chief Executive Officer /
Chef de la direction
Marc Bourcier, MD
Moncton, NB
Catherine McCuaig, MD
Montréal, QC
Victoria Taraska, MD
Winnipeg, MB
Nicole Hawkins Scoon, MD
Saskatoon, SK
Kathleen Moses, MD
Ottawa, ON
Catherine Zip, MD
Calgary, AB Chantal Courchesne
Ottawa, ON
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