{"id":108854,"date":"2016-03-08T14:36:53","date_gmt":"2016-03-08T19:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?post_type=school-college-post&p=108854"},"modified":"2016-03-08T14:36:53","modified_gmt":"2016-03-08T19:36:53","slug":"from-student-to-resident-to-faculty-uconn-health-dermatologist-home-grown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2016\/03\/from-student-to-resident-to-faculty-uconn-health-dermatologist-home-grown\/","title":{"rendered":"From Student to Resident to Faculty, UConn Health Dermatologist Home-Grown"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Mona Shahriari, high school senior from Branford, first set foot on the UConn campus nearly 14 years ago, she wasn\u2019t sure what she wanted to study.<\/p>\n

She had interests in medicine and research, and was looking for a university that would give her options to explore her interests. By the time that first visit to Storrs was done, Shahriari had fallen in love with UConn.<\/p>\n

She would spend all but one of the following years with the University \u2013 as an undergrad until 2007, a UConn medical student until 2011, a UConn dermatology resident from 2012 to 2015, and since then, a practicing dermatologist on the UConn Health faculty<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"2007:
2007: UConn undergraduate Mona Shahriari prepares for commencement in Storrs. (Photo submitted by Mona Shahriari)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe reason I wanted to be at an academic institution was I wanted to be at the forefront of research,\u201d Shahriari says. \u201cI wanted to be familiar with all the newest medicines. People come to me at a referral center because they want the treatment that the doctor in the private sector can\u2019t give them. They want me to be comfortable with all the newest treatment modalities and to cure their skin disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shahriari says it was never the plan for UConn to be the place for her entire academic career and most of her postdoctoral training, then to stay and practice medicine, teach, and do research. Each time she had to make a decision about her next step, she considered multiple options. But, with the exception of one year out of state for a medical internship, the answer was always the same:\u00a0UConn.<\/p>\n

Recalling her undergraduate days, Shahriari says she was able to take advantage of a lot of opportunities that her peers didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got involved with research, published papers, took a lot of honors-level classes, and the faculty were absolutely amazing,\u201d Shahriari says. \u201cThere were a lot of small classes, one-on-one with the faculty, and it was one of the best times in my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortly after her freshman year Shahriari decided to pursue medicine. When it came time to choose a medical school, UConn was not her only consideration. But it had the appeal of familiarity, especially considering she had gotten to know UConn School of Medicine\u2019s then-director of admissions, Keat Sanford.<\/p>\n

\u201cI worked closely with the medical school as an undergraduate. I participated in the migrant farm worker clinic, and Dr. Sanford would come and give talks,\u201d Shahriari says. \u201cUConn had a lot of what I was looking for in terms of my medical school career. They had a small class size, they started you in the clinical area from September of your first year, and people who graduated from UConn matched into the top residencies in the country. You could do what you wanted to do and have the tools to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

She graduated as a UConn Honors Scholar with a Bachelor of Science in biological sciences, summa cum laude. Before starting at the UConn School of Medicine, Shahriari spent part of the summer in Iran, where her family is from, for an experience that would help define her as a physician.<\/p>\n

\u201cI did some work with some of the burn victims from the Iran-Iraq war.\u00a0 They had squamous cell carcinomas growing inside their burn scars,\u201d Shahriari says. \u201cI had a chance to see dermatologists and plastic surgeons first hand helping people who were in underserved areas of the country. That\u2019s where I was first introduced to dermatology.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"2009:
2009: Second-year medical student Mona Shahriari studies in the UConn Health Library. (Photo submitted by Mona Shahriari)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Around the same time, a family friend was diagnosed with melanoma, and it opened Shahriari\u2019s eyes to how education is lacking in underdeveloped countries when it comes to skin disease.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think of dermatologists as beauty doctors, and they don\u2019t really see the medical dermatology behind it, so someone who\u2019s darker skinned couldn\u2019t understand why he got a melanoma,\u201d Shahriari says. \u201cDuring medical school I explored all the fields that I came across and dermatology kept standing out as the one I wanted. You kind of feel like you\u2019re the primary care doctor of the skin, and the skin can be an outlet to disease in the rest of the body.\u201d<\/p>\n

By the end of her third year, dermatology had emerged as Shahriari\u2019s specialty of choice. Her time as a student also brought her to some influential faculty members.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would say my first exposure to dermatology was with Dr. Marti Rothe<\/a>,\u201d Shahriari says. \u201cShe got my feet wet and showed me what dermatology was all about. And if it wasn\u2019t for her I would not have even considered dermatology as a field.\u201d<\/p>\n

She met Rothe, an associate professor of dermatology, in her first year. It was through Rothe she got to know Dr. Jane Grant-Kels<\/a>, then the chair of the UConn Health Department of Dermatology, who since has retired from that role but continues to practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy first impression of Mona was that she was extremely likeable, a very upbeat person, and her optimism was contagious,\u201d Grant-Kels says. \u201cOver the years this optimism and enthusiasm has continued, which makes her a wonderful colleague and friend. She has matured as a physician into a wonderful dermatologist and I am proud to call her my partner now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shahriari says Grant-Kels served as her mentor every step of the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was like I had a second mother,\u201d Shahriari says. \u201cShe would give me the guidance that she would give her daughter. She was always there for me, whether it was personal or work related.\u201d<\/p>\n

That continued through her residency years, which also were influenced by Dr. Bruce Strober<\/a>, now the dermatology chair, and Dr. Hanspaul Makkar<\/a>, chief of the Division of Pediatric Dermatology.<\/p>\n

\u201cDr. Strober and Dr. Makkar played a really big role mentoring me,\u201d Shahriari says. \u201cOne thing I learned about them was, when I was trying to decide where to go after my residency, rather than selfishly try to recruit for their own program, they were very objective. They gave me the pluses and minuses of the program, tried to see what I was looking for in my career, and that\u2019s a quality that makes a good mentor a great mentor. And I still to this day look to them for guidance.\u201d<\/p>\n

By no means was it a given that she would choose UConn for her dermatology residency. Shahriari again explored her options. But none offered the environment of nurturing, support, and growth that UConn did.<\/p>\n

\"2011:
2011: Fourth-year medical students, including Mona Shahriari (second from right), show their residency assignment letters on Match Day. (Photo submitted by Mona Shahriari)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThe way the attendings interacted with the residents, the way the attendings interacted with each other, the relationship the chairman and the program director had with the residents, was just something I did not see anywhere else,\u201d Shahriari says.<\/p>\n

On Match Day 2011, the day when soon-to-be-graduating medical students across the country find out where they\u2019re going for their residency training, Shahriari got her wish. She would train in dermatology at UConn Health after spending a year at the Baystate Medical Center in Springfield, where should would complete a preliminary internship in internal medicine.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is very typical to do one year of internship in internal medicine prior to dermatology,\u201d Shahriari says. \u201cI chose Baystate because of its \u2018learner-manager-teacher\u2019 model for the internship, which allowed for a very nonthreatening learning environment that is unique among the programs in the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI could not be happier with my decision. My three years of residency were phenomenal.\u201d<\/p>\n

And as that third year\u2014during which she was the chief resident\u2014wound down, it was decision time again. Where will this trained dermatologist practice?<\/p>\n

\u201cI had been in the UConn system for 12 years, and every time I made the decision to stay I had good reasons for it, but am I running the risk of being too inbred by not seeing anywhere else,\u201d Shahriari says. \u201cSo I decided to interview out of the box. I looked at other programs in the Northeast and even on the West Coast.\u201d<\/p>\n

But they weren\u2019t like UConn.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the features that attracted me to the residency\u2014the camaraderie among the attendings, the fact that there really isn\u2019t a hierarchy amongst attendings, the person like me who\u2019s a junior faculty member and the person who\u2019s been here for 20-30 years, we all have equal say, equal respect, and everyone tries to make things easier for you so you can do your job of taking care of patients\u2014weren\u2019t the same across the country as they are here,\u201d Shahriari says.<\/p>\n

The timing was right too. Three of her major areas of interest\u2014pediatric dermatology, pigmented lesions, and clinical trials\u2014were areas UConn Dermatology was looking to expand.<\/p>\n

And once again, she stayed\u2014appointed assistant professor of dermatology, becoming part of the faculty that had mentored her all these years before. She joins Makkar and Dr. Mary Chang<\/a> on a very short list of Connecticut physicians who practice pediatric dermatology. Shahriari sees patients at UConn Health\u2019s dermatology offices in Farmington, 21 South Road<\/a>, and in Canton, 117 Albany Turnpike<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"2011:
2011: UConn Board of Trustees Director Larry McHugh watches Dr. Cato Laurencin, dean of the UConn School of Medicine, congratulate Mona Shahriari at commencement. (Photo by John Atashian)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI had hoped that this would be what the future held and was delighted and relieved when she stayed,\u201d Grant-Kels says. \u201cMona is bright, willing to continue to learn, and a fabulous teacher. She will be a huge asset to our department and dermatology residency. She will also be a wonderful role model for medical students, as she has good values regarding life and how to practice medicine. I am thrilled to call Mona my past mentee and my present friend, partner and colleague. She is a welcome addition to our faculty.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shahriari also was appointed associate director of clinical trials. She says clinical trials in melanoma have really taken off in recent years, and cures for the deadliest form of skin cancer may not be that far away.<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly want to bring in trials for melanoma so that, given the number of patients we have, we can make this one of the centers where people can not only get the treatment they need but also have potential research options and clinical trials that they can take part in, and help the next generation of people who have melanoma,\u201d Shahriari says.<\/p>\n

Neda Shahriari, a member of the UConn School of Medicine Class of 2017, says it came as no surprise that her big sister decided to stay at UConn through medical school, residency, and now in practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe has always explored her other options but what drew her back every time was the strong clinical training offered here,\u201d Neda Shahriari says. \u201cAnd it was for this very reason that I also chose UConn for medical school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Says the elder Shahriari, \u201cI do feel very strongly about UConn as an institution. That\u2019s where I would like to have my kids go some day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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