Our Global Impact
People worldwide are pledging to reduce racial bias in healthcare.
our collaborators:
IMPACT = Improving Medicine’s Power to Address Care and Treatment
Our Mission
Project IMPACT is a global effort brought to you by VisualDx to reduce disparities in medicine and highlight the tools we use to bridge gaps of knowledge and improve care.
Our Values
- We believe healthcare providers who evaluate and treat dermatologic conditions should be able to recognize disease in all skin colors.
- We believe technology that brings images and information to the point of care can reduce biases in medicine by bridging knowledge gaps.
- We believe it is imperative to address healthcare disparities and to work towards health equity for all citizens of the world.
Together We Can Make an IMPACT
Health disparities continue to profoundly afflict people of color nationally and globally and the statistics are staggering. Project IMPACT was created to help reduce those disparities and help bring health equity to all people.
Disease Presentation in Different Skin Colors
Recognizing how diseases present on all skin types is key in reducing diagnostic error and improving patient care. Unfortunately, many professional resources often do not adequately provide medical education on diseases in skin of color. VisualDx has been committed to reducing bias in medical knowledge for 20 years. A recent JAAD study showed that “VisualDx demonstrates pathology on dark skin in remarkably high proportion to other resources.”4
Contribute Your Images
People with darker skin face worse health outcomes than their peers with lighter skin. By ensuring that clinicians and students have access to a diverse set of clinical images we can begin to improve healthcare outcomes—particularly for patients of color. Join the movement and contribute your medical photos to VisualDx.
Explore the map above to see where people are pledging.
Project IMPACT and its collaborators remain committed to reducing bias and disparities in medical knowledge by improving diagnosis in skin of color around the globe.
Efforts are underway to enhance access to technology and medical resources in remote areas.
take the pledgeSpotlight Series
A deeper dive on industry leaders who are making an impact, the skin conditions that affect people of color, the latest health equity research, and more.
Key Research
Digital Resources
VisualDx is an award-winning application designed to enhance diagnostic accuracy, aid therapeutic decisions, and improve patient safety. Features include the world’s best medical image library to make timely clinical decisions. See the video on how to use our Skin of Color feature.
Contact us to see how other educational programs are using VisualDx to supplement their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts.
Resources for Patients
Aysa
A mobile app by VisualDx that uses artificial intelligence to give personalized guidance for your skin based on your photo submission.
Skinsight
Patient website by VisualDx dedicated to providing medical information on conditions affecting skin, nails, and hair.
Skin of Color Society
Articles and videos to educate on skin diseases that impact people of color.
Educational Partner Resources & Events
NEJM Perspective Roundtable: Race in Medicine – Genetic Variation, Social Categories, and Paths to Health Equity
A new Perspective Roundtable from the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) features an expert discussion of complex questions about race in medicine today and how to achieve equitable health for all. The video, audio, and transcript are freely available on NEJM.org.
watch now
DEEP: Dermatology E-Learning + Equity Platform
The SOCS Dermatology E-Learning + Equity Platform (known as DEEP) is a learning management system (LMS) that enables members to learn straight from the experts at your own pace through dermatology educational webinars and practice management content. Through the LMS, you benefit from unlimited and free access to all educational content. After six months, non-members will be invited to enter DEEP for a fee. In the future, it will be used as a tool to curate learning for mentees as well.
LEARN MORE
Racial Disparities in Clinical Medicine: Conversations, Perspectives, and Research on Advancing Medical Equity
The new NEJM Group eBook, Racial Disparities in Clinical Medicine, sets out to provide a sense of how inequity persists, how it is experienced, and how we might begin to counter it. Download your copy today.
Get Ebook
NEJM Resident 360: Take the VisualDx Image Challenge
Test your knowledge on skin conditions in skin of color. New challenge posted every other Friday. Guess the answer by taking the poll or leaving your comment. Answer will be revealed on Monday. Follow the discussion to be alerted when new cases and answers are posted.
take the challenge
The Impact of Skin Color and Ethnicity on Clinical Diagnosis and Research
A series of four educational webinars in which clinical experts, thought leaders, and advocates discuss issues of health disparities, structural racism, and medicine while examining specific dermatologic diseases. This event series is brought to you by the Skin of Color Society, NEJM Group, and VisualDx.
Learn More
Take the Pledge
“I’m taking the #ProjectIMPACT pledge because I am committed to reducing bias and improving dermatologic care for people of color. https://projectimpact.org”
Share the message about #ProjectIMPACT on social media:
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From the community:
“I pledge to promote health equity and increase the 3% in #dermatology by supporting the pipeline of talented and passionate UIM students with #mentorship. As been done by @SusanTaylorMD @HarrisTryonLab @hairwithdrmare @CorySimpsonMD and countless others #ProjectIMPACT.”
–University of Rochester physician
“I take the #ProjectIMPACT pledge because improving healthcare outcomes for skin of color patients is a privilege and a duty. As medical students/residents/physicians, the humblest part of our work is being servants for the under-served human beings in our communities.”
–The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston medical student
- 2019 National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report. Rockville, MD: Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality; December 2020. AHRQ Pub. No. 20(21)-0045-EF.
- Nelson B. How dermatology is failing melanoma patients with skin of color: Unanswered questions on risk and eye-opening disparities in outcomes are weighing heavily on melanoma patients with darker skin. In this article, part 1 of a 2-part series, we explore the deadly consequences of racism and inequality in cancer care. Cancer Cytopathol. 2020 Jan;128(1):7-8. doi: 10.1002/cncy.22229. PMID: 31905269.
- White S, Ojugbele O. Addressing racial disparities in medical education: Commentary on the Curriculum Inventory Report: Coverage of racial disparity in medicine education content in accredited U.S. medical schools, academic year 2017-2018. Curriculum in Context. 2019:6(2):1-6.
- Alvarado SM, Feng H. Representation of dark skin images of common dermatologic conditions in educational resources: a cross-sectional analysis. J Am Acad Dermatol. 2020 Jun 18:S0190-9622(20)31138-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jaad.2020.06.041. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 32565205.