Aaron Secrest

Background

About Aaron Secrest

I am currently on a two-year sabbatical working as a senior medical officer in dermatology at Christchurch Hospital in New Zealand to experience a quality national healthcare system firsthand. I am temporarily stepping away from routine clinical care at Farmington Health Center and the University Hospital outpatient clinic. I will continue to staff Same Day Dermatology (urgent care for skin issues) when in the U.S. My particular focus is understanding what matters most to my patients and how my patients' skin issues affect their quality of life. To help me, I encourage my patients to complete a quality-of-life assessment called Skindex-16 at every visit. Skindex-16 asks questions to help me and my patients understand how their skin issues are affecting their symptoms, their emotions, and their ability to function. Skindex-16 is particularly useful because it helps me track how my patients feel their skin issues doing - are they getting better or worse over time? My patients can request copies of their Skindex-16 scores at any time to see how they are doing. See my website: for more information. Recently, I completed an MBA at the University of Utah to help me understand the business side of medicine to try to find ways to help improve how healthcare works in the U.S. I am keenly aware of how insurances are changing over the years, and often, patients are required to pay for more of their care and their treatments out-of-pocket. I spend time trying to identify the most cost-effective care for my patients, even if that means the best treatment is over-the-counter. I am board-certified in dermatology and a member of the American Academy of Dermatology, Society for Pediatric Dermatology, and Medical Dermatology Society. I completed an intern year at Cincinnati Children's Hospital prior to my dermatology training at the University of Utah, where I served as a chief resident. Specialties: General dermatology, patient-reported outcomes, patient satisfaction, prescription drug prices, population-based studies, clinical research and survey studies, survey creation and validation, data entry programs, biostatistical analysis, BLS certification.