by Paul Govern
Longtime Vanderbilt University School of Medicine faculty member John Zic, MD, MMHC, professor of Dermatology, has been appointed vice chair for Clinical Affairs in the Department of Dermatology and executive medical director of the Dermatology Patient Care Center (PCC) at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Dermatology’s previous vice chair for clinical affairs, Jeffrey Byers, MD, died Jan. 9.
With 20 clinical faculty, the dermatology PCC sees some 50,000 patient visits and provides approximately 1,000 inpatient consults per year. With its main clinic at Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks in Nashville, the PCC also has satellite clinics in Belle Meade, Franklin, Tennessee, and Shelbyville, Tennessee.
“John is a busy general dermatologist with an internationally prominent specialty practice focused on patients with cutaneous T-cell lymphoma,” said Meg Chren, MD, professor and chair of the Department of Dermatology. “His MMHC from Owen has honed his leadership and management skills, and as vice chair for strategic development, he’s led major strategic initiatives for our department. He has the ideal talent and skills to build on the substantial successes that Jeff Byers had begun, and we’re very lucky to have him. I know that everyone will join me in welcoming John to this vital role for our department.”
Following college at the University of Notre Dame, Zic completed medical school at Vanderbilt, then trained at the University of Chicago Hospital and the University of Illinois at Chicago Hospital. He joined the Vanderbilt faculty in 1995. In 2017, he earned a Master of Management in Health Care from Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management.
The top item on Zic’s new to-do list is growing the department’s clinical capacity, Chren said.
“As Middle Tennessee booms and new employers come into the area, along with services like primary care, quaternary care and behavioral health, access to dermatology services ranks relatively high in terms of employees’ expectations from their health insurance coverage,” Chren said. “Our present push to expand access to dermatology services in Middle Tennessee flows directly from VUMC’s strategic plan.”
From 2006 to 2014, Zic served as associate dean for admissions at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Last April, he received a major teaching award, the R. Michael Rodriguez Award for Teaching Medical Students, Residents and/or Fellows in the Clinical Setting.
