Dr. Noureddine Litaiem, MD (Tunisia)

Mentor: Dr. Martin Kassir, MD

Virtual Mentorship, April-July, 2021

Major goals for your mentorship experience:  Improve my skills in the use of lasers and injectables and learn more about esthetic dermatology. I also wanted the opportunity to network with dermatologists from around the world.

What did you like best about your mentorship experience?: Despite COVID-19-related restrictions, this mentorship program helped connect two dermatologists from Tunisia and Ethiopia with Dr. Martin Kassir (USA) to share difficult clinical cases. I believe that this mentorship program was successful.

Describe any special experiences with your mentor: In addition to lectures and discussions of practical tips and pearls about injectables, botulinum toxin, and lasers, we held journal club focusing on esthetic dermatology. We also discussed skin signs of systemic disease. My final project for this mentorship program was participating in writing a book chapter about “laser hair removal”.

Describe a skill acquired during your mentorship that you will definitely use when you return home:

How will your mentorship experience impact your patient care and professional goals over the next year?: I believe this mentorship experience will help me optimize the use of energy-based devices and injectables. Even though the mentorship program has come to an end, I’m confident that I will always be able to reach out to Dr. Kassir for advice and help.

How will your mentorship experience make an impact five years from now, including for your region or country?: I believe I will be able to focus on techniques that are more suitable for our Tunisian patients and wisely invest in acquiring new energy-based devices. I think that this program is also a good way to network with dermatologists from around the world.

Share a pearl you learned during your mentorship experience: Melasma and periorbital melanosis are cosmetically disturbing conditions that are poorly responsive to currently available treatments. The combination of microneedling with simultaneous infusion of a serum containing active ingredients represents a technique that is both innovative and effective for these two disorders.