Dr. Ira Harber Chosen for AOA for Leadership and Education in Rural Dermatology

Ira Harber, MD, has truly earned his induction into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society as a resident member. A graduate in the top 20 percent of his class at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), he is the epitome of hard work, dedication, and self-motivation.He not only has a knack for engaging office staff and nurses and cultivating professional relationships that foster team-based care, but he also is the first to volunteer.

Dr. Harber has made, and will continue to make, significant contributions to the field of dermatology in patient care, education, and research. One such example of this is his quality improvement project establishing a first-of-its-kind patient portal for direct-to-patient telehealth visits integrated into the electronic medical record with a virtual copay system.

Dr. Harber also is a national leader is the area of rural access to care, teaching as part of a team at the American Academy of Dermatology’s 2019 annual meeting. Working with Adam Byrd, MD, the department’s lead rural dermatology physician, Dr. Harber has been instrumental in developing a rural program that now has three other residents in line to finish their residencies and serve rural areas of Mississippi. His research has demonstrated the program has a significantly greater impact on patients in the state than teledermatology, Project ECHO, or the department’s free clinic in Rolling Fork, Mississippi.