Dr. Heather Wickless

Dr. Heather Wickless, who earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree before starting her medical education, continues to use her trained artistic eye daily to discern dermatologic nuances in the patients she treats.

“For some reason, skin rashes remind me of art history. There are particular qualities that help distinguish various dermatological conditions, just like there are stylistic manners of artists that characterize their work,” the Associate Professor of Dermatology and cutaneous lymphoma specialist said. “Just looking at a person’s skin can tell us a lot about what’s going on with his or her health.”

Dr. Wickless’ meticulous clinical care is among the many attributes that led to her selection as the inaugural holder of the Phillip J. Eichhorn, M.D. Professorship in Clinical Dermatology. A number of donors established the endowment following Dr. Eichhorn’s retirement from UT Southwestern in 2016 after more than 35 years of professional service. 

“Dr. Eichhorn is known for his tireless advocacy for patients and his demonstration of the highest standards of medical professionalism,” said Dr. J. Gregory Fitz, Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost, and Dean of UT Southwestern Medical School. “Dr. Wickless shares the same high commitment to education and patient care, and we congratulate her on this well-deserved honor.”

Dr. Wickless, who completed her medical education and training at UT Health Science Center at San Antonio before joining the UT Southwestern faculty in 2014, said she was honored and humbled to be recognized with the Professorship.

“I feel a strong sense of responsibility to carry on the legacy of Dr. Eichhorn in my profession, both through teaching residents and medical students and also in providing direct patient care,” she said. “Dr. Eichhorn was an amazing clinician.”

Dr. Wickless’ clinical and research efforts with cutaneous lymphoma, a type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma that develops in the skin, includes collaborative work across multiple specialties. “Because cutaneous lymphoma is a rare condition that can be hard to recognize, diagnose, and treat, it often requires coordination of care,” she said. The condition’s spectrum is broad, she explained, as there are different cellular varieties of the disease and cases can range from very aggressive to low grade and slow growing.

As an undergraduate, Dr. Wickless balanced her literary and artistic interests with science and math. “In my artwork, I was mostly interested in the human figure and human interactions,” she said. “Toward the end of my undergraduate years, I felt like I had talents that might be wasted if I didn’t pursue medicine.”

A similar tug of war occurred four years later as she prepared to select a specialty and match for internship and residency. “Dermatology felt like the perfect melding of all of my interests and was the first rotation I did in which I felt like in choosing it as a specialty I wasn’t giving up something else.”

Dr. Fitz holds the Nadine and Tom Craddick Distinguished Chair in Medical Science and the Atticus James Gill, M.D. Chair in Medical Science.