DermNet NZ


DermNet New Zealand is a New Zealand-based clinical resource website about dermatology and skin conditions. Its founder and current editor-in-chief is dermatologist and Adjunct Associate Professor Amanda Oakley.

History

DermNet was founded in 1995 by Amanda Oakley and a group of New Zealand dermatologists, with the aim of creating a certified online library of information about dermatological conditions. The DermNet NZ website then launched in 1996 under the umbrella of the New Zealand Dermatological Society.
In 2013, DermNet New Zealand was registered as a charitable trust and became the DermNet New Zealand Trust, under which the website is owned. As of 2017, around 2 million people access the website monthly.

Purpose

The purpose of DermNet NZ is to provide authoritative information about skin diseases, conditions and treatments for dermatologists, students and medical researchers. The website has been praised for articles on little represented conditions, such as hyperhidrosis. As of November 2017, there are 2,300 pages and a library of 25,000 dermatology and dermatopathology images on the website. Pages and images are contributed and reviewed by health professionals and students from New Zealand and other countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Indonesia and Sri Lanka.
In 2017, DermNet New Zealand released its first book, Dermatology Made Easy. The website also provides online medical courses for the continuing education of dermatologists.

Awards

Dermnet NZ won the 2017 New Zealand Ministry of Health Clinician’s Challenge Award for the development of a skin disease image recognition tool.
In 2017, Oakley won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the New Zealand Charity Technology Awards for her tenure as creator and editor-in-chief of the website.
In 2018, Oakley was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to dermatology as part of the Queen's Birthday Honours List.