2018: A Year To Reflect, Remember, And Respect
It was a long, hot summer back in June, 1978. Panayiotis Erotokritos Vasiloudes graduated from the Pancyprian Gymnasium in Nicosia, Cyprus.
The best thing that happened to him was missing honors by 0.02% at the finish line. That became the greatest stimulus for his Olympic minded brain to never rest as he continued the marathon of education.
Panayiotis or “Yiotis”, as he was called back then, left his village, Pera-Orinis, on July 14, 1978. Yiotis was drafted to serve in the Medical Division of the Cypriot National Guard. That was the beginning of a passionate love affair with medicine to service humanity.
Yiotis then embarked upon a 20 year long scholastic journey educating himself from 1978-1998, as a Lead Nurse at the Cypriot Military Hospital in Nicosia, Philipps University Marburg/Lahn, Germany, Rockefeller University, NYC, Albert-Ludwigs University, Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany, Hahnemann University Hospital, Philadelphia, PA, then back to Freiburg and lastly at Colorado University, Denver, CO.
The 20 years was not an Odyssey, it was a multifaceted, stimulating, diverse educational and spiritual pilgrimage with deep immersion into general medicine, cell biology, electron microscopy, molecular biology, pediatrics, neonatology and finally dermatology.
Blessed by multiple life and academic mentors, like his parents, Erotokritos and Vasiliki, professors Horst Kern, Matthias Brandis, George Scheele, Emmanuel Lebenthal, and William Lee Weston, Dr Vasiloudes became double board certified and published numerous papers.
Then almost 20 years ago, Dr Vasiloudes looked at his wife Helen and asked: “What is next?” Thankfully, Helen was very firm: “I want to raise Kritos, Vasilis, Theo and…with family and grandparents around.” A few months later they mortgaged their home to acquire Academic Alliance in Dermatology, which at the time was named Town & Country Dermatology, founded back in 1988.
Fast forward to 2018, Dr. Vasiloudes possesses 40 years of medical experience and Academic Alliance in Dermatology celebrates 30 years of community service and leadership in Dermatology, operating out of 18 offices and saving lives regularly.
Along his journey Panayiotis Erotokritos Vasiloudes acquired several nicknames: Yiotis, Panayiotis, Pan, Panos, Peter Pan, P. Vasiloudes, MD, PhD, FAAD, FAAP, FASMS. Today, Dr. V is simply known in the community as a compassionate, loving, caring pediatric and adult dermatologist, father of four kids, the three boys and Sophia, and spouse of Helen. Dr. V is finally and plainly Dr. V!
So, what a fitting milestone to celebrate the dual anniversaries of Dr. V’s 40 years in medicine and AAD’s 30 years of patient care and community service!
These accomplishments came from peers, patients and team members: During the last year Dr. V was recognized for excellence in Pediatric Dermatology by the Florida Society of Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery in Hollywood Florida, was invited to attend meetings in the US, Europe, Russia and the Middle East.
This past Sunday, Academic Alliance in Dermatology received a TOP WORKPLACE AWARD from the Tampa Bay Times based on a survey submitted purely by practice team members.
AAD’s receipt of recognition locally, nationally and globally means so much to all of us. At AAD, we all know: We aspire to better our world, community, organization but most of all, to BETTER OURSELVES.
Remembering that bitter sweet 0.02% miss back in 1978, we are so grateful to our patients, team members, mentors and peers for all of their support and motivation to strive to be better every single day!
