SoC-TEQ

Skin of Color Teaching Exposure and Quality

Stronger skin of color learning built from daily residency teaching.

Residents record the teaching they receive and rate its skin-of-color exposure and quality. The data guides priorities, targeted teaching, and reassessment in a continuous feedback loop.

Notice.Log.Share.Improve.
See how it works ↓

Based on the framework by Kakish and Oliveira, published in Medical Teacher (2026).

Why it matters

Dermatology trains the eye.
Not every eye is trained the same way.

Many conditions look different across skin tones. Seeing this regularly in training helps residents recognize them confidently in every patient.

Included skin of color Did not

Each square is a topic taught. SoC-TEQ shows how many included skin of color.

What SoC-TEQ adds
What's different

What SoC-TEQ adds

Earlier work audited teaching materials, surveyed trainees, and tested single courses. It showed the gap is real and that focused teaching helps. Ways to track everyday residency teaching, and act on it, remain limited.

Measured where teaching happens

Each topic is logged as it's taught, in lectures, conferences, and clinics, not audited afterward.

Exposure and quality, both

Whether skin of color was included in each topic, and how well it was taught.

A loop, not a snapshot

The data sets priorities, residents teach them, and a before-and-after test shows what changed. Then it repeats.

Led by residents

Residents log, rate, and teach, so the people closest to the teaching drive the change.

It complements existing curricula, dedicated clinics, and faculty expertise.

See how it works
Outcomes

What a cycle gives you

  • 1Which topics need attention
  • 2Which areas to strengthen
  • 3What residents will teach
  • 4How knowledge changed

All four appear in a cycle report you can save as a PDF.

See them in the app
In practice

Built for a busy residency

Designed so a busy program can keep it running.

0new sessions in months 1 to 3

Fits the schedule you already have

Residents log teaching already on the calendar. Logging stops after the third month.

1logger a day

Light daily load

Optional reminders and a weekly response rate help the group keep going.

2criteria before anything is rated

Consistent, anonymous ratings

A topic is rated only if a Fitzpatrick IV–VI image was shown and the skin-of-color point was discussed. Anonymity keeps answers honest.

Minutesa day, for three months

A small time commitment

In return, residents build teaching and scholarly work, and the program gets a report and a result to cite.

Works on phone, iPad, or laptop, with nothing to install. Residents open it in the browser and can add it to their home screen.

How it works

The cycle

Six steps over six months, then it starts again.

Months 1–3Log and rate
End of month 3Set priorities
Months 4–6Residents teach
End of month 6Measure change

1. Notice

Months 1–3

During teaching, residents note whether skin of color was included: was an image shown, and was it discussed?

In the app: Phase 1 · Baseline logging
Phase 1 · Months 1–3

Follow one teaching day

Optional · a quick look at one day

Tap the numbers or press Next.

1. Claim the logger

Log

Any resident can claim the day's logger role with one tap. One logger avoids duplicates, and everyone who attended still rates.

Example data from a test group
Up close

From everyday teaching to a clear plan

Each cycle turns three months of ratings into four results.

1

Which topics need attention

Priority topics, weakest first, with the domains that lowered each score.

Example data from a test group
2

Which areas to strengthen

Each domain averaged across all topics, showing where teaching is weakest.

Example data from a test group
3

What residents will teach

Each claimed topic, its format, and when it will be taught.

Example data from a test group
4

How knowledge changed

The group's change from baseline to follow-up, with statistics explained simply.

Example data from a test group
Who does what

What each role gets and does

What you gain

Residents
  • Your ratings decide the group's learning priorities.
  • You choose how to teach what you claim.
  • Keep private notes and share papers with the group.
  • See how the group's learning changes over the cycle.
Program director
  • A clear view of which topics need attention in each PGY year.
  • Resident-led teaching organized around those needs.
  • Measured change from baseline to follow-up, with a citation-ready summary.
  • Supports the ACGME competencies of patient care and practice-based learning and improvement.

What you do

Residents
  • Log the day's topics when you claim the logger.
  • Rate topics from sessions you attended.
  • Enter your baseline and follow-up assessment scores.
  • Claim priority topics and teach them in months 4–6.
Program director
  • Decide on the baseline and follow-up tests.
  • Review topics to monitor and those that did not meet criteria at the end of month 3.
  • Require the group to cover any that apply.
  • Mark the review as done so the group can begin remediation.
  • Follow progress and read the results for each PGY year.
Every screen

Walk through the whole app

Optional · explore any part in detail

Real screenshots from a test group, with names and program changed. Pick a role and phase, then press Next.

Example data from a test group
Log a teaching day · 1 of 11

Claim the logger

Each day starts here. One resident logs the day's topics and coverage, and everyone who attended rates, the logger included.

  1. 1One tap makes you the day's logger.
  2. 2The day stays open until 4 AM the next morning.
Questions

Common questions

Taking part

Does the logger also rate?
Yes. Everyone who attended a session rates it, including the resident who logged it.
How much time does it take each day?
For the logger, a few seconds per topic during teaching, then a short catch-up to answer two questions. For everyone who attended, five drags per topic and an optional note. A day with several topics takes a few minutes in total.
What counts as an image?
A Fitzpatrick IV–VI image or a patient with that skin both count. Each topic needs its own image and discussion, even when several come from the same patient or setting.
What if residents are in different clinics the same day?
For now, SoC-TEQ logs teaching that all or most of the group attend together. Logging topics from residents in different clinics is planned for a future version.

Scores and privacy

What is the RM score?
RM · Representational Metric. A topic's overall score, calculated as the mean of the five rating items (depth, visual clarity, nuance, management, confidence), each averaged across everyone who rated it. Domains marked outside a session's scope, such as Management in a diagnosis-only talk, are left out. A score of 3.5 or below makes the topic a priority educational need.
Who can see what?
WhatYouYour groupProgram director
Your five ratings on a topic✓Topic average and median, once 3 have ratedTopic average and median, once 3 have rated
Notes you leave while rating✓Yes, under your resident code—
Comments on a claimed topic✓Yes, under your resident codeOnly if you share them, without your name or code
Your private notes✓——
Topics you claim to teach✓Yes, by nameYes, by name
Your assessment scores✓Group average, then each code's improvement at the endGroup average, then each code's improvement at the end
Which resident code is yours✓——

Scores wait for three ratings so no one's answers can be worked out from an average. Resident codes never change. Only the app's owner can link a code to an account for support.

Assessments

Where do the baseline and follow-up assessments come from?
SoC-TEQ doesn't include a question bank yet. Each program tailors its tests to its priority educational needs, with input from the program director or a chief resident. Diala Kakish can also help prepare them, with a final review by the program. For now, tests are taken outside the app, and residents enter their own score under their resident code.
What if someone doesn't enter a score?
Every resident takes both assessments and enters their score, and the group average appears once all are in. If a resident withdraws or is away for a long time, their score can be excluded with the program director's agreement, so the group's results can be completed.

For programs

What does a program arrange before starting?
  • Share the access codes: one per PGY year plus the program director's own.
  • Decide on the baseline and follow-up tests and who prepares them.
  • Make room in the teaching schedule for resident-led sessions in months 4–6.
How can our program join the pilot?
Use Request pilot access at the end of this page to contact Diala Kakish. Programs receive their access codes before they start.
The pilot

What participating involves

Free
to take part in the pilot
6 months
per cycle, for each PGY year
By invitation
with access codes set up for you
Check-ins
with Diala Kakish at the end of months 3 and 6
Who coordinates it
The program director leads and can share day-to-day tasks with a chief resident or another coordinator.
Faculty
Teach as they normally do. Nothing extra is asked of them.
Setup
An introductory meeting with the program director, and a chief resident if there is one, sets up access codes and assessments. The program prepares the tests, with Diala Kakish's help if wanted, gives them outside the app, and makes room for resident-led sessions in months 4–6.
Support
Diala Kakish is the contact throughout the pilot, and residents have in-app guides so they can start without training.
If plans change
If a resident withdraws or is away for a long time, their score can be excluded with the program director's agreement.

Diala Kakish leads the app and the pilot. Request pilot access ↓

Getting started

Joining takes one access code

  • Each program gets one access code per PGY year, plus a separate one for its program director.
  • Residents sign up in about a minute with their name, email, program, and code.
  • Nothing to install. It runs in the browser on a phone, iPad, or laptop, and can be added to a home screen.
  • Sign-up is by invitation, and each program is approved before it starts.
Open the app

Log in, or sign up with your program's access code.

Create an account
ResidentProgram director
Full name
Username
Email
Dermatology program
Program access code
Create an account
Meet the creator

Diala Kakish, MD

Creator of SoC-TEQ · Physician and researcher

Diala Kakish is a Jordanian physician whose work focuses on dermatology research, medical education, and health equity. She studied medicine at the University of Debrecen in Hungary on a full Stipendium Hungaricum scholarship and received the DEHÖK Presidential Certificate of Recognition for her contributions to public service, teaching, and research.

Following graduation in 2023, she established a year-long international research mentorship initiative involving over 200 medical students and junior physicians, and formed research collaborations with colleagues in the United States and Brazil. She subsequently completed her medical internship in Jordan and holds active registration with the Irish Medical Council.

Building on her research and educational work, she developed the Skin of Color Teaching Exposure and Quality (SoC-TEQ) framework, published in Medical Teacher, and built its digital application and accompanying website.

In 2026, she also led Skin in Sign, one of 15 projects funded globally through a World Skin Health Day grant, delivering an accessible skin-health workshop in Arabic Sign Language for Deaf and hard-of-hearing participants in Jordan.

Next, she plans to pilot SoC-TEQ in dermatology residency programs and evaluate whether it improves skin-of-color teaching.

Read the frameworkResearch profile

Interested in bringing SoC-TEQ to your program? Contact Diala Kakish to discuss participation.

A short email with a few questions about your program.