UH Dermatologist Connects Patients to Care, Close to Home

UH Clinical Update | September 2026

Timmie Mishra, MD

When Timmie Mishra, MD, talks about dermatology, she describes part of her job as playing detective, particularly when she and her dermatology colleagues are asked to diagnose or treat hospital inpatients.

"Sometimes we are called in when there is not an established diagnosis," she says. "The skin can often serve as a clue. We get to play Sherlock a bit to help the team figure out what's going on."

That curiosity, combined with persistence and a talent for collaboration, has helped Dr. Mishra make an impact far beyond individual patient encounters. She has three primary roles at UH – as a dermatologist, as residency program director and as leader of the dermatology hospitalist service.

She also was recently recognized with a “Dinner with the Doc” honor for advancing systemness across UH by developing an innovative hybrid dermatology consultation model, which improves patient access to specialty care while helping them stay closer to home.

The model combines in-person evaluations by dermatology residents with real-time virtual support from attending physicians. By making specialist expertise available across the health system, it has reduced unnecessary transfers to UH Cleveland Medical Center, improved coordination among hospitals and allowed patients to receive care in their own communities whenever possible.

"Patients can avoid transfers to UH Cleveland Medical Center, which is good for them, and good for UH," Dr. Mishra says. "It reduces the risks that can come with a transfer of care, lowers costs and can prevent delays if there aren't beds available."

Creating this model required navigating a web of clinical, operational and regulatory challenges while coordinating with leaders across multiple hospitals and departments. The result: strengthening systemwide collaboration while keeping patient needs at the center.

For Dr. Mishra, improving care delivery has always gone hand in hand with a love of medicine itself.

Growing up in Minnesota after spending part of her childhood in Canada, she was drawn to science in high school. "I loved chemistry, physics and biology," she says. "I wanted a field where I could be talking to people all day - helping people - but also be engaged in science."

Her interest was reinforced by watching her mother pursue nursing while raising a family.

"My mom was going into nursing school while I was in high school," she recalls. "She was a full-time mom and took evening classes because she felt it was worth it. I thought, what a cool career where you get to help people."

That eventually led her to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, where a curriculum that emphasized collaborative learning and peer teaching convinced her it was the right fit.

After medical school, she completed an internship at MetroHealth and a dermatology residency at UH. By then, she had discovered the specialty that would shape her career.

"I was one of those students who really liked everything," she says, “so it was hard to choose.” Dermatology piqued her interest, but she says that mentorship by dermatologist Jeremy Bordeaux, MD, Mary and Gordon Harnett Chair in Dermatology, University Hospitals, and exposure to research also drew her in.

So did the breadth of the field, since it allowed her to combine her interests in visual diagnosis, complex medicine and patient relationships. Today, she has developed a particular passion for inpatient consultative dermatology, where she helps care for hospitalized patients with serious skin conditions.

"I get to practice dermatology, and I get to be engaged in hospital medicine," she says. "It's the best of both worlds."

It’s also highly complex. Dermatologists are increasingly called upon to evaluate skin reactions caused by advanced cancer therapies and immunotherapies, an area that evolves as medicine advances.

"It's great that the field of medicine is able to advance so quickly," Dr. Mishra says. "But then we have to keep up with all the side effects of those advances and figure out how to manage them. Trying to manage that keeps it interesting."

Outside the hospital, the discipline that has characterized her career persists. A former competitive swimmer whose days often began with 5 a.m. practices, a few years ago, Dr. Mishra joined her then soon-to-be husband and other UH clinicians on a climb to Mount Kilimanjaro’s peak.

That determination has helped her succeed as a physician, educator and innovator, whether she is teaching residents, solving a difficult diagnostic puzzle, or creating new ways to connect patients with specialty care, closer to home.

To nominate a physician for this honor, click here for the Dinner with the Doc Nomination Form.