Let The Games Begin…

By the time you read this you will have a new American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Vice President…oh wait, that’s me!

Let me say thank you again for trusting me to serve the specialty and try to do what is best for all of us. It will be fun to do it with new AAD President Ken Tomecki, my friend of nearly 17 years, everyone at the table, but also with all of you. By the time this is published, we should know who our next class of officers and directors for the AAD Board will be as well, so I hope we can salute them when we get the chance to celebrate being out at meetings again.

Every year dermatologists in private practice give countless hours of service to the specialty as advocates for patients, to members of legislative bodies, as teachers, and in leadership. Many of the AAD officers, such as Mark Kaufmann who will take over in 2022, and board members come from private practice, and so will many more. I believe it’s essential that dermatologists in private practice take on these roles of representation in leadership and stand together to help make our specialty stronger. More importantly, we have to stand together regardless of our practice models and keep our image from fragmenting. We don’t need more erosion of our scope of practice and poaching of our expertise while we waste time on trivia.

As I have gone down this path myself, I have been pleased to see how many dermatologists coming out of residency have become active in teaching, advocacy, and pursuit of leadership roles. There has been a lot of energy in the groups of the first five years out of training, which will hopefully lead to more voices in leadership and more innovation. Younger researchers and drug developers can swing the pendulum back in our favor as the trend of small pharma consolidation and big pharma introductions into dermatology continue…on top of the slow absolution of topical therapy thanks to the underexposed and even less compassionate insurance and pharmacy gatekeepers who treat the skin as an optional organ.

I know—by now you’re waiting for my usual cynicism and lashing out, but I thought I would take a month off and be optimistic, and try to rally all of us to join together (OK, The Who needed a plug). As Ken and I start the new session, we need to encourage dermatologists in private practice and academic medicine to work together to maintain patient safety, to keep our visibility and relevance high especially as we start to slowly open up and patients feel more comfortable about coming to see us in person again. Even more important is that we make sure the new faces from industry understand the need for collaboration in support of medical education, of new innovations, and in support of patient safety and satisfaction. It is very easy as our long-time industry friends retire or leave dermatology to lose relationships, but when that happens sponsorship and funding can dry up in a hurry.

And that could become a huge problem when we don’t know who to turn to, or even worse, when their attention has moved elsewhere.

So as meetings start to open up and we can see each other in person instead of just through a screen, and as we find our path to restoration of sanity from the pandemic, see if you can help identify the next leaders, or the next way to contribute to making us stronger. And in upcoming issues of Practical Dermatology® magazine, look for coverage of important advocacy issues, details about why practicing dermatologists should get involved in these initiatives, and which issues we need to address now to make our specialty even better and stronger.

The obstacles and challenges are getting more complex but do not have to be insurmountable if we face them together…so let the games begin as we move forward. And thank all of you again for trusting me with the chance to make a difference for us.