President's Message | January 2019

Jan 1, 2019

Thank you to all of our members who attended the SDPA’s 16th Annual Fall Conference in Orlando, Florida. We kicked off the conference with a festive Halloween themed reception. The Welcome took place at Universal Orlando Resort™/The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™ - Hogsmeade™ Event. The DPAF held their 3rd Annual Silent Auction, which was a great success raising $11,556.67 to benefit Camp Wonder. The members professional headshot studio was busy the entire conference. You should have already received the two complimentary retouched photos you chose. The “Mingle Zone” was a great place to recharge and engage. In addition to all of these amenities, there continue to be state of the art conference presentations. A heartfelt thank you to our Conference Committee for all of their behind the scenes work to make all of our conferences so successful. 

Speaking of behind the scenes, the SDPA BOD recently voted in favor of hiring a PR firm. We hired JPA Health Communications. They will work closely with the BOD to assist us with monitoring social media involving dermatology PAs and developing the most effective approaches to educating and responding to any and all fronts involving the SDPA and our cherished profession. The SDPA leadership believes that providing accurate, timely, and educated responses to social media involving dermatology PAs will help keep our profession moving forward with positive momentum. We are also working with the PR firm on a campaign to show how vital PAs are in decreasing patient wait times in dermatology. A special thanks to those who have already joined in our coalition advocacy group to include American Academy of PAs, National Eczema Association, National Alopecia Areata Foundation, Melanoma Research Alliance, AiM at Melanoma Foundation, Polka Dot Mama Melanoma Foundation, Derma Care Access Network, The American Health Quality Association, and Dermatology Nurses’ Association. This is just the beginning, as the advocacy group continues to grow. I hope you all got a chance to see the spotlight videos, Your Derm PA Can! as well as the dermatology PA patient interviews. 

Education is of upmost importance to the SDPA. We are pleased to announce one of the remaining two modules, Module 6, of the Diplomate Fellowship Program is now available! After completing Module 6, "Papulosquamous Eruptions and Eczematous Dermatosis", learners can expect to walk away with knowledge and understanding of: atopic dermatitis and other eczematous eruptions, irritant and allergic contact dermatitis, lichenoid dermatoses, other papulosquamous disorders, regional dermatoses, psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis. This module contains six sections in total and will provide 5.5 hours of Category I CME and costs $38.50. Log in to the SDPA Learning Center to learn more and get started! The remaining module (Module 21) is expected to be released soon... stay tuned!

Please don’t forget to mark your calendars for the special 25th SDPA anniversary celebration planned during the SDPA Annual Summer Conference taking place June 5-9, 2019 in Washington, DC. The 25th anniversary of the founding of the SDPA will take place in 2019. We’ve come a long way since 1994 when founder, Joe Monroe and a small group of PAs came up with the idea to begin the SDPA. Please join us on June 5, 2019, preceding the SDPA summer conference as we climb the political ladder and advocate for dermatology PAs for Capitol Hill Day in Washington, D.C. The determined efforts of the SDPA have grown the society into the largest and most advanced PA specialty organization in the nation. Come join us for what will be a great celebration of all of our leaders and members past and present! I am looking forward to another year filled with continued progress and achievements for the SDPA and the dermatology PA profession. 

 

Sincerely,

Joleen M. Volz, MPAS, PA-C, DFAAPA

SDPA President