International collaboration is vital to a greater future!
From the President
By Terrence A. Cronin Jr., MD, FAAD, July 1, 2023
The AAD is a dedicated member of the ILDS, and we are all truly honored that our past AAD president Henry Lim, MD, FAAD, was recently elected to be ILDS president and will be serving in this role in Singapore.
That is why I am so delighted to be attending this conference. Working together across borders for a brighter future is vital for our specialty and our patients, especially in this post-COVID world that we’re all living in. I will be chairing a session on Advanced Reconstruction after Skin Cancer Surgery. I will also be presenting at the Academy’s Advanced Systemic Therapeutics program on July 3. This half-day educational program features several experts who will discuss the importance of staying current in the uses of systemic therapies and ways to optimize therapeutic regimens for patients with routine or challenging disorders. I am looking forward to sharing what I know and learning from others.
You don’t have to attend World Congress to be involved in dermatology internationally. The Academy offers our members several incredible opportunities. Skin Care for Developing Countries offers grants to individuals and organizations for humanitarian efforts in developing areas. We also work with Health Volunteers Overseas where dermatologist volunteers train local health care personnel in Cambodia, Costa Rica, Nepal, Uganda, and Vietnam. For residents, we offer international grants for 12 U.S. and Canadian upper-level dermatology residents to spend several weeks in either Botswana, Nepal, Peru, or South Africa, where they learn about the care of tropical dermatologic conditions as well as how to practice routine dermatology with finite resources.
Learn more
Read more about the Academy’s advocacy activities on Medicare physician payment.
Can’t travel? There are many other ways you can get involved in global awareness through the Academy. For example, when COVID hit, we worked with the International League of Dermatologic Societies to develop a registry for dermatologists to submit information about dermatologic manifestations of the COVID-19 virus, as well as skin reactions to the COVID-19 vaccine. Numerous studies have resulted from the registry. We also expanded the registry launched with the ILDS during COVID to encompass mpox (formerly monkeypox) and reactions to mpox vaccinations. The success of this collaborative effort depended entirely on active participation by our international health care community to obtain accurate and reliable information. I wanted to particularly thank Esther Freeman, MD, PhD, FAAD and George Hruza, MD, MBA, FAAD for their leadership and all those who contributed.
Collaborating with our colleagues at home and internationally is a vital part of improving dermatologic health around the world. The future depends on our initiative as physicians to collaborate and learn from each other. I encourage any of you who are offered a chance to cooperate on a global scale to seize the opportunity.
Academy meetings and events
Learn more about the Academy’s meetings and events.
Presidential spotlight
It takes a dedicated and engaged membership to move the needle on the issues facing our patients and practices, and sometimes our most diligent members can go unrecognized. As a toast to our unsung heroes within the Academy, I will be featuring one hardworking member at the end of this column each month.
This month’s recipients of the Presidential Spotlight goes to: Advisory Board Chair Andrew H. Weinstein, MD, FAAD, and Advisory Board Chair-Elect Amy Derick, MD, FAAD.
The Advisory Board works to protect, promote, and preserve the interests of individual dermatologists by providing a pathway for our members to present policy proposals directly to the AAD/A Board of Directors. The Advisory Board discusses and vets many serious and, often, controversial issues that are currently concerning our grassroots membership.
Drs. Weinstein and Derick deserve recognition for leading this body through the very difficult and challenging pandemic period — making sure that many disparate and diverse viewpoints were considered and validated. While not shying away from controversy, they have been able to bridge many important issues over the past four years and build a consensus toward stronger unity and greater functioning of our organization.
AAD/A Impact Report
Read more about the Academy’s most recent advocacy wins.
