Taking care of dermatologists so that they can take care of their patients
From the President
By Susan C. Taylor, MD, FAAD, April 1, 2025
Dear members,
It was great seeing so many of you in person at the Annual Meeting as I began my term as president. For those of you I did not have the pleasure of seeing personally last month, I want to extend my sincerest thank you for trusting me with the responsibility of representing you and the Academy.
I am looking forward to getting to work fighting for you. I welcome any and all who want to fight alongside me. An easy way to do that is to get involved in a council, committee, or task force that handles an area you’re passionate about. Applications for CCTFs are open starting in April and will be accepted through June.
Although I anxiously wait to see what the next year has in store, a year is a long time, and I would like to accomplish a great deal during my term as your president. Please know that I am ready to hit the ground running. My overarching goal during my time in office is to ensure that I and the Academy are taking care of dermatologists so that they can take care of their patients.
Just as we as dermatologists treat life-altering conditions and life-threatening diseases, we must be supported by our largest, most resourceful, capable, and influential organization, the AAD. To achieve this goal, I will focus on five pillars.
The first is advocacy. Securing annual inflation-based updates to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule will remain the Academy’s sole federal advocacy priority. We will be calling on you to keep the pressure up, because our voices and the voices of our patients are critical. There are many ways to help: You can attend the 2025 AADA Legislative Conference, participate in our grassroots efforts, or join us in our SkinPAC efforts.
Take action
Find out how you can get involved in the Academy’s advocacy efforts.
The second pillar is education. The professional education opportunities offered at the Annual Meeting and Innovation Academy are foundational, and we continue to expand our vast library of digital learning courses with new topics, including the recent additions of courses on skin cancer diagnostics, wound care, teledermatology, and more. Our new Clinical Image Collection is a great resource for teaching and for diagnosing, and the Dialogues in Dermatology podcast is now available to you at no cost as a benefit of your membership.
The third pillar is practice support. I know firsthand how challenging running a practice is, and so I’m focused on providing practice support to members. We’re advocating to reduce administrative burdens, providing legal and contract negotiation guidance, and offering malpractice insurance discounts. We’re even in the early stages of exploring how regenerative AI can assist with common administrative tasks.
The fourth pillar is leadership development. The Academy’s 21st Leadership Forum is set for this summer; applications to attend the 22nd Leadership Forum will be opening in July. The knowledge you can acquire during the Forum is invaluable. A weekend-long commitment will provide you with skills you’ll use for the rest of your career. I cannot understate the value this provides. And we continue to grow and improve the event; this year we’ve added a new session specific to the issues women in dermatology face charting a course toward leadership.
The fifth and final pillar is resources for well-being. Stress management, work-life balance, and support from trusted colleagues are crucial to providing our patients with the best quality care. The Academy offers a variety of resources that members can use to mitigate professional burnout, and I would recommend that all members at least familiarize themselves with these resources. You never know when things might get to be too overwhelming. It happens to everyone and is not an indication of weakness. Learn more about the resources.
I am excited and eager to start fighting for you and to start seeing these five pillars come to fruition. Once again, thank you for giving me this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
With my thanks,
Susan
AADA advocacy priorities
Learn about the Academy’s advocacy priorities and how to join efforts to protect your practice.
