Taking the lead

By Megan Bennett, Staff Writer, April 1, 2026

Just as it is when striving to become a great dermatologist, being a great leader is a learned skill, said Jeremy Bordeaux, MD, MPH, FAAD.

That’s one of the lessons that Dr. Bordeaux — a Mohs surgeon at University Hospitals in Cleveland — took away from his year-long mentorship with Mary Maloney, MD, FAAD, as part of the AAD’s Leadership Institute (LI) — one that has stayed with him for nearly two decades.

“We put so much time and effort into becoming dermatologists,” he said. “However, certain skills — such as good communication and effective negotiation — are never taught in medical school. We must learn these skills as well.”

Since its inception, the LI offers Academy members training, mentorship, and other resources to further their professional skills and opportunities.

More than 1,200 members have participated in the Leadership Forum, a two-day marathon of workshops and sessions for early-career dermatologists, since it started in 2002. The Advanced Leadership Forum, which began in 2014, has attracted more than 200 mid-career Academy members. Additionally, the Academic Dermatology Leadership Program (ADLP) is a year-long program offering 20 mentor-mentee pairings, monthly peer calls on hot topics, and an ADLP session at the Annual Meeting, Leadership Forum, and Innovation Academy.

This year, LI launched the Clinical Practice Dermatology Leadership Program (CPDLP). Spearheaded by AAD President-Elect Andrew H. Weinstein, MD, FAAD, the CPDLP mirrors the mentorship elements of the ADLP, while also incorporating shared sessions for participants of both programs, said Kari Webb, AAD’s senior manager of strategy and alliances.

“This innovative initiative is specifically designed for dermatologists practicing outside of academic settings, offering leadership development tailored to the unique needs of physicians in private practice, group practice, and other non-academic environments,” said Webb.

In addition, the LI also offers sessions at the AAD Annual Meeting and Innovation Academy focused on leadership development topics. These sessions are presented by Academy leaders and leadership consultants.

“There are many shy people who have become incredible leaders even if they thought at first that leadership was just not in their wheelhouse,” said Dr. Maloney, one of the Academy leaders who formed the Leadership Institute. “We started off with the question: If leadership is a learned skill, shouldn’t we be teaching leadership to make sure that the AAD, and its sister societies, have the very best leadership?”

DermWorld spoke to several participants about how the programs’ pillars have supported their professional and personal development.

Mentorship

The LI offers long- and short-term mentorship opportunities. Flash Mentoring offers a one-time, one-on-one discussion focused on a specific need. In the ADLP, LI’s flagship mentorship program, volunteer mentors pair up with younger physicians who are less than nine years post-residency and spend at least 75% of their work in academia.

“I would come to discussions with an agenda of topics I wanted to discuss with my mentor,” said Benedict Wu, DO, PhD, FAAD, director of inpatient dermatology and assistant professor of dermatology at Montefiore Einstein in the Bronx, New York. He worked with mentor Misha Rosenbach, MD, FAAD, in 2024. “Topics ranged from how to navigate hospital politics to how to be a more effective and efficient inpatient consult team. We also discussed more personal topics like how to avoid feeling overwhelmed and burned out, and how to regulate our emotions in response to difficult situations during the workday. It was reassuring to know that the kind of issues that I faced were not unique to me,” he added.

Since his mentorship with Dr. Maloney in 2008, Dr. Bordeaux has become a long-time ADLP mentor as well.

“I usually start by forming a personal connection with my mentee,” he explained. “I try to figure out who they are, what their life looks like, what drives them, what brings them joy, and what obstacles they’re facing. What is it that they want to achieve in life professionally? What do they want to achieve personally? What specifically are they looking to gain by participating in the ADLP?”

“I will tailor our meetings to what they’re looking for and make sure we have regularly scheduled meetings throughout the year,” he added. “I also usually ask them to choose two or three top issues that they want to work on throughout the year, so that each time we meet we can check their progress.” Some of Dr. Bordeaux’s mentees’ projects have included starting a tumor board at their institution, working on grant applications, and striving to become more nationally recognized in their clinical specialties.

When Mexico City-based dermatologist Maria Teresa García-Romero, MD, MPH, IFAAD, joined the ADLP, she had been concerned about the quality of her own mentorship skills to fellows and residents. She turned to her ADLP mentor, John Harris, MD, PhD, FAAD, who encouraged her to send an anonymous survey to past trainees. “I received a lot of good feedback, but I also received some feedback on how to improve,” said Dr. García-Romero.

These mentor-mentee relationships, the participants emphasized, are often mutually beneficial.

“Even though you may be older, that surely doesn’t mean that there isn’t a new, innovative, or exciting perspective that someone junior in the field is bringing to the table,” said Milan Anadkat, MD, FAAD, chair of AAD’s Leadership Development Steering Committee and dermatologist at Washington University Medicine in St. Louis. “Age equates to years in the field, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that you are all-knowing the longer you’ve been in the field.”

Networking

Dr. Wu was drawn to the formal and informal opportunities the LI offers for physicians to connect. Because he comes from a smaller residency program, he said he wanted to meet other physicians who shared his interests and motivations. Dr. Wu was in the 2024 class of ADLP, which culminated in attending the Leadership Forum.

“Both of the programs foster the opportunity to talk to people, share our struggles and frustrations, but also think about strategies to overcome and enhance our work productivity and our lives in general,” he said. The network he built, he added, has led to speaking opportunities and more professional references.

The Leadership Forum hosts receptions and offers team-building activities for the 100+ members who attend annually, said Webb. Participants of each Leadership Forum program are also invited to an alumni reception at the AAD’s Annual Meeting.

For Dr. Bordeaux, the networking also has a personal impact.

“I’ve developed life-long friendships,” he said. “I have a network of people who I learn from and can reach out to for guidance. My network includes people who live in different geographic areas and who are in different stages of their career.”

Leading within the workplace and the Academy

According to Webb, Leadership Forum graduates have used their training to support the specialty by gaining seats on AAD Councils, Committees, and Task Forces. They also direct sessions for the AAD Annual Meeting and AAD Innovation Academy, become involved in health policy advocacy, and even assume leadership roles at other medical organizations at the local, state, and national levels.

Beyond that, Dr. Anadkat noted that learning to lead is relevant at all career stages and areas of practice. “Anyone at any time can improve their skills in self-awareness, effectively running a team, and hosting collaborative meetings. With time, people become experts in what they’re trained in, but the challenge is to stay nimble and to continuously improve. Just because you have practiced for a long time and have tremendous content knowledge, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be adaptive and learn what motivates and influences different people.”

Another standout of the teachings, said Dr. Maloney, is how leaders can control their “hot buttons.”

“There is good evidence that when leaders lose their temper, it usually takes four to six months for the people around them to feel comfortable again bringing up issues that they think might be controversial,” she said. “If you lose your temper every three or four months, you never get over that hurdle of making people feel comfortable with you. This is one of what is called the fatal flaws of leadership.”

For Dr. García-Romero, the mentorship and Leadership Forum she attended in 2021 also taught her not to dwell on what she could do better or compare her accomplishments to others. “There is value in embracing your current strengths and career stage.” It also prepared her in combating imposter syndrome when seeking leadership roles that arise at the Academy and elsewhere.

“I may not have applied for all of these opportunities before, but now I feel I can do it,” she added. “The Forum helped me realize that I am a leader already. It’s not something that I have to wait to become.”

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