Maximizing Care With Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants

A study led by Dermatology Times editorial board member Aaron Farberg, MD, FAAD, double-board-certified dermatologist, Mohs surgeon, and chief medical officer of Bare Dermatology in Dallas, Texas, identified a shortage of dermatologists across the United States. In a survey through the American Academy of Dermatology, data indicated that 38% of clinicians in urban areas reported a low number of dermatologists in their community. More than 50% of dermatologists in rural areas reported there are fewer dermatologists than required to serve their populations. Study investigators alongside Farberg shared that 4 dermatologists per 100,000 individuals is an estimate of how many are needed to adequately care for a population, and more than 70% of regions studied with at least1 practicing dermatologist have fewerthan 4.¹

Honing in on the expertise of nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs) provides an opportunity to make dermatologic care more accessible. Recently, we have had the pleasure of attending conferences equipping NPs and PAs to serve patients with innovative treatments and solutions in dermatology. Regarding the 2023 Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference for PAs and NPs in Orlando, Florida, Neal Bhatia, MD, director of clinical dermatology at Therapeutics Clinical Research in San Diego, California, shared the value of having a PA on his team to collaborate and allow him more time to focus on high-level tasks.

“My own PA, Monique—she’s priceless. I can’t live without her; she works with me on the research side. So if the value of a PA in an office has to be demonstrated, I’ll just show you her picture,” he shared. In this issue, we spotlight 2 of many sessions we covered online from Fall Clinical on solutions for patients with seborrheic dermatitis and surgical techniques to improve patient outcomes.

Dermatology Times is proud to curate content embracing and empowering the NP/PA community. As the need for dermatologic care continues to grow, we want to ensure their experiences are heard, insight is shared, and hunger for knowledge is fulfilled.

Reference

1. Glazer AM, Farberg AS, Winkelmann RR, Rigel DS. Analysis of trends in geographic distribution and density of US dermatologists. JAMA Dermatol. 2017;153(4):322-325. doi:10.1001/jamadermatol.2016.5411