You’re busy. Between patients, prior authorizations, inbox messages, and everything else on your plate, keeping up with the literature is the first thing that slips. Dermatology Times NP/PA Connect is here to make sure it doesn’t. Each week, we pull the most clinically relevant news from across dermatology and bring it straight to your inbox — what’s new, what it means, and what’s worth watching. This week: a weekend teledermatology model reaching patients dermatology has left behind, 10 habits for a sharper full-body skin exam, a new CME congress built specifically for NPs and PAs, and what to ask before referring a patient for hair transplantation.
Obehi Oriaifo, DNP, FNP-BC, DCNP, founder of DermaNP Solutions, joined the Dermatology Times podcast Derm Dispatch to describe what patients in provider-scarce areas are up against. In her area, patients often wait months for a dermatology appointment and may travel up to 3 hours for a visit that lasts only 10 to 15 minutes, time during which conditions such as acne and hidradenitis suppurativa can progress for years before reaching specialized care.
Most times, I would say about 6 months that they've been waiting, — Obehi Oriaifo, DNP, FNP-BC, DCNP
DermaNP Solutions runs Saturdays and Sundays, a self-pay, cash-based model that accepts HSA payments and gives new patients a 30-minute visit instead of the typical 10- to 15-minute slot. Oriaifo licensed the platform in Iowa and Alaska based on provider shortages in each state: Alaska has roughly 33 dermatologists and only 1 board-certified dermatology nurse practitioner for a population of 741,000, while Iowa has approximately 188 dermatologists and 15 dermatology nurse practitioners for 3.2 million residents.
▶ Why it matters: For NPs and PAs building or referring into telederm services, a weekend, self-pay model shows one way to close access gaps in provider-scarce regions without waiting on payer contracts.
MORE ON SKIN CANCER
A thorough full-body skin examination requires more than scanning for obvious lesions. Chantel Hillestad, RN, MSN, DCNP, FNP-C, outlined 10 practical habits for NPs and PAs, starting with hair-bearing areas: parting through the scalp, eyebrows, facial hair, and beards can reveal lesions, including melanoma, hidden beneath dense hair. Palpation adds information visual inspection alone misses. Actinic keratoses often feel rough or gritty, while dermatofibromas are typically firm and may dimple when manipulated.2
Hillestad also flagged areas that are easy to treat as background: the umbilicus, tattoos, and scar tissue. Primary umbilical melanoma is extremely rare but reported in the literature, and a Sister Mary Joseph nodule, an umbilical metastatic lesion, is most commonly associated with gastrointestinal or gynecologic malignancy. Dense tattoo ink can mask changes in underlying skin, and skin cancers can develop within burn scars or other chronically damaged tissue.
▶ Why it matters: Build the umbilicus, tattoos, and scars into a consistent exam sequence rather than treating them as optional, since each can harbor primary or metastatic lesions that are easy to miss on a quick pass.
Dermatology Times has launched a dedicated NP/PA education platform alongside a new congress series, opening with Derm Nexus: The Inflammatory Disease and Innovations Congress for NP/PAs, a 2-day CME meeting set for November 20 to 21, 2026, at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess in Scottsdale, Arizona. The program is organized around 4 pillars, inflammatory disease, cutaneous dermatology, professional development, and aesthetics, and is chaired by Lauren Evans Miller, MPAS, PA-C.3
Sessions move from immune pathway science, including BTK, OX-40, JAK, and TYK signaling, into case-based application covering hidradenitis suppurativa staging, atopic dermatitis, vitiligo, alopecia areata, and mental health screening, closed out by hands-on labs each day.
We're redefining what it means to be a complete clinician — Erik Lohrmann, senior vice president of corporate development, MJH Life Sciences
▶ Why it matters: This is the first CME meeting series built specifically for dermatology NPs and PAs, worth flagging to colleagues who have historically had to fit physician-oriented programming to their own scope of practice.
Hair transplantation is expanding well past the scalp. Paul Rose, MD, JD, of Golden State Dermatology, told Dermatology Times he has seen rising demand for eyebrow and beard restoration, plus interest from women and patients pursuing gender-affirming procedures. Both major techniques, follicular unit transplantation and follicular unit extraction, remain in use, and neither is scar-free: FUE typically leaves small, round, dot-like scars, while FUT leaves a linear scar.4
Not every patient with hair loss is a transplant candidate. Rose emphasized a thorough history and, when indicated, laboratory testing or a scalp biopsy, since scarring and inflammatory forms of alopecia may contraindicate surgery altogether. Patients seeking eyebrow transplantation, for example, should be screened for frontal fibrosing alopecia, because transplantation can reactivate even seemingly inactive scarring disease and cause the implanted hairs to fail.
Recovery is gradual: swelling can persist 4 to 5 days, strenuous exercise is generally avoided for 10 to 14 days, and implanted hairs commonly shed before regrowth becomes noticeable at 3 to 4 months, with results reaching their end point around 12 to 14 months.
▶ Why it matters: Establishing whether hair loss is stable and non-scarring before referral can spare a patient a procedure that won't hold, or one that reactivates their underlying disease.
Get Involved With Dermatology Times
For APPs across all stages of their dermatology careers, opportunities to connect, learn, and share experiences can be an important part of professional growth. Dermatology Times invites nurse practitioners and physician assistants to share their perspectives through NP/PA Connect. APPs can contribute clinical insights, career experiences, advocacy efforts, lessons learned, and perspectives on emerging treatments while connecting with colleagues across the dermatology community.
Interested in getting involved? Contact editor Shannon Heaning at [email protected] to contribute.
References
- Bader K, Block R, Oriaifo O. The Cutaneous Connection: How Teledermatology Is Closing the Rural Access Gap. Podcast. Dermatology Times. August 29, 2026. Accessed September 2, 2026.https://www.dermatologytimes.com/view/the-cutaneous-connection-how-teledermatology-is-closing-the-rural-access-gap
- Hillestad C. 10 Skin Cancer Exam Tips. Dermatology Times. September 1, 2026. Accessed September 2, 2026.https://www.dermatologytimes.com/view/10-skin-cancer-exam-tips
- Bader K. Dermatology Times Launches Derm Nexus Congress for NPs and PAs. Dermatology Times. September 1, 2026. Accessed September 2, 2026.https://www.dermatologytimes.com/view/dermatology-times-launches-derm-nexus-congress-for-nps-and-pas
- Rose P, Heaning S. What NPs and PAs Should Know About Hair Transplantation. Dermatology Times. August 28, 2026. Accessed September 2, 2026.https://www.dermatologytimes.com/view/what-nps-and-pas-should-know-about-hair-transplantation
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