The 2025 Society of Dermatology Physician Associates (SDPA) Annual Fall Dermatology Conference begins today in San Antonio, Texas! Dermatology PAs will be gathering for 4 days of networking, collaboration, and engaging sessions and Dermatology Times will be onsite with live coverage all weekend.
Established in 1994, the SDPA is the largest specialty organization affiliated with the American Academy of Physician Associates, currently representing over 4,700 members. Its mission is to "advance patient treatment through the education and empowerment of dermatology PAs," with a focus on empowerment, education, and advancement. The organization held its first CME conference in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 2002, followed by its inaugural summer conference in Chicago, Illinois, in 2010.
This year’s fall meeting will kick off with a welcome address from current SDPA president, Sarah Vicari, MMS, PA-C. Heather Goff, MD, MPH, will then lead back-to-back sessions, “Meet the Medical Director” and “Lifestyle in Skin Health and Disease.” Yasmine Kirkorian, MD, and Heather Woolery-Lloyd, MD, FAAD, will each lead 2 talks on the first day. The day concludes with a panel discussing opportunities for PAs outside of the clinic led by Hayden Middleton, DMSc, PA-C; Kristen Grippe, PA-C; and Daniella Benson, MS, PA-C.
Topics at a Glance
- AI & social media in dermatology
- Chronic spontaneous urticaria
- Connective tissue diseases
- Cutaneous GVHD and lymphomas
- Hyperpigmentation and skin of color
- Practice management for PAs
- Psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis
- Skin cancer and dermatopathology
Day 2 begins with an award ceremony before jumping into an engaging “Stump the Experts” roundtable. Attendees will present a series of challenging cases to Goff, Kirkorian, Kassandra Holzem, MD, and Shanna Miranti, MPAS, PA-C. Holzem is also leading talks on red flags in dermatology and cutaneous graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). The day will then be split up into beginner, intermediate, and advanced breakout sessions on acne, rosacea, off-label JAK usage, systemic macrocytosis, and atopic dermatitis. The conference is also known for its microlearning CME sessions, offering practice management tips for PAs related to contracts, billing, artificial intelligence, and more.
Saturday starts with an exciting keynote from Armani Latimer, a Dallas Cowboys Cheerleading alum and alopecia patient advocate. Then, 3 engaging back-to-back sessions on the immunology of disease states, social media trends from the year, and the use of GLP-1 therapy in dermatology, will be presented by Harrison Nguyen, MD, MBA, MPH, FAAD; Shannon C Trotter, DO; Karan Lal, DO, FAAD; and more. More breakout sessions will be presented on skin cancer, dermatopathology, lichenoid dermatoses, hyperhidrosis, nail disorders, vasculitis, hidradenitis suppurativa, suturing, and bullous diseases.
On the final day, Diego Ruiz Dasilva, MD, FAAD, will lead a session on JAK inhibitors, and Joseph Gatti, DMSc, MBA, PA-C, and Curtis Lamar Hardy, DO, will present “Beyond Supervision: Redefining the Modern PA–Dermatologist Partnership.” Goff will then close out the meeting with talks on ethical dilemmas and cutaneous lymphomas. See the full SDPA Annual Summer Dermatology Conference agenda here.
The editors of Dermatology Times will be covering the conference live in person, reporting on numerous engaging sessions, as well as conducting exclusive interviews with experts in the specialty. Will you be there? Email our team at DTEditor@mmhgroup.com to connect.
Make sure to keep up to date with the latest coverage from the conference, follow us on social media, and subscribe to Dermatology Times to receive daily email updates.
