Dermatology Literature: Interesting Articles Published in 2022-23
Attendees on Friday morning of SDPA’s summer 2023 conference were treated to an informative conversation of what’s new in the dermatology literature with PAs Cynthia Griffith and Peter Young. During this talk, Cynthia and Peter reviewed some of the most highly viewed and cited articles as well as PA-authored articles published within 2022-2023. A 2022 article published in JAMA DERM evaluated characteristics of the PA dermatology workforce which revealed a lack of racial and ethnic diversity. This mirrors the lack of racial and ethnic diversity in the dermatologist workforce. An additional finding showed that most dermatology PAs practice in or near cities. PA Young mentioned that some may use this as evidence that PAs do not increase access to care, but another way to examine this information is that most dermatologists may follow the AAD in their recommendation of on-site supervision of PAs. This requirement may restrict where PAs practice, possibly resulting in limitations of access to care for patients in less urban environments.
Coverage: SDPA Annual Summer Dermatology Conference, June 22-25, 2023 – BOSTON
A 2023 Open Access article co-authored by Cynthia and Peter revealed dermatology PAs are efficient, see more patients in fewer hours and suffer from less burnout than PAs in other specialties. PA Griffith discussed an article published online ahead of print in the Dermatology Online Journal. This article, which will be available in print this July, evaluated information of >12,000 patients and revealed patients were as satisfied with the care they received from their dermatology PAs as those who received care from board-certified dermatologists.
PA Young highlighted an article he authored in JAMA Derm in 2022 evaluating contact allergens in “natural” skincare products. Of note, 9/10 of these products were found to have one or more allergens from the top 100 most prevalent allergens in the ACDS CAMP database. Peter commented that consumers need to be educated to read the “back of the bottle” where the ingredients are listed rather than depend on what is written on the front of the bottle. Another interesting finding in the JAAD journal highlighted the presence of allergens in commercial hand sanitizers. It was revealed up to 70% of these contain one allergen and 40% of those labeled “fragrance free” indeed contained fragrance. Cynthia and Peter discussed the modernization of cosmetics regulation act of 2022 (MoCRA) which will allow for regulation of cosmetics and ensure their safety in the US. They discussed numerous other papers on interesting topics, including atopic dermatitis, dermoscopic and confocal features of hypomelanotic melanomas, psoriasis treatments and skin cancer epidemiology.
Byline: Sarah B.W. Patton, PA-C