Latest / The Science of Skin / Leading From the Front: AAD President Dr. Susan Taylor on Advocacy, Women in Medicine & the Future of Dermatology

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Leading From the Front: AAD President Dr. Susan Taylor on Advocacy, Women in Medicine & the Future of Dermatology · The Science of Skin

• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: Hi, I'm Dr.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: Patty Ferris.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a board certified dermatologist, and I'm your host for this episode of the Science of Skin Podcast.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_01: I am truly delighted and honored today to have a colleague and very good friend of mine as my guest, Dr.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Susan Taylor.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: And I do not have to introduce Dr.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: Susan Taylor to any dermatologist or industry partner that's listening to this podcast because Susan is finishing this week her year as president of the American Academy of Dermatology.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, Susan, welcome to the podcast.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you very much, Patty.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm delighted to be here.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: So exciting, and we're so excited to have you at such a timely episode where we can actually talk to you about the accomplishments that you've made this year and some of the really interesting and innovative things that you've done.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: And I've been following you new, Susan.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a fan, you know that.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: I have watched your social media, I have read your columns in Durham World, and you have done a lot.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: So I think a good place to start is advocacy because it's so important to us as dermatology.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: And I know you've spent tons of time in Washington, D.C.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: I have.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: So first, Patty, let me say thank you again for having me on.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_00: My year as president has been quite extraordinary, like no other year in my entire life.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: It is full of multiple opportunities for the Academy, but also some challenges.
• 1:38
  SPEAKER_00: As you know, advocacy is our sole federal priority around physician payment, practice payment reform.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: And towards that end, I traveled to Capitol Hill six times.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: I traveled to Washington, to California, and then other cities, believe it or not, New York, Philadelphia, to really advocate for that issue.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: One of the things I found is the importance of building those relationships with our representatives.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: And that was one of my main goals this year.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_00: And I have been able to do that, to have one-on-one conversations with them, sometimes in their offices, sometimes in social situations, at skin cancer screening, the one we do on Capitol Hill, so that they completely understand the issues that we face, that they understand this is not physician salary reimbursement, but rather reimbursement to keep our offices open, to pay our overhead, to pay our employees.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that I've been effective in building those relationships, and we've made some strides forward.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: There was a modest increase 2.5% for 2026.
• 3:01
  SPEAKER_00: It's not enough, and we've not stopped.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you another thing that I did this year.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_00: I empaneled a task force, the ad hoc task force, on physician payment reform to look at ways outside of the box, beyond going to Capitol Hill, that we could approach this issue.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_00: And they in a very systematic way, they have uh done surveys, they've looked at options.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: For example, would litigation be useful?
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: They looked at that.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um would it be useful to partner with other organizations?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Probably.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: Um, would it be useful to have other organizations lead this fight?
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: Probably.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so we would it be useful to have patients advocate for us.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: So we've really moved forward in terms of how to tackle this problem.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm happy to say at our upcoming board meeting of this coming Tuesday, uh, Monday, the board will uh hear that presentation and begin to decide how to move forward.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Interesting.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: Talk a little bit.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's a challenge.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, that's you know, that's the crux of it for all dermatologists.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: Talk also about another issue that I know you've tackled, and that's scope of practice.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, so scope of practice is critically important.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_00: Um, whether it be advanced uh APPs, advanced practitioners, whether it be optometrists, pharmacists, they are all trying to impinge upon our scope of practice.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: Now, this is an issue that the states tackle.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: However, the academy supports this individual states.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, for example, we went into Texas to help them fight um incursions into our scope of practice.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: In Indiana, pharmacists wanted to do this program where they diagnosed, uh uh uh test and then treat patients.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: We helped them, we provided the resources um to the society in Indiana to fight that.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_00: So the academy is really leading along with the states.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, in Texas, they wanted to uh have dentists inject Botox and fillers.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, some things that are just absolutely absurd, but we are on top of that.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: We continue to be on top of that.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: But I want you to know we do this in conjunction with the states.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's that's probably the best strategy because it is it's so different from state by state, the legislation.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, sort of to that end, talk a little bit about the public education campaigns, like your dermatologist knows, for example, is a good one.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so we think so too.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: So your dermatologist knows targets women between the ages of 24 and 35.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: And they are really the people who make the decisions for their whole families, their household, their children, their husbands, and themselves, right?
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: So we want to reach them.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: So through social media in particular, because we know they are on social media, we have our social media correspondents and others uh on communications committee do different segments that are interesting to teach people what a dermatologist does, what kind of problems we treat, hair, skin, nails, you know, we break it down from there.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: We talk about the um the education that dermatologists require.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we also follow very carefully and survey to see what our results are.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: And the latest survey that was done last year showed that that demographic, those women, when asked if you have a skin, hair, or nail problem, which professional would you seek?
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: Over 90% said a dermatologist.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: So we think we are really breaking through there.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, our members are very creative with the posts that they come up with.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's just so interesting and rewarding to see that we're really breaking through and getting that message across.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: We also communicate with um other specialties to let them completely understand the impact of dermatology that we do treat very serious diseases.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think uh that's important when you think about the house of medicine and our involvement in the house of medicine.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, agree.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: That's so important.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_01: Let's talk for a second about another initiative that I think you've really taken to heart, and that is women's issues.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: And I mean, as I've said on so many of these podcasts, menopause is for sure having a moment.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: And women's issues is also having a moment, and I might say it's about damn time that they have, because they've been they've been back shelved for a very long time.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: But talk about some of the, I know you've done some new work on uh leadership in women in leadership.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: I have.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: So women's issues are are extremely important to me, and I'm really committed to making a difference and made some progress this year.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, for example, uh two years ago when I went to the leadership forum, which is put on by the AAD, I spoke with several uh mid-career women, and I asked each one, would you consider are you considering becoming the chair of a department?
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: And invariably, every single one of them, Patty said, Oh me?
• 8:47
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, no, no, no, I could never do that.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Absolutely, you know, you are program directors, you're vice chairs for different aspects of your departments.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: You should think about it.
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_00: So I went back to the academy and I had a very good conversation.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_00: And what we decided to do was at the next year's uh leadership forum, which was 2025, to have a section devoted to women in leadership.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: So we had a half a day, we had a great um educator and facilitator, Dr.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Luann Thorndike, who came in, and there were a whole host of topics that she talked about.
• 9:23
  SPEAKER_00: Self-procious self-promotion, for example, something very hard for women to do, uh, time management, uh, plotting your next course.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: So that was very well received, and I'm very happy to say in 2026 we are going to do something similar.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_00: At our academy meeting this week, uh, we are going to have a session on global women leaders.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: What I was delighted to find in my travels this year was that the president of the European Academy of Dermatology, the Spanish Academy of Dermatology, the British Academy of Dermatology, the Indonesian Academy.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Are they all women?
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: They're all women.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: And I've decided to bring them together for a session on Sunday from two to five.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Each will tell her story, and then we'll have a very uh thoughtful panel discussion.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: We invite all academy members, men and women, uh, early career, young physicians, uh, and those more mature in their careers to join us at this particular session.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: So those are some I am so excited.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: I'm the moderator, Patty, of that session.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: I'm also um very involved in social media that you mentioned.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I read an article out of Harvard, um, my alma mater, that pointed out that although women in our general society have a much longer longevity than men, that's not the case for women physicians.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_00: Although that study did not pinpoint why, there were there were several um ideas as to why that could be.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, women spend more time with patients, we spend more time uh with our medical records, we demand excellence from ourselves, but also the second shift, what they call the second shift.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And that is all of the time that we devote once we go home to planning, to organizing, to taking care of the children, uh, to taking care of the husband, the home, the our parents, right, grandparents.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and that is having a real effect, a negative one on our longevity.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_00: And because of that, I've started to make posts on my Instagram at Dr.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_00: Susan Taylor, DR Susan Taylor, um, about mechanisms for us to offload some of those burdens, uh, be it outsourcing, being it be it delegation, for example, be it creating a mission statement for a personal mission statement for ourselves.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: And anything that we are asked that deviates from that, we know we should say no.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: And it empowers us to say no.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_00: I try to empower women to know it's okay to delegate.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: We don't have to do everything.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, delegation is leadership.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: So that's another thing I've done in regard to women.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's such an interesting and great point.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_01: We're such multitaskers.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: I hate to ask anybody to do anything.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_01: And why?
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, my kids have staffs of multiple people.
• 12:35
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm like, why am I doing everything?
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: You know, that's the point I make.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Absolutely.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it's so it's so funny.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: I was at a conference, a dermatology conference.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: I come across the corner and I run into a male colleague who says, You have changed my life.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: I said, Well, tell me how.
• 12:54
  SPEAKER_00: He, his spouse is also a dermatologist.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_00: They heard the post, they went out to dinner, they decided to um increase their household help.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_00: They have a household manager, they have someone who um does all types of mundane household duties.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they have extra now, extra help with the children.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: And he says it's transformative.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: So this message is not only for women, but for men as well.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, for myself, I remember when my mother was still alive, at one point she said to me, Well, Susan, could you hire anyone else?
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Well, mommy, if I had more money, I would.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: At that point, you know, I had someone who I had a housekeeper, I had a nanny, I had a personal assistant, I had people at the office.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: But it's it, as I said, delegation and outsourcing is really leadership.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and it's and it's so crucial.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_01: I I'm reminded of a post I saw with you and Maddie, your daughter, and she was asking you about hiring a personal assistant.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_01: It was so cute.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_01: I love her anyway, because she's just darling, but I remember I thought it was so timely because she's really at that age now where she's starting to gear up in her career, and you were giving her some advice, which was good advice.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: And and I thought, you know, she's an attorney, and I thought that it's so important for young professional women to think about this.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: And as soon as that they they are in a position, they should begin to delegate and outsource.
• 14:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and again, we're such multitaskers that it's it's very hard to do.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: It's still hard for me at this point, which is beyond ridiculous, I suppose.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_01: Another question, maybe sort of a final question, is what do you think are the challenges now as we go forward?
• 14:51
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you've been in the trenches.
• 14:53
  SPEAKER_01: What are the really big things that are facing dermatology as a specialty?
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I think we're we're such a great specialty, but I as you know, you know, we're widely varied.
• 15:04
  SPEAKER_01: We've got people on the surgical end, people on the aesthetic end, we've got people in the middle, on the medical, and uh, you know, more mainstream derims it's hard to put your arms around all of that.
• 15:15
  SPEAKER_00: That's right.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: Well, uh a couple of things.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: You know, this is a time of great opportunities, but also a time of great challenges, right?
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: So when you mention all of the subspecialties within dermatology, um, I think it's very important to remember the uh mission of or the theme of Dr.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Desai's presidency was unity.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: And although we have various subspecialties, we must recognize we are all dermatologists and we need to be unified in regard to the most important issues.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: So one of the most important issues remains um Medicare physician payment reform.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: We have to continue, continue to advocate for that.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, we are all hopeful that we will have a result uh soon, but we can't predict that, right?
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_00: We have no way of knowing.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to unify, we have to be unified, and we need to support our academy because our academy is really the lead in this fight, uh, supporting dermatologists uh to um encourage our legislators to make changes.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, another challenge revolves around education and augmented intelligence, right?
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: So augmented intelligence uh is really relatively new, and we don't really understand all of the capabilities, particularly those that help us uh be more effective and efficient in patient care.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: So we really need to devote some time and attention to that.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Uh for our young physicians, they learn differently, right?
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: Um, they have different goals than than you and I did, Patty.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to understand what's important to our young physicians and really help support them and meet the kinds of challenges that they are facing.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I think those are some of the challenges uh in the next five or ten years, for example.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: You know, and there might be some that present themselves that we don't recognize today.
• 17:25
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, I'm sure there will be.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it sounds like, and I know it's true, you've had an incredibly successful year.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: So congratulations on that.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_01: I do have one last burning question.
• 17:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, tell me.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_01: And I I you don't have to answer this, but I would love to know what designer you're wearing to your Saturday night gala.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, well, all I'm gonna say is it's a secret.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: I'll take that and I'll look forward to being there, Susan, and celebrating your incredible year.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: And for those of you who are listening, I hope you've enjoyed this.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: It's always great to get a window into what's going on at the American Academy of Dermatology, and nobody better to tell us than my good friend and president of the American Academy of Dermatology, Dr.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: Susan Taylor.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_01: So thanks so much for listening, everybody.
• 18:18
  SPEAKER_01: Have a great day.