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American Academy of Dermatology elects new board, officers
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The American Academy of Dermatology has elected two new officers and several board members including Naomi Lawrence, MD, professor of clinical medicine and director of the Procedural Dermatology Fellowship Program at Cooper University in Camden, New Jersey.
Lawrence spoke with Healio Dermatology about her biggest concerns within the industry and her goals as a board member.
“I’m very passionate about resident education. Particularly, trying hard to get more procedures in the hands-on portion of our residency training, like some of the procedures that were removed in 2014, like injectables and lasers. That’s something I’d love to see us support and try to advance,” Lawrence said.
“I think my role as an elected official is to represent the membership and so I will have things I’m personally passionate about and things I’d like to accomplish, but one of my main concerns is to make sure I represent what our members want for the future; basically keeping your ear to the ground and seeking feedback on issues are very important things to me,” she continued.
Kenneth J. Tomecki, MD, FAAD, staff physician in the department of dermatology at Cleveland Clinic, will be president-elect in March 2020 and will hold the office as president for 1 year beginning March 2021.
Neal Bhatia, MD, FAAD, director of clinical dermatology at Therapeutics Clinical Research in San Diego, will be vice president-elect in March 2020 and will hold the office of vice president for 1 year beginning in March 2021.
In addition to Lawrence, the following board members elected will each serve a 4-year term commencing in March 2020:
- Murad Alam, MD, MSCI, MBA, FAAD, professor, vice chair and chief of cutaneous and aesthetic surgery in the department of dermatology at Northwestern University in Chicago;
- Cheryl M. Burgess, MD, FAAD, who is in private practice in Washington, D.C.; and
- Amy McMichael, MD, FAAD, professor and chair of dermatology at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.
Lawrence added that the non-physician practice in medicine is of great concern, “... or what’s better called the lay practice of medicine; people who are not trained as physicians practicing dermatology and what kind of oversight they have and what procedures they are allowed to do, and I think that’s a very important issue in dermatology.”
The physicians will also hold the same position for the American Academy of Dermatology Association, a related organization to the AAD that focuses on governmental affairs, health policy and practice information, according to a press release.
Disclosure: Lawrence is employed by Cooper University.