A Specialty Like No Other: The Future of Dermatology for NPs & PAs

With a mix of innovation, daily clinical challenges, and a trajectory of growth, dermatology is one of the most appealing specialties in the house of medicine.

DEF Champion of Industry Excellence Award recipient Ginger McWilliams shares insights on the contributions from dermatology NP/PAs and their potential for continued growth. Plus, Suneel Chilukuri, MD weighs in on the popular ponytail facelift.

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Transcript

Transcript is provided as a courtesy only and have not been edited for accuracy.

Welcome to the Dermalorian Podcast from the Dermatology Education Foundation. The Dermalorian Podcast is made possible with support from Johnson & Johnson. This year's DEF Essential Resource Meeting 2025 or DERM2025 included the presentation of the inaugural DEF Champions of Excellence Awards.

Dr. David Cohen was named the DEF Champion of Academic Excellence for his dedication to dermatology education. We had a chance to speak to the 2025 Champion of Industry Excellence in the exhibit hall at DERM2025. Listen in for a fresh perspective on the current and future role of NPs and PAs in dermatology, and so much more.

I am joined here by Ginger McWilliams from Sanofi. Ginger, why don't you tell everyone about your position at the company?

Ginger McWilliams:

Good afternoon. My name is Ginger McWilliams. I'm the Senior Director of Dermatology Strategic Partnerships and Congress Innovation.

Speaker 1:

So you've been in dermatology for quite a while. Why don't you tell us a little bit about your career trajectory, how you wound up in derm and why have you stayed in derm?

Ginger McWilliams:

Absolutely. I think that's a key word, staying in dermatology. Actually, my career started with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases and in rheumatology, but I quickly migrated to dermatology. And as you've certainly noted today, it's about staying in dermatology. We know dermatology is dynamic and it's full of dedicated professionals that truly are diligent about compassionate care for patients. It's relationship oriented. And at the end of the day, the patient is at the center. It's a specialty like no other.

Speaker 1:

Absolutely. You see that a lot of people, once they get bitten by the derm bug, they don't want to leave.

Ginger McWilliams:

Absolutely. It's a good bug to be bit by.

Speaker 1:

It is. It is. So throughout your career, you really have focus on advancing education, a meaningful education for all healthcare providers, and especially for nurse practitioners and physician assistants in dermatology. Here at DERM2025, you're being recognized as a Champion of Industry Excellence. Congratulations.

Ginger McWilliams:

Thank you so much.

Speaker 1:

But why don't you talk to us a little bit about that. Why do you think it is so important to educate the community and especially the MPs and PAs in derm?

Ginger McWilliams:

Absolutely. When you look at the element of education, it is truly an element that no one can remove from you. And you think about the pillars in your life that change your trajectory, and education is one of those. 12 years ago, really the founders of the Dermatology Education Foundation had a great vision. They knew they wanted to create a pivotal meeting that would transform the minds of the nurse practitioners and the PAs in the community.

This segment has continued to grow leaps and bounds and it is centric to the healthcare community. So when you think about utilizing one of those pillars, like education and transforming lives for better patient care, the Dermatology Education Foundation has been a leader among leaders.

Speaker 1:

Thank you. You mentioned that that group is growing and I think you said by leaps and bounds. So could you talk a little bit about that? And what do you see as changing in dermatology care over the next few years?

Ginger McWilliams:

Sure, absolutely. When you look at yesteryear, oftentimes our parents or our grandparents and how patients were managed, it oftentimes was the physician or the doctor of osteopathy or that community of care. What we know now is the continuum of care. The healthcare provider continuum is crucial and critical to optimal patient care.

We realize there are communities, academic community and rural in essence, that don't necessarily have the specialties and the dimensions and the depth of healthcare. And the PAs and the nurse practitioners are stepping up in all magnitudes to manage these patients effectively, efficiently, and with compassion.

Speaker 1:

And you mentioned that DEF started this meeting 12 years ago. There's other opportunities out there. Industry does a lot to educate and support NPs and PAs. But from your perspective, what do you think are some of the challenges that remain? What do NPs and PAs in dermatology, what do they hungry for? What do they need to succeed in providing the optimal patient care?

Ginger McWilliams:

Well, as we've looked back into the training programs for nurse practitioners and PAs, there is not necessarily a specialty lens. And so, when they're coming into practice, oftentimes they're hired by academic centers or private equity. They may not come with the specialty training that they need. DEF and many other medical congresses are the entities for them to receive that specialty training. It's hands on, but it's also virtual in nature. I know you have some virtual components to the Dermatology Education Foundation for those that can't come here to the live meetings.

So certainly all of those components are certainly critical in essence. It is an ever-changing healthcare environment, meaning information is coming in every direction at light speeds. And so, you want to be the conduit in essence, to make sure that the relevant clinical information is available. The patient support programs are important, and really the combined effort between industry, as well as the medical congress is important, right? We have to have a collaborative effort for our center, which is the patient.

Speaker 1:

100%. And something else sort of to think about that I don't know if we always think of them in tandem. But we've seen this trajectory, the growth of NPs and PAs in dermatology right at the same time that the industry has really seen a lot of innovation, a lot of new drugs coming into the field, really targeted therapies with new MOAs that are really different from, you said a care of yesteryear. What are your thoughts on just that overview of dermatology as a specialty?

Ginger McWilliams:

Well, we know that in dermatology, it's the most intelligent specialty, right? It's the brightest. And we also realize there is medical complexity to dermatology. Obviously there's the cosmetic side as well, but these are complex diseases. And when you look at the specialty and how many diseases that have to be managed, there's more in dermatology than any other specialty.

So you really have to lean in in essence, to understand whenever a patient presents, there is a magnitude of diseases you could be presented with. So it's important that we come together in essence, to support that complexity. A lot of information, a lot of molecules and innovation that's happening from the pharmaceutical industry. So it's important that we share in essence, where that innovation is coming because it's coming at light speeds.

Speaker 1:

And then I guess one other thing to think about, and I'd be interested to hear your take on this, is how nurse practitioners and physician assistants or physician associates, how they're kind of moving beyond just clinical care as well, getting more involved in research and educating their peers. How do you see that shaking out?

Ginger McWilliams:

Yeah. Honestly, I welcome it with both hands to be quite honestly. When you think about where the nurse practitioners and the PAs sit within that healthcare circle, they sit in the circle together at the table. So involving themselves with research, involving themselves with publication, involving themselves with legislative affairs, they're living and breathing the lives with the patients. So they should have a seat at that circular table together.

On behalf of my industry partners, I would like to say thank you. Thank you to the Dermatology Education Foundation. I want to thank the attendees that come every year. They attend virtually, they attend live, they attend the boot camps because it's important that they are taking an active role in learning. And we know in essence as industry, that we want to be working with them collaboratively. So we appreciate the Dermatology Education Foundation and all of you who are choosing education as really taking care of patient care in the best and brightest way [inaudible 00:08:24].

Speaker 1:

We appreciate that. And on behalf of the Dermatology Education Foundation, we certainly appreciate our industry supporters, as well as the learners. I mean, everything you just said is right on the target, that this is for them. This is an event for learning, and that's really what's at the heart of it. There's a lot of fun, there's a lot of networking. But at the end of the day, it is about learning and taking education into the clinic. So thank you for noting that.

You're listening to the Dermalorian Podcast from the Dermatology Education Foundation. The Dermalorian Podcast is made possible with support from Johnson & Johnson. For this episode's Dermalorian clinical clip, we catch up with Dr. Suneel Chilukuri on site at DERM2025, where he provided some insights on the trending ponytail lift, popularized by Kris Jenner.

Suneel Chilukuri:

So anybody who's talking about the ponytail lift, would talk about Kris Jenner, and she looks amazing. I got to see her recently in person. And what looks so amazing, is where her facial structure is. So you can see it's redefined her whole face. But what the most interesting part is this, her skin texture continues to improve. At the age of 69, her skin looks better than she did four years ago.

So we're doing things like exosomes, we're doing things like polynucleotides, but more importantly, we're doing energy-based devices. And with that stacking, we see over a period of time that the skin is going to reflect what's being done. So it's not just about the ponytail lift, which is amazing, but it's also about using all these energy-based devices and our at-home skin care to give the full package.

Speaker 1:

Thank you for listening to the Dermalorian Podcast. The Dermalorian Podcast is produced for the Dermatology Education Foundation by physician resources. If you're new to the podcast, catch up on past episodes and tell a colleague about the podcast.