The Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants (SDPA) is providing a new opportunity to our members that will also benefit dermatologists who work with physician assistants (PAs) and ultimately the patients they serve.
The SDPA’s new Diplomate Fellowship training program is the premier training program for PAs in dermatology.
The program
The Diplomate Fellowship training program was developed in conjunction with testing industry experts and dermatology professionals, and contains validated content that includes a broad curriculum of dermatology knowledge as well as material about skills and tools needed to function as a dermatology PA. Information learned by participants can then be supported and enhanced by clinical experience with collaborating dermatologists.
Validation of this program began with forming a comprehensive curriculum. A group of dermatology PAs met and created an extensive list of the knowledge and skills a PA needs to practice superior dermatologic medicine. This information was then validated by dermatologists and other dermatology PAs nationwide, and ensures that all participants will learn about common and rare dermatologic conditions seen in a variety of patient populations.
Continuing Medical Education
In addition to providing PAs new to dermatology with standardized training, the Diplomate Fellowship program is a comprehensive review of information and provides approximately 65 hours of CME for an experienced dermatology PA. The broad didactic portion is based on Dermatology Essentials, a textbook by Jean Bolognia and colleagues.
In conjunction with reading the textbook, participants will view presentations with slides and voiced-audio authored by dermatologists and dermatology PAs.
Additional resources are available to cover material not found in the textbook and presentations, such as videos to demonstrate diagnostic and therapeutic procedures as well as diagnostic tests and maneuvers. These are especially helpful for PAs who work in offices where specific procedures may not be routinely performed.
After each presentation, participants must pass a post-test to validate learning. Lastly, there is a checklist for the PA to be able to document procedures that are performed or observed in the office setting. This could help demonstrate a level of experience for dermatologists seeking to hire an experienced dermatology PA and could be useful in tracking the training of a new PA.
The full program will be divided into 22 modules that can be purchased separately to allow a PA/dermatologist team to choose the order of completion. Seven modules were released on June 1, 2017 and others will soon follow.
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The CME is approved by the American Academy of Physician Assistants and is reasonably priced based on the number of CME hours in each module.
The program also qualifies as Self-Assessment CME and, as of publication of this article, can be awarded extra credit by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). This makes the Diplomate Fellowship a fantastic value in addition to superior medical education.
Participants will have 2 years from the purchase date of the first module to finish the entire program. This allows a PA to report CME hours earned into more than one reporting cycle if desired. The 2-year limit was chosen to allow in-depth study of the subject matter while still ensuring up-to-date material, and to ensure participants complete the full program in a timely manner.
Additional Benefits
Other advantages for the PA include, but are not limited to discounts on membership and conference registration; free access to Performance Improvement CME, which is also awarded double credit (first 20 hours) via NCCPA*; access to VIP events at SDPA conferences, and special listing on the “Find a Derm PA” feature of the SDPA’s website. Diplomate Fellowship status demonstrates to dermatologists and patients that the participant has demonstrated a level of learning above and beyond the minimum amount required to care for patients with a broad variety of dermatologic conditions. Dermatologists and patients can be confident that a Diplomate Fellowship-trained PA has the requisite skills and knowledge as well as the enthusiasm for dermatology and patient care one would want in a provider.
In addition, dermatologists can utilize this program as “prepackaged” didactic educational training for new PAs, or for ensuring a well-rounded education for experienced PAs. Likewise, dermatologists can be confident when making hiring decisions about a PA who has completed the Diplomate Fellowship program.
Finally, patients benefit by receiving care from a well-educated PA with the knowledge and confidence to manage a wide variety of dermatologic conditions.
In summary, everyone benefits from the SDPA’s Diplomate Fellowship program. PAs gets high quality standardized dermatology-specific medical education, valuable CME, and professional benefits within the SDPA.
For more information, please visit https://www.dermpa.org/general/custom.asp?page=DiplomateFellowship.
*Additional information about the Self-Assessment and Performance Improvement CME is available on the NCCPA website https://www.nccpa.net/ContinuingMedicalEducation.
Ms Winter has worked with Dermatology and Allergy Specialists of Olympia since 2000 and enjoys the daily practice of general medical dermatology.
Ms Grippe has been a PA since 2005, specializing in dermatology and family medicine. She is currently a full-time assistant professor in Gannon University’s PA program in Erie, PA.
The Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants (SDPA) is providing a new opportunity to our members that will also benefit dermatologists who work with physician assistants (PAs) and ultimately the patients they serve.
The SDPA’s new Diplomate Fellowship training program is the premier training program for PAs in dermatology.
The program
The Diplomate Fellowship training program was developed in conjunction with testing industry experts and dermatology professionals, and contains validated content that includes a broad curriculum of dermatology knowledge as well as material about skills and tools needed to function as a dermatology PA. Information learned by participants can then be supported and enhanced by clinical experience with collaborating dermatologists.
Validation of this program began with forming a comprehensive curriculum. A group of dermatology PAs met and created an extensive list of the knowledge and skills a PA needs to practice superior dermatologic medicine. This information was then validated by dermatologists and other dermatology PAs nationwide, and ensures that all participants will learn about common and rare dermatologic conditions seen in a variety of patient populations.
Continuing Medical Education
In addition to providing PAs new to dermatology with standardized training, the Diplomate Fellowship program is a comprehensive review of information and provides approximately 65 hours of CME for an experienced dermatology PA. The broad didactic portion is based on Dermatology Essentials, a textbook by Jean Bolognia and colleagues.
In conjunction with reading the textbook, participants will view presentations with slides and voiced-audio authored by dermatologists and dermatology PAs.
Additional resources are available to cover material not found in the textbook and presentations, such as videos to demonstrate diagnostic and therapeutic procedures as well as diagnostic tests and maneuvers. These are especially helpful for PAs who work in offices where specific procedures may not be routinely performed.
After each presentation, participants must pass a post-test to validate learning. Lastly, there is a checklist for the PA to be able to document procedures that are performed or observed in the office setting. This could help demonstrate a level of experience for dermatologists seeking to hire an experienced dermatology PA and could be useful in tracking the training of a new PA.
The full program will be divided into 22 modules that can be purchased separately to allow a PA/dermatologist team to choose the order of completion. Seven modules were released on June 1, 2017 and others will soon follow.
Article continues on page 2
{{pagebreak}}
The CME is approved by the American Academy of Physician Assistants and is reasonably priced based on the number of CME hours in each module.
The program also qualifies as Self-Assessment CME and, as of publication of this article, can be awarded extra credit by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). This makes the Diplomate Fellowship a fantastic value in addition to superior medical education.
Participants will have 2 years from the purchase date of the first module to finish the entire program. This allows a PA to report CME hours earned into more than one reporting cycle if desired. The 2-year limit was chosen to allow in-depth study of the subject matter while still ensuring up-to-date material, and to ensure participants complete the full program in a timely manner.
Additional Benefits
Other advantages for the PA include, but are not limited to discounts on membership and conference registration; free access to Performance Improvement CME, which is also awarded double credit (first 20 hours) via NCCPA*; access to VIP events at SDPA conferences, and special listing on the “Find a Derm PA” feature of the SDPA’s website. Diplomate Fellowship status demonstrates to dermatologists and patients that the participant has demonstrated a level of learning above and beyond the minimum amount required to care for patients with a broad variety of dermatologic conditions. Dermatologists and patients can be confident that a Diplomate Fellowship-trained PA has the requisite skills and knowledge as well as the enthusiasm for dermatology and patient care one would want in a provider.
In addition, dermatologists can utilize this program as “prepackaged” didactic educational training for new PAs, or for ensuring a well-rounded education for experienced PAs. Likewise, dermatologists can be confident when making hiring decisions about a PA who has completed the Diplomate Fellowship program.
Finally, patients benefit by receiving care from a well-educated PA with the knowledge and confidence to manage a wide variety of dermatologic conditions.
In summary, everyone benefits from the SDPA’s Diplomate Fellowship program. PAs gets high quality standardized dermatology-specific medical education, valuable CME, and professional benefits within the SDPA.
For more information, please visit https://www.dermpa.org/general/custom.asp?page=DiplomateFellowship.
*Additional information about the Self-Assessment and Performance Improvement CME is available on the NCCPA website https://www.nccpa.net/ContinuingMedicalEducation.
Ms Winter has worked with Dermatology and Allergy Specialists of Olympia since 2000 and enjoys the daily practice of general medical dermatology.
Ms Grippe has been a PA since 2005, specializing in dermatology and family medicine. She is currently a full-time assistant professor in Gannon University’s PA program in Erie, PA.
The Society of Dermatology Physician Assistants (SDPA) is providing a new opportunity to our members that will also benefit dermatologists who work with physician assistants (PAs) and ultimately the patients they serve.
The SDPA’s new Diplomate Fellowship training program is the premier training program for PAs in dermatology.
The program
The Diplomate Fellowship training program was developed in conjunction with testing industry experts and dermatology professionals, and contains validated content that includes a broad curriculum of dermatology knowledge as well as material about skills and tools needed to function as a dermatology PA. Information learned by participants can then be supported and enhanced by clinical experience with collaborating dermatologists.
Validation of this program began with forming a comprehensive curriculum. A group of dermatology PAs met and created an extensive list of the knowledge and skills a PA needs to practice superior dermatologic medicine. This information was then validated by dermatologists and other dermatology PAs nationwide, and ensures that all participants will learn about common and rare dermatologic conditions seen in a variety of patient populations.
Continuing Medical Education
In addition to providing PAs new to dermatology with standardized training, the Diplomate Fellowship program is a comprehensive review of information and provides approximately 65 hours of CME for an experienced dermatology PA. The broad didactic portion is based on Dermatology Essentials, a textbook by Jean Bolognia and colleagues.
In conjunction with reading the textbook, participants will view presentations with slides and voiced-audio authored by dermatologists and dermatology PAs.
Additional resources are available to cover material not found in the textbook and presentations, such as videos to demonstrate diagnostic and therapeutic procedures as well as diagnostic tests and maneuvers. These are especially helpful for PAs who work in offices where specific procedures may not be routinely performed.
After each presentation, participants must pass a post-test to validate learning. Lastly, there is a checklist for the PA to be able to document procedures that are performed or observed in the office setting. This could help demonstrate a level of experience for dermatologists seeking to hire an experienced dermatology PA and could be useful in tracking the training of a new PA.
The full program will be divided into 22 modules that can be purchased separately to allow a PA/dermatologist team to choose the order of completion. Seven modules were released on June 1, 2017 and others will soon follow.
Article continues on page 2
{{pagebreak}}
The CME is approved by the American Academy of Physician Assistants and is reasonably priced based on the number of CME hours in each module.
The program also qualifies as Self-Assessment CME and, as of publication of this article, can be awarded extra credit by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA). This makes the Diplomate Fellowship a fantastic value in addition to superior medical education.
Participants will have 2 years from the purchase date of the first module to finish the entire program. This allows a PA to report CME hours earned into more than one reporting cycle if desired. The 2-year limit was chosen to allow in-depth study of the subject matter while still ensuring up-to-date material, and to ensure participants complete the full program in a timely manner.
Additional Benefits
Other advantages for the PA include, but are not limited to discounts on membership and conference registration; free access to Performance Improvement CME, which is also awarded double credit (first 20 hours) via NCCPA*; access to VIP events at SDPA conferences, and special listing on the “Find a Derm PA” feature of the SDPA’s website. Diplomate Fellowship status demonstrates to dermatologists and patients that the participant has demonstrated a level of learning above and beyond the minimum amount required to care for patients with a broad variety of dermatologic conditions. Dermatologists and patients can be confident that a Diplomate Fellowship-trained PA has the requisite skills and knowledge as well as the enthusiasm for dermatology and patient care one would want in a provider.
In addition, dermatologists can utilize this program as “prepackaged” didactic educational training for new PAs, or for ensuring a well-rounded education for experienced PAs. Likewise, dermatologists can be confident when making hiring decisions about a PA who has completed the Diplomate Fellowship program.
Finally, patients benefit by receiving care from a well-educated PA with the knowledge and confidence to manage a wide variety of dermatologic conditions.
In summary, everyone benefits from the SDPA’s Diplomate Fellowship program. PAs gets high quality standardized dermatology-specific medical education, valuable CME, and professional benefits within the SDPA.
For more information, please visit https://www.dermpa.org/general/custom.asp?page=DiplomateFellowship.
*Additional information about the Self-Assessment and Performance Improvement CME is available on the NCCPA website https://www.nccpa.net/ContinuingMedicalEducation.
Ms Winter has worked with Dermatology and Allergy Specialists of Olympia since 2000 and enjoys the daily practice of general medical dermatology.
Ms Grippe has been a PA since 2005, specializing in dermatology and family medicine. She is currently a full-time assistant professor in Gannon University’s PA program in Erie, PA.
