Welcome to the Fall 2020 issue of THE DERMATOSCOPE, our quarterly newsletter. This is the best way to keep up-to-date on the important work of the VDS in the areas of Leadership, Education, Advocacy, and Professionalism. |
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Leadership Updates from the Virginia Dermatology Society
JANE LYNCH, MD
President
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Happy Fall! Wow - what a year 2020 has turned out to be!!! I think we will all breathe a deep sigh of relief when we step into 2021!
Despite all of the challenges of COVID, your Virginia Dermatology Society has
never wavered from its commitment to provide ongoing leadership, education, advocacy and professionalism support for its members. As you will read in the next section of this newsletter, our Board of Directors recently made the difficult decision to eliminate the in-person component of our Annual Meeting in October and instead is offering a completely virtual Annual CME Meeting from 8am-noon on Saturday October 24th . The agenda is packed full of nationally renowned speakers who will be giving short, concise presentations that are designed to maximize attendee interaction. This 3.5-hour CME event is completely free but registration is required in order to receive the link to the meeting, which will be sent closer to the meeting date. The meeting brochure and the meeting registration forms can be found here. Please join us for a wonderful educational event!
At the end of our virtual CME Meeting, the Virginia Dermatology Society will hold its Annual Business Meeting. In addition to delivering to the VDS membership a report on the society’s finances and committee work over the past year, the VDS will hold elections for vacancies on the Board and its Executive Committee. You should have already received an email that details which positions are becoming vacant and how to nominate yourself or another VDS member.
Please strongly consider joining the VDS Board. We are accepting nominations through October 10th . It is a fantastic way to get to know your fellow dermatologists from all over the state as well as being a terrific way to give back to your profession. We need your talent, your voice and your dedication! Being a part of our Board requires no more time than one hour a month for our telephone board meetings. As a Board member at large, you will also be able to join VDS Committees such as the Advocacy Committee, the Finance Committee, the Planning Committee, the Scientific Committee, and the Membership Engagement and Communication Committee. After serving on the Board for a year, you are eligible to run for an officer position on the Executive Committee.
Please contact our Executive Director, Susan McConnell, at vadermsociety@gmail.com and let her know that you want to join the leaders of Virginian dermatologists by seeking to fill a vacancy on our Board of Directors.
You won’t regret it!
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Dermatology Advances
KIM SALKEY, MD
Chair, Education Committee
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To broaden your learning and engagement opportunities, our annual meeting will take place as a immersive and interactive virtual experience featuring many experts sharing their insight during Panel Discussions and Keynote Addresses. Your VDS Board has been hard at work putting together a terrific program - you do not want to miss it! Please plan to join us for this jam-packed event on Saturday, October 24th from 8:00 AM - 12:00 PM from the comfort of your own chair.
We are pleased to offer this CME meeting at no charge to members. Register today! Pre-registration is required in order to receive the meeting link. Registration closes at midnight on October 22.
In lieu of a meeting fee, please consider making a tax deductible donation to the VDS. Your financial support allows us to continue to provide great programs, services, and advocacy to all of our members,
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This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of University of Virginia School of Medicine and Virginia Dermatology Society. The University of Virginia School of Medicine is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
The University of Virginia School of Medicine designates this live activity for a maximum of 3.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
The University of Virginia School of Medicine and/or The University of Virginia School of Nursing Continuing Education, as accredited provider(s), awards 3.50 Hours of Participation (consistent with the designated number of AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ or ANCC contact hours) to participants who successfully complete this educational activity. The University of Virginia School of Medicine and/or The University of Virginia School of Nursing Continuing Education maintains a record of participation for six (6) years.
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Greetings from the Virginia Dermatology Advocacy Committee!
RACHEL ELLIS, MD
MSV Representative | Chair, Advocacy Committee
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It has been a busy quarter for the Advocacy Committee.
As noted before, we put forth two resolutions to the Medical Society of Virginia regarding truth in advertising and medical spa safety. Despite much of the focus being on COVID, our resolution on truth in advertising was accepted by MSV and will be discussed at the Virtual Annual Meeting on October 10, 2020. There is no cost to attend the MSV Annual Meeting; I encourage you to log in and support this important measure for patient safety and education.
We are closely watching developments with regards to the COVID pandemic, telemedicine reimbursement, and how this is affecting private practices.
We will plan on resubmitting the medical spa resolution next year with the hopes that it will gain more traction.
Virginia Dermatology Society has applied for a developing state society grant from the American Academy of Dermatology. We requested funding to send board certified dermatologists to Richmond to attend next year’s White Coats on Call in person. We should hear about this shortly.
I would humbly beg for you to ask all of our colleagues to join us and get involved for dermatology as a specialty and to support our fellow board certified dermatologists. If you know any local, state, or federal level lawmakers, staffers, or lobbyists who may be sympathetic to our cause, please feel free to put them in touch with any of us on the Advocacy Committee. If you are interested in helping, please reach out, we would love to have you! We also welcome medical students and residents; it is important for all to get involved. Any suggestions, areas for advocacy, and ideas are appreciated and will be acted upon if feasible.
The fight for our patients is real and constant. This past year SB 5070 was put forth which would have decreased the amount of hours needed by a nurse practitioner to practice independently from 5000 to 2000. While this bill has been tabled, there is a current budget amendment that would allow for nurse practitioners to continue the emergency order to practice independently. Please reach out to your representatives and voice your concerns.
Thank you for your support for our specialty and our patients. We are stronger together. Please feel free to reach out; we would love to have your help.
Best,
Rachel Ellis MD FAAD
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Because we are a relatively new state specialty society, one of our most important goals is to grow our membership. Simply stated, there is strength in numbers: With a larger membership, we can more strongly advocate for the issues important to our specialty. In addition, the majority of our funding is derived from membership dues. The best way for us all to get the most “bang for our bucks” is to increase our membership. So we strongly believe that every dermatologist in Virginia should be a member of the Virginia Dermatology Society, and we hope to get as close to this goal as possible.
As an award-winning Dermatology society, we want to improve the lives and protect the health of our patients, advance science-based learning through our educational meetings, and advocate for our specialty to continue to deliver excellent patient care as our medical training prepared us to do. The VDS has an active Executive Council of board-certified dermatologists and an organized and involved administrator. This enables us to respond quickly to legislative issues, as well as potential economic or regulatory issues that may affect our specialty. We also have board members who act as liaisons to the Medical Society of Virginia and the AAD, so we identify and act promptly on new concerns as they arise.
If you have not done so already, please join our society today. We are a dues-driven organization. We lost our most important opportunity to raise funds separate from membership dues this past year because we had to cancel our usual in-person annual meeting due to the pandemic. This has made our reliance on financial support from members more crucial this year than ever before. Acting together, VDS members respond with a larger and stronger voice to our changing healthcare system. We want our patients to continue to receive the best care possible: To make that happen we need to strengthen, protect and advocate for our specialty with a unified voice. The success we can attain and the types of actions we can pursue correlate directly to the strength and numbers of our membership. Please join today and encourage your colleagues to do the same!
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New Website!
The VDS recently launched its newly redesigned website. Check it out at www.vaderm.org. The site is updated regularly with important Society information.
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Virginia Dermatology Society
2821 Emerywood Parkway, Ste 200
Richmond, VA 23294
Executive Director | Susan McConnell
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