JDPA Editor-in-Chief
Who I am professionally?
I am a clinician who has worked for the past decade at an academic medical institution, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas Department of Dermatology, taking care of general adult medical dermatology patients but also cancer patients and other medically complex patients. I have worked for the last five years mostly with immunosuppressed patients, solid organ transplant and bone marrow transplant patients, treating their skin disease and monitoring them for development of skin cancer. I find a lot of fulfillment mentally and personally in what I do, however I see more critically ill and dying patients than one typically does working in dermatology. My patients teach me daily about life; being faced with their mortality and receiving the ultimate gift of another human’s organ gives them wisdom and perspective.
I also spend time writing. I started doing this to share the interesting cases that I saw working in an academic setting with the wider Derm PA community. That has grown into wanting to equip other PAs who are interested in scholarly writing. I have recently received a grant from the AAPA to do research on Derm PA satisfaction compared to resident and physician satisfaction scores. I am excited to start doing more research and adding to the literature about the work Derm PAs do.
How do you feel about your new role as Editor-in-Chief?
I’m honored to build on the work of JDPA’s distinguished past Editors in Chief. I feel inadequate in a lot of things: I am not the best writer, but I am a dedicated reader which is what you want in an editor. I want to work with authors to make manuscripts the best they can be. I receive valuable feedback on my work from the peer review process; critiques that help improve my manuscripts. I will pay it forward by giving my attention and effort to each manuscript submitted for publication to the JDPA.
What is upcoming with JDPA?
The JDPA will continue to provide clinically relevant articles, original research and timely features on issues that affect the Derm PA. The JDPA is also working on new initiatives, namely submitting the journal for indexing. The JDPA will embrace and celebrate diversity in published content and with our reviewers and editors. Another initiative of the JDPA is to foster collaboration and be a resource for our SDPA members who wish to continue their professional development by either publishing in the JDPA or editing the JDPA.
I also want to work with other derm PA researchers to publish data about who derm PAs are (how many, where they are located, how old they are) and what they do (how many patients do they see, what types of diagnosis, how long are they going to work in dermatology) So many questions the field is rich for anyone interested in adding to the literature in this field.
Why publish?
One of my mentors, R.S. Hooker PhD, PA, MBA, says the benefits of PAs writing and publishing in journals like the JDPA are two-fold: First, our work shows the greater medical community the high level of clinical and professional practice of PAs and, second, our journal records what Derm PAs were doing for posterity. For example, the interview "Dermatology physician assistants strong, essential to COVID-19 response coast to coast. Part 1" is a great example of the JDPA documenting history as it happened. This insightful interview of Jang Mi Johnson, PA-C, in the Fall 2020 JDPA issue, discussed her experience at Elmhurst Hospital in New York, and work on the front lines during the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic. I have saved that article to show to my niece and nephew, who were both born during the pandemic, and will one day be curious about this time in history.
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