AI’s Use in Non-Patient-Facing Dermatology Spaces, With Joseph Gatti, DMSc, MPAS, MBA, PA-C

During the 2025 Society of Dermatology Physician Associates (SDPA) Fall Conference in San Antonio, the HCPLive team interviewed Joseph Gatti, DMSc, MPAS, MBA, PA-C, the founder of The Clinic for Dermatology & Wellness, LLC, regarding his presentation from a session at the meeting.1

Following his session, titled ‘The Productive PA: Smart Scheduling & Contract Essentials for Early Career Success,’ the team asked Gatti a variety of questions regarding the next 5 - 10 years of progress in medical technology regarding the future of dermatology for physicians as well as physician associates (PAs).

“I am old enough as a provider to remember when GE Centricity and Digital Radiology came out,” Gatti said. “I remember when I was training with radiologists, doing all my PA rotations, where some of the plain film adherents were saying, ‘It will never go away and we'll always have plain film.’ You can't even find plain X-ray film anymore. I mean, heck, Kodak is basically out of business. The reality is, it's almost all pure digital. I remember that transition.”

Gatti added that his clinic, The Clinic for Dermatology & Wellness, was one of the first clinics in the country that made the move to digital pathology. These trends, Gatti noted, are going to continue.

“I mentioned this earlier, in the last Mayo Clinic melanoma update, the Mayo Clinic and a lot of these major world-leading hospitals are doing digital pathology,” Gatti explained. “The reality is these things are going to continue. And you might ask yourself, ‘Why is that happening?’ You have to remember that a lot of these large hospitals are also partnering with AI. The Mayo Clinic is one of the foremost…They're working to train AI on lesion detection.”

Gatti also noted his view on AI being trained in pathology and radiology. In his discussion, Gatti expressed his belief in embracing the future and accepting change.

“The studies have been going on for years, and the results are pretty impressive,” Gatti said. “So, where do I think AI is coming? Pure specialties that are non-patient-facing. Pathologists and radiologists are going to be heavily impacted. To pretend that they won't is foolish, because that is huge cost savings in our medical system. I'm not for it because I think humans need to be involved, and I think that they will be. But how much? I don't think anyone really knows, and that's going to be up to lawmakers and regulators.”

View Gatti’s full video above to learn more. For any additional information on this topic or related topics, view the latest coverage of the Fall Clinical Dermatology Conference.

The quotes contained in this summary were edited for clarity.

Gatti had no relevant financial disclosures of note.

References

1. Gatti J. The Productive PA: Smart Scheduling & Contract Essentials for Early Career Success. Presented at the Society of Dermatology Physician Associates (SDPA) Fall Conference, November 5-9, San Antonio, TX.