Highlighting Mentorship Opportunities and Sessions at SDPA 2025, With Sarah Vicari, MMS, PA-C

At the 2025 Society of Dermatology Physician Associates (SDPA) Fall Conference in San Antonio, Texas, Sarah Vicari, MMS, PA-C, a certified physician associate (PA) and the current president of SDPA, sat down with the HCPLive team.

Vicari, who will remain president of SDPA until July 2026, was invited to speak in an interview with HCPLive regarding her thoughts on the SDPA conference and its significance, as well as to highlight different sessions of note at this PA-focused conference.

“My goals have been to really elevate the presence of our foundation, the Dermatology Physician Assistant Foundation, called DPAF,” Vicari explained. “A lot of people don't know it exists, and that kind of hurts my heart, because that's where I started, with leadership in it, and so trying to really make people aware of our mission and what we're trying to do, and get people to donate.”

Vicari highlighted DPAF’s medical missions and community outreach, as well as the funds provided by the SDPA for PAs to conduct their own research. This research can then be published in the SDPA’s journal, The Journal of Dermatology for PAs (JDPA). Vicari also noted the launch of the program RISE Derm PA, which is an acronym for Reach, Inspire, Support, and Empower.

“It is our mentorship program,” Vicari explained. “...It's basically where PAs can be matched, almost like a Match.com, where you put in your qualities and what you like, and then they're going to match somebody who wants to mentor someone with somebody who wants to be a mentee. That allows them to have a mentorship program with each other.”

Later in the interview, Vicari highlighted some of the session topics for which she is most excited during the SDPA conference.

“I think what I'm most excited about is with Dr. Gabriela Maloney, and she is doing JAKs, off-label,” Vicari said. “She actually kind of came to my office once and said a little bit about it, and I said, ‘Have you ever done a lecture on that? Because that would be amazing.’ So that's how it all came about. Now she's here talking about it here today.”1

For any further information on topics in dermatology presented at the 2025 SDPA Fall Conference, view the latest conference coverage.

The quotes used in this summary were edited for the purposes of clarity.

References

1. Maloney G. Off-Label Usage of JAK Inhibitors. Presented at the Society of Dermatology Physician Associates (SDPA) Fall Conference, November 5-9, San Antonio, TX.