American Academy of Dermatology

The American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) is one of the largest organizations of dermatologists in the world. It was founded in 1938 and represents 18,000 dermatologists in the United States, Canada, and around the world. The Academy grants Fellowships and Associate Memberships, as well as Fellowships for Nonresidents of the USA or Canada. Since 1979, the AAD also publishes a monthly medical journal, the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.

To become a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology (FAAD), a physician must be a resident of the United States of America or Canada and certified by the American Board of Dermatology or in dermatology by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

To become an Associate Member, a physician must have three years of experience in practice or as a teacher or graduate student of dermatology and must have had training that qualifies for examination by the American Board of Dermatology or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.

The Sulzberger Institute for Dermatologic Education was a grant-giving organization that funds research technology of education. Initially, the Sulzberger was a free-standing institute loosely affiliated with the AAD and governed by an independent board of trustees. Since 2005, the Sulzberger has been subsumed within the AAD, and has become the Sulzberger Institute Committee of the AAD.

Each fall, the Sulzberger awards one or two seed grants for research designed to improve the teaching of dermatology via novel technological applications. In recent years, the Committee has been particularly interested in funding research to advance continuing graduate medical education in dermatology and the teaching of dermatologic surgery. Grants are typically for one to two years, and are targeted to young investigators, including junior faculty and residents-in-training.

Dermatologists in the United States have the third highest annual incomes among physicians at $381,000 per year. They were topped only by cardiologists at $410,000 per year and orthopedists at $443,000 per year. The dermatologist income was an 11% increase from 2015, fourth highest among all physicians. Male dermatologists’ annual incomes exceeded their female counterparts by $73,000. For their income, most (39%) male dermatologists spent an average of more than 12 minutes with each patient; more female dermatologists (48%) spent more than 12 minutes per patient.