Celebrating the "Derm Difference": Mona Gohara, MD, on the Impact of National Dermatologist Day

Mona Gohara, MD | Courtesy of © EltaMD

Earlier this month, we celebrated the second annual National Dermatologist Day, which was established by EltaMD in 2024. Mona Gohara, MD, a board-certified dermatologist and associate clinical professor of dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine, was a featured clinician in the Derm Difference campaign. In an interview with Dermatology Times, Gohara shared her journey with EltaMD and how the Derm Day initiative is impacting the community and elevating the profession.

Dermatology Times: How did you first become involved with EltaMD's Derm Day initiative?

Gohara: So, I'm actually on the EltaMD advisory board, and I consider that an honor. Well before I was on the advisory board, I was a big fan of the brand because of its product, the efficacy of the product, and the cosmetic elegance of the product. And then I thought it was really a great idea when the brand came to me a couple two years ago and said, "What do you think about this day? "Because they weren't just then looking out for our skin, they were looking out for our profession. And I felt like that was a really nice resonance to the foundation they had built around being one of the premier sunscreen and skincare brands based on their science. With this day, they’re really elevating our profession. So to me, that was in line with what I knew of EltaMD as a brand, and I was really happy to get behind this national initiative.

Dermatology Times: Could you tell us about your role in the Derm Difference program, specifically “Derms Save Lives”?

Gohara: I was in the "Derms Save Lives" campaign, and that's really something that I feel is underappreciated in a lot of ways. Skin cancer is the number one malignancy in the United States. We all know that as dermatologists, but its incidence is higher than that of breast, lung, and prostate cancer combined. And every day, when we go into our offices, we're detecting skin cancer, we're educating on skin cancer prevention, and we're curing skin cancer. And that really is the difference between dermatologists and all of the other people who claim to be "skin experts" without any area of legitimate expertise. We are working daily to eradicate the most common cancer in the United States, and we are truly the only doctors who understand how to detect, prevent, and cure skin cancers. Of course, in many instances, we work with our oncologist and plastic surgeon colleagues who are extremely important parts of the team. But we're the first line of defense. Diagnosis and prevention; that is the "Derm Difference," because we are the ones who are trained to detect skin cancers.

Dermatology Times: What are some of the special events that occurred this year to celebrate the second annual Derm Day?

Gohara: I think the brand did a great job at this month’s American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting (AAD), asking anybody and everybody who came through their booth to talk about what they thought the "Derm Difference" was, and their derm story, which I thought was very cool. You'll see across a lot of social channels, people talking about their experience as to why they became a dermatologist and their current experience as a dermatologist. So I thought it was excellent that the brand really took time to not make this a monolith situation, but really hone in individually on what motivates them and impacts them around the practice of dermatology on a day-to-day basis. I loved that. I love hearing people's stories and seeing different dermatologists talk about it. There was a general momentum around the occasion that people took initiative. They appreciated the momentum and took the time to celebrate it themselves, which I also really appreciated. And then there were really cool events, like the ringing of the Closing Bell at the New York Stock Exchange. Local dermatologists and derms from across the country were there to celebrate the occasion, as well as many members of the EltaMD advisory board. The immediate past president of the AAD, Seemal R. Desai, MD, FAAD, was there and he spoke about the Derm Difference and the importance of National Derm Day. I thought that the ringing of the bell was so symbolic. Because we're making noise around the fact that dermatologists are the ones who are primarily responsible for skin health and are the ones who know the most about skin health because of the science, expertise, and years we've put in to understanding the skin as an organ. So, I loved the symbolic nature of the noise and the awareness that ringing the bell brought together. I think EltaMD has done a great job. And there's no doubt in my mind that this is something that's just going to gain momentum every year.

Dermatology Times: Why is the National Dermatologist Day campaign so significant for dermatologists?

Gohara: I think this day is important and significant for dermatologists because in this day and age, for some reason, skin health, expertise, and advice, have become really democratized. Everybody feels like they can do it, say it, and dispense it. And that's far from the case. We know that there's a reason that dermatologists go to four years of medical school and then do four years of residency. We focus four years of our lives on learning about this profession and learning about this organ. So, it can't be as easy as you think. I think that this day really elevates the profession as these skin experts, to make people understand that there is a difference, there is a "Derm Difference." And that difference in one sentence is really our understanding of the skin and skin science and how to treat the skin. So I think this day is so exceptionally important, because it highlights that, and it distinguishes us from the rest as the experts of the skin, hair, and nails.

The other thing I really like about this day is that it's so unifying. I like the whole idea that this is a unifying day across different subspecialties, across ages, across geography. It's a day that unifies us as a specialty, and I find that really important because from unification comes progress. And I think that EltaMD has given us a great reason to continue to work together as a specialty.

[Transcript has been edited for clarity.]