Introducing The Spot Check, the latest addition to the lineup of esteemed dermatology podcasts from Dermsquared™. In this exciting new venture for physician assistants and nurse practitioners, periodic timely episodes spotlight key special events, upcoming conferences, professional opportunities, and more. If you’re a PA or NP, The Spot Check is your go-to resource for staying informed, connected, and inspired. Tune in to stay ahead of the curve and make the most of important happenings in dermatology.
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Beyond Steroids: Clinical Pearls for Tapinarof in Psoriasis & Atopic Dermatitis
Season 2 · Episode 22
Friday, September 11, 2026 • Duration 31:43
For years, topical nonsteroidals largely occupied a supporting role in inflammatory skin disease—the option between steroid courses or when steroids simply weren’t a good fit. Tapinarof has helped change that calculus.
In this episode of The Spot Check, Jamie Restivo, PA-C, sits down with dermatologist Nick Brownstone, MD, to look beyond the “steroid-sparing” label and into how he actually thinks about tapinarof in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis. They begin with its aryl hydrocarbon receptor mechanism and what Dr Brownstone calls its “triple threat”: modulation of inflammatory pathways, effects on the skin barrier, and antioxidant activity. From there, the conversation moves quickly into the decisions that matter once a prescription leaves the exam room.
What exactly are those follicular events described in the psoriasis trials, and should clinicians think of them as traditional infectious folliculitis? Why were contact dermatitis rates lower in the atopic dermatitis studies than might be expected? How does burning and stinging compare with older nonsteroidal topicals? And when one of these reactions does occur, what does it actually mean for treatment?
Perhaps most useful is the discussion of what happens after patients get clear. Dr Brownstone and Jamie unpack the treatment-free intervals observed in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis and how a treat-until-clear, stop, monitor, and restart-with-flare approach can change the conversation around chronic topical therapy. They close with the details that often determine whether any regimen succeeds at all: a thin layer, once-daily application, choosing a time that fits the patient’s routine, and counseling clearly enough that patients know what to expect without making treatment more complicated than it needs to be.
The Magic of Patient Adherence: Nudges, Behavioral Economics, and Habits with Dr Steve Feldman
Season 2 · Episode 21
Friday, August 21, 2026 • Duration 31:17
The treatment can be clinically sound, thoughtfully selected, and clearly prescribed. But if the patient doesn’t use it, none of that matters. In this episode of The Spot Check, Jamie Restivo, PA-C, is joined by Steve Feldman, MD, PhD, to explore one of the most persistent challenges in dermatology—adherence, and the surprisingly powerful role human behavior plays in whether a treatment plan succeeds.
Drawing from behavioral economics, Dr Feldman explains why patients don’t always make decisions through the rational risk-benefit calculus clinicians might expect. Together, he and Jamie look at some of the most common barriers to adherence, including overly complex regimens, treatment discomfort, and the perception that a therapy simply isn’t working. Their discussion moves quickly from theory to practical application; simplifying topical regimens, anticipating issues before they cause a patient to stop treatment, and thinking carefully about how risk and expectations are framed.
But some of the most useful interventions may be much smaller. Medication placed on top of one’s socks or at the bedside can make treatment harder to overlook by tying it to an existing habit. A seven-day pill container removes the need to remember whether today’s dose was taken. Written instructions account for what Dr Feldman calls the “curse of knowledge,” the tendency for clinicians to underestimate how difficult even seemingly simple directions can be to absorb outside of the exam room. These environmental cues and habits can make treatment easier to remember and harder to ignore.
Underlying it all is a concept Dr Feldman returns to throughout the conversation, accountability. Trust between clinician and patient creates the foundation, but the expectation of follow-up may be what turns intention into action. Rather than simply handing over a prescription and reconnecting months later, even the anticipation of a check-in can change behavior. For clinicians managing chronic disease, it is a reminder that adherence may depend not only on what we prescribe, but on how we design the experience around it.
Alopecia Areata Beyond the SALT Score: Patient Selection, Monitoring, and Long-Term Management
Season 2 · Episode 20
Friday, July 24, 2026 • Duration 29:13
Alopecia areata (AA) may be measured by the percentage of scalp hair loss, but the numbers don’t tell a full story. A patient with limited visible involvement may still be experiencing profound changes in confidence, relationships, identity, and daily life.
In this episode of The Spot Check, Jamie Restivo, PA-C, is joined by Matthew Brunner, PA-C, for a walk through the alopecia areata patient journey, from initial assessment and treatment selection to baseline testing, follow-up, and long-term management with deuruxolitinib (Leqselvi).
Brunner begins with the SALT score, explaining how it gives clinicians an objective way to quantify scalp hair loss and track response over time. But severity should also account for rapid progression, eyebrow or eyelash involvement, previous treatment response, and psychosocial burden. Alopecia areata is not cosmetic. It’s a chronic autoimmune disease that can disrupt a patient’s fundamental sense of self.
When considering a JAK inhibitor, Brunner recommends moving beyond a rigid treatment ladder. Patient goals, medical history, comorbidities, reproductive plans, previous therapies, and tolerance for risk all belong in the discussion. Counseling should be deliberate, not rushed. “This isn’t a conversation you have standing with your patient,” he says.
The episode also gets into the practical details of starting deuruxolitinib, including baseline labs, tuberculosis and viral hepatitis screening, vaccination status, pregnancy considerations, lipid monitoring, and the CYP2C9 genotype testing required before treatment. Brunner then outlines his approach to follow-up, using SALT scores, photography, adherence checks, and subtle signs of improvement such as fine vellus hairs, reduced shedding, or early eyebrow and eyelash regrowth.
Just as important is preparing patients for the pace of treatment. “This is a marathon, it’s not a sprint,” Brunner says. Meaningful regrowth may take months, and improvement doesn’t mean the disease has been cured.
From patient selection and safety counseling to the first signs of response, this episode provides a grounded framework for treating alopecia areata earlier, monitoring it thoughtfully, and helping patients stay the course.
Disclaimer: This episode of The Spot Check is supported by an industry sponsor. Topic areas and guest participation may be informed by sponsor interest. The sponsor may have had the opportunity to review the content for medical accuracy; however, the clinical discussion and opinions expressed are those of the host and guests. This program is intended for health care professionals and is provided for educational purposes only. It should not be interpreted as medical advice. Clinicians are responsible for reviewing prescribing information and applying independent clinical judgment within their scope of practice.
Sunscreen Pearls: Practical Counseling Tips for Everyday Dermatology Practice
Season 2 · Episode 19
Friday, July 10, 2026 • Duration 31:28
Sunscreen counseling may have once been simple, but the work has become a bit more complex. These days, patients come in with many great questions. What does “sensitive skin” really mean? Is baby sunscreen different? Do sprays work? Are mineral sunscreens safer? What about vitamin D, sunscreen absorption, and “clean” beauty claims?
In this episode of The Spot Check, Jamie Restivo, PA-C, is joined by Zoe Diana Draelos, MD, one of dermatology’s leading voices in photoprotection, cosmetic science, and skin care research, for a practical, myth-clearing conversation on sunscreen science and patient counseling.
Dr Draelos begins by decoding the language patients see on sunscreen labels. “Sensitive skin on a sunscreen label means absolutely nothing,” she explains, from a regulatory standpoint, though many products marketed this way tend to rely on mineral filters such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide and may undergo sensitive skin panel testing. Baby sunscreen, she adds, is also more about marketing and store placement than a distinct formulation category.
The conversation moves from labels to what actually happens when patients use sunscreen. Most sunscreen failures are not failures of the product but failures of application, like too little product, skip areas, lack of a continuous film, water exposure, rubbing off, sweating, and missed reapplication. Spray sunscreens require particular care, too. Spray sunscreens require particular care, too. The practical takeaway is clear: spray, rub, spray, rub, spray, rub to build an even, protective layer.
The episode also tackles SPF selection, reapplication, mineral versus chemical filters, tinted sunscreens, eye irritation, vitamin D concerns, and ingredient safety. Higher SPF provides a greater margin of error because “no one ever applies a sunscreen optimally,” she says. And when patients worry that sunscreen prevents vitamin D production, she recommends checking levels and using oral supplementation rather than relying on sun exposure.
Finally, they discuss the FDA approval of bemotrizinol, the first new sunscreen filter approved in the U.S. in more than 25 years. Photostable, broad spectrum, and already used globally, bemotrizinol may help usher in a new era of sunscreen formulation in the United States.
From marketing claims to real-use counseling, this episode gives dermatology clinicians practical language and clinically grounded pearls to help patients choose, apply, and actually use sunscreen more effectively.
Beyond Isotretinoin: Long Term Management, Controversies, and What’s Next in Acne
Season 2 · Episode 18
Friday, June 26, 2026 • Duration 30:07
Part two of this Acne Awareness Month series picks up with the questions that can make isotretinoin feel a little complicated. Jamie Restivo, PA-C, and John Barbieri, MD, MBA, move into the issues clinicians counsel on constantly, like psychiatric safety, inflammatory bowel disease, lab monitoring, supportive skin care, maintenance after treatment, and newer as well as trending acne therapies.
Dr Barbieri brings a measured, evidence-based approach to psychiatric counseling, acknowledging that mood changes can occur while emphasizing the broader context of acne’s psychosocial burden. He also discusses how he talks about inflammatory bowel disease, why acne and IBD may share inflammatory pathways, and the ways prior antibiotic exposure can complicate interpreting risk.
The episode then turns to lab monitoring, where practice patterns still vary widely. Dr Barbieri walks through his approach to baseline and peak-dose testing, triglycerides, liver enzymes, and less frequent monitoring. The conversation stays practical, with attention to what actually changes management vs what may simply add burden for patients.
From there, Restivo and Dr Barbieri move into the supportive care patients need to get through treatment: barrier-focused cleansers and moisturizers, lip care, dry eye, nasal dryness, and what to avoid while on isotretinoin. They also discuss the end of a course, including when doing nothing may be appropriate, when topical retinoids may make sense, and recognizing patient anxiety about recurrence in the plan.
The episode closes by widening the lens to acne care beyond isotretinoin, including LED light devices, hormonal therapy, topical retinoids, clascoterone, and oral antibiotics. It is a jam-packed conversation about prescribing thoughtfully, counseling honestly, and building acne treatment plans that are both evidence-based and real-world.
Optimizing Isotretinoin: Clinical Pearls That Change Practice Tomorrow
Season 2 · Episode 17
Friday, June 12, 2026 • Duration 31:14
Isotretinoin is one of the most effective therapies in acne care, but a successful course is not as simple as reaching a number and stopping. In part one of this Acne Awareness Month episode, host Jamie Restivo, PA-C, sits down with John Barbieri, MD, MBA, to talk through treatment endpoints, recurrence, dosing, absorption, and the day-to-day decisions that shape long-term outcomes.
Dr Barbieri reframes the goal of isotretinoin as long-term remission rather than a guaranteed cure, a distinction that changes how clinicians counsel patients from the beginning. He discusses why cumulative dose still matters, how clinical endpoints can help individualize care, and why getting patients clear for several months may be more meaningful than stopping at a fixed threshold alone.
The conversation also gets into recurrence in a way that feels useful in practice—who may be at higher risk, recent data on relapse and retrial, and how hormonal therapies may still have a role for select patients after isotretinoin, even when they did not seem to work before. From severe inflammatory presentations to adult female acne patterns, the episode keeps returning to the same clinical truth: treatment plans should be individualized.
Restivo and Dr Barbieri also spend time on absorption, once-daily dosing, micronized isotretinoin, omega-3 supplementation, antihistamines, and expectation setting that can make a course more tolerable and less frustrating for patients. The result is a practical, thoughtful discussion for clinicians who prescribe isotretinoin often, but still want to do it with more precision, flexibility, and confidence.
Smart Integration: Evidence Based Dermatology Beyond Prescriptions
Season 2 · Episode 16
Friday, May 15, 2026 • Duration 36:03
Patients are already asking about diet, supplements, oils, probiotics, “natural” products, and what they saw online before they even make it into the exam room. In this episode of The Spot Check, Jamie Restivo, PA-C, sits down with Lauren Stewart, PA-C, for a practical conversation on integrative dermatology and how clinicians can respond with curiosity, caution, and a clear understanding of what the evidence can and cannot tell us.
Stewart defines integrative dermatology as taking a step back rather than a step away from conventional medicine. The goal is not to replace medical therapy, but to look more broadly at what may be contributing to flares, triggers, or disease burden in conditions like atopic dermatitis, and what might help support patients between visits. Her approach blends Western medicine with nutrition, barrier support, select supplements, and other integrative tools, always with an emphasis on clinical realism and practical patient care.
Much of the conversation centers on atopic dermatitis, where Stewart uses integrative strategies most often. She discusses practical counseling around fragrance free products, ceramide containing moisturizers, coconut and sunflower oils, hypochlorous acid, probiotics, and topical vitamin B12, while also highlighting the importance of “putting the fire out first” when inflammation is active in moderate to severe disease.
The discussion emphasizes that traditional Western medical therapies are often necessary upfront to gain control of the disease, while supportive integrative strategies can then help maintain the skin barrier, reduce flares and overall disease burden between visits, and improve quality of life. The message is not that integrative therapies replace more advanced medical treatment, but rather that they can work alongside conventional therapies to better support long term disease management.
They then move through other common disease states including psoriasis, acne, hidradenitis suppurativa, actinic keratoses, molluscum, and warts with quick, clinically useful considerations for each.
The episode also addresses one of the more challenging aspects of this space: deciding what is truly worth recommending. Stewart talks about reviewing studies, listening carefully to patient experiences, and weighing safety, access, cost, and plausibility when the evidence is not as robust as it is for FDA approved therapies.
The takeaway is not that every clinician needs to become an integrative specialist. It is that patients are already using these integrative therapies, and clinicians should be helping guide those conversations with better questions, clearer guardrails, and thoughtful recommendations that support the care they are already providing.
The views expressed in this episode are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of Dermsquared. This program is intended for health care professionals and is provided for educational purposes only.
Clinicians are responsible for applying independent clinical judgment in patient care.
Melanoma Today: Prevention, Prognosis, and Precision Testing
Season 2 · Episode 15
Monday, May 4, 2026 • Duration 24:45
In this episode of The Spot Check, Jamie Restivo, PA-C, is joined by Andrew Baker, MBA, PA-C, for a timely, practice-focused discussion on where melanoma care stands in 2026. From prevention strategies that change patient behavior to advances in risk stratification and precision testing, they break down what’s working, what remains challenging, and how emerging tools are reshaping clinical decision-making.
They begin with prevention, still the highest-leverage intervention but one that remains difficult to translate into daily behavior. Baker emphasizes simple, concrete messaging—sunburns, especially blistering ones, carry real weight over time, and indoor tanning before age 35 significantly increases risk. The challenge is making risks feel immediate enough to matter.
From there, they discuss adherence. Sunscreen works, but only if patients use it. Anchoring use to existing routines, prioritizing cosmetic elegance, and connecting UV exposure to visible changes like photoaging are what actually move the needle. “Behavior change isn’t just about education alone,” Baker says. “It’s really about designing habits that are easy to repeat.”
They then step back to review the broader epidemiology. Melanoma incidence continues to rise, driven in part by better detection and more frequent screening, but also by cumulative UV exposure and an aging population. At the same time, mortality has not declined proportionally, largely because more aggressive subtypes don’t follow predictable patterns and are harder to catch early.
When it comes to diagnosis, the fundamentals still hold. Breslow depth, ulceration, and mitotic rate remain central to staging and prognosis. Layered onto that is a growing role for gene expression profiling (GEP). Tests like DecisionDx and Merlin add another level of biologic insight, helping refine decisions around surveillance, referral, and procedures like sentinel lymph node biopsy.
The throughline is integration. Melanoma care today is about combining prevention, clinical examination, pathology, and tumor biology to more precisely define patient risk and guide management.
The views expressed in this episode are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of Dermsquared. This program is intended for health care professionals and is provided for educational purposes only.
Clinicians are responsible for applying independent clinical judgment in patient care.
Scalp Health, Innovation & Building a Brand Beyond the Bedside
Season 2 · Episode 14
Friday, April 17, 2026 • Duration 31:51
In this episode of The Spot Check, Jamie Restivo, PA-C, sits down with Erica Ramos, DMSc, PA-C, to unpack a familiar clinical frustration: scalp disease that should respond, but often doesn’t.
Ramos traces the gap back to adherence. Patients stretch time between washes, rinse too quickly, or avoid medicated shampoos altogether, whether to preserve color, manage texture, or simply keep up with daily life. “Nobody’s leaving it on long enough,” she says. “That’s why I encourage people to use it as a mask.”
Their conversation then moves beyond ingredients and into behavior. They explore how cultural hair practices, mobility limitations, and cosmetic priorities shape treatment success—often more than the prescription itself. The issue, as Restivo frames it, isn’t a lack of options. It’s asking patients to adopt routines they’re unlikely to follow.
Ramos’s response was to build something that fits into that reality, like a leave-on, dry formulation designed to extend contact time without disrupting hair care practices. She walks through the thinking behind the formulation—anchored by salicylic acid as a keratolytic and supported by ingredients selected for anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial effects—and why delivery matters just as much as mechanism.
The conversation broadens into a more practical philosophy of care to meet patients where they are, layer therapies when needed, and think in terms of tools rather than single solutions. Or, as Ramos puts it, “We can lead a horse to water, but we can’t make them drink.”
It’s a grounded and nuanced look at what happens when we stop blaming the treatment and start redesigning how it’s used.
The views expressed in this episode are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of Dermsquared. This program is intended for health care professionals and is provided for educational purposes only.
Clinicians are responsible for applying independent clinical judgment in patient care.
Actinic Keratosis: Treat Early, Treat Gently, Treat the Field
Season 2 · Episode 13
Friday, March 20, 2026 • Duration 32:31
Managing actinic keratoses (AKs) well requires more than freezing what we see. In this episode of The Spot Check, Jamie Restivo, PA-C, is joined by dermatology nurse practitioner David Seiter, NP, for a grounded, practical conversation on treating AKs with a broader, more preventive lens.
At the center of the discussion is field therapy. While cryotherapy remains useful for isolated lesions, Seiter emphasizes the importance of addressing the underlying field of UV-damaged keratinocytes, much of it invisible. Starting earlier, when photodamage is still mild, can make treatment more tolerable and more sustainable for patients over time.
From there, the conversation moves into the realities of clinical practice: how to choose between commonly used topicals, how to counsel patients through expected reactions, and how small decisions, including cost, access, and even how instructions are framed, can shape whether a patient is willing to repeat treatment. The goal is not maximal reaction, but a manageable one.
Prevention threads throughout, from sunscreen counseling to adjunctive options like Polypodium leucotomos and nicotinamide, always with an emphasis on meeting patients where they are.
The takeaway is a familiar one, but easy to overlook: treating AKs is not just about clearing lesions. It is about recognizing the field early and helping patients stay with a plan they can return to over time.
The views expressed in this episode are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect those of Dermsquared. This program is intended for health care professionals and is provided for educational purposes only.
Clinicians are responsible for applying independent clinical judgment in patient care.
