Matthew - When and where did you start as a dermatology PA?
Kasey - I went into Dermatology as a new graduate straight out of PA school in 2003. I joined a group practice in Santa Monica, CA of all male physicians over the age of 60. I was their first PA. They were skeptical about PAs, what we could do, how we are paid, and I started on a 90-day trial. Fast forward 18 years, and I not only launched and grew the aesthetic division, but I also participated in practice management, staff oversight, was privy to major business decisions, and became a vital part of the team.
Matthew - Tell us a little more about how and why you ended up working in administration for your dermatology practice?
Kasey - It all began back in 2009 when I recognized that my collaborating physician was complaining about many management duties. He did not enjoy managing staff, researching EMRs, creating internal processes, establishing marketing plans, weighing return in investment on aesthetic equipment, etc., and he would complain frequently about these and other areas of business management.
Solving other people’s problems is one of the most powerful ways to advance a career or grow a business. Recognizing this, I quickly leveraged the fact that I enjoyed the activities that my collaborating physician did not enjoy. Since we had an amazing communication and trust between us, I was able to negotiate one of the highest dermatology PA salary structures and be paid close to the same as my physician colleagues. I was charged with taking on many management duties in addition to my clinical activities to “lighten his load” from the activities that he didn’t enjoy doing. To this day, I always recommend to PA/NP clients who want to advance their salary to look for a need or problem for other people’s problems and become the solution to their problems, that is one the best ways to leverage for massive increases in salary.
Matthew - Can you elaborate for us on your work on the original SDPA Diplomate program?
Kasey - The Diplomate program was a passion project that was initiated by my friend and colleague Bethany Grubb PA-C back in the mid 2000s. Bethany is an extremely talented dermatology PA who had connections at UT Southwestern where she was starting to build the academic foundation of what the Diplomate program is today. My involvement was fueled by my passion to show the world that dermatology PAs have a strong foundation of education so I essentially became the “Chief Marketing Officer” for lack of a better term. I was the person who attended AAD meetings alongside the President of the SDPA and presented the academic curriculum of the Diplomate program and educated the AAD and its members about the valuable training that this tool offered to the members of the SDPA.
Matthew - What was the impetus for you starting your own skin care line and are you still involved with this project?
Kasey - This is a story that could be a novel! I started my own skin care line, Airelle Skin, in 2012 because I saw a need and demand from my celebrity patients and other patients who really wanted natural skin care with medical grade research (similar to Skin Medica, Alastin, etc.). There was nothing on the market that qualified as natural (low ratings from EWG) with effective ingredients that was peer reviewed. I will spare you all of the details of the early years but over 6 years, myself and my PA colleague, Katherine Wilkens, set out to create our own formulas and we did get our research on the benefits of our proprietary blueberry extract, Berrimatrix, published in JAAD in 2017! Airelle Skin has been used by many celebrities, on many TV and movie sets, sold in Europe and South America, and has been mentioned in numerous beauty magazines. It was a very big venture that required 24-7 work for over a decade, over $2M of up-front capital, over 50 shareholders, and a formal board of directors. I am no longer involved with the day-to-day management of Airelle Skin, but myself, and many of our original shareholders, remain silent equity partners.
Matthew - What led you to become a contracting consultant for other APPs?
Kasey - I love helping other PAs and NPs recognize their value, how to bring value, how to create a life that they didn’t imagine was possible for an APP. I have been fortunate in my career but much of my success has come from my intentional decisions, making difficult decisions, and taking 100% accountability for my future and my happiness. Nothing in my life has been easy, I promise you. In fact, it has been extremely challenging, but I welcome the challenges because I know that if I am strategic about the decision in front of me, things will be much better on the other side. I became a certified life and career coach in 2019 so that I could formally coach PAs and NPs and not only help people understand the business side of medicine, their salary structure, and negotiation skills, but I can also formally coach APPs how to find their own path to satisfaction and fulfillment.
Matthew - What’s the benefit of using a contract consultant?
Kasey - I can only speak for myself and my team. The benefit of working with our team is that a PA or NP will get a professional independent opinion of salary structure, cost to practice, if there is room to negotiate, anticipating what the practice owner will say using specific questions that indicate “owner personality” types, and most importantly the benefit of working with a team with specific skills and tools to help a PA determine if negotiating vs planning an exit is the best plan for their own personal goals. We spend a lot of time using life coaching and career coaching tools in addition to salary and contract evaluation because at the end of the day, it is the most important to set yourself on a path that will not only lead to desirable salary and contract terms but will also lead to overall happiness and fulfillment.
Matthew- When should someone consider using a service such as that offered by CPAC?
Kasey - If a PA or NP is uncertain of how or when to negotiate and what the best strategy is for their situation or if a PA or NP is wondering if they should start thinking about making a change with their career, we can help with both our On Demand “Master the Boss Mindset” Masterclass course and/or personalized private career coaching. We even offer specific salary and contract consulting sessions. If a PA or NP is unsure if a contract term is standard or how to leverage trading contract terms for increases in salary or bonus, we explain how to do that in a way that makes business sense for the practice.
If a PA or NP is unsure how to plan an exit or make a career change, in or out of clinical medicine, our personal career coaching packages are designed to help PAs and NPs create a step-by-step plan with a qualified experienced coach by their side every step of the way even if they don’t know what they want, they just know they want something “different”. If a PA or NP is interested in learning more about business (clinical or non-clinical) our On Demand “Business Bootcamp” course with or without private business coaching can help a PA or NP learn the fundamentals of business success and can help a PA or NP avoid common pitfalls that can be very expensive and devastating to the business.
Our mission is to be the resource for the career and business advice and coaching that is not provided in PA/NP school or through professional organizations. Academic programs and professional organizations have done an amazing job to advance the PA and NP professions and we support APP organizations 100%. However, they are not usually business experts or qualified career coaches and that is where we come in, we are experts in business and life and career coaching. We are here as a resource, we provide tons of free videos and PDF guides for those who are on a budget or just want some quick tips and we are committed to helping advance each and every PA and NP that we encounter to the next level of their career and their life.
Kasey D’Amato, MPAP, PA-C is a Dermatology PA, Entrepreneur, and Career Coach for PAs. Kasey is President of Certified PA Consulting and coaches PAs on how find clinical or non-clinical career success and fulfillment. When not in clinic or helping other PAs, Kasey enjoys spending time on the beach, golf course, or boat in her Maine and Florida homes with her husband and bulldog or traveling the globe looking for new and exciting adventures.www.certifiedpaconsulting.com
