Detailed Agenda
2026 Forum & IVWG
*The agenda is subject to change

The session will abandon traditional presentation formats, relying entirely on live audience submissions to drive the discussion. Panelists are prepared to speak openly and authentically about the difficult, nuanced, and often unspoken challenges of balancing a demanding medical career with a full life.

Key Takeaways Will Include:

• Direct, honest advice on navigating salary negotiation, partnership tracks, and difficult career pivot decisions.
• Candid perspectives on the reality of work-life integration, parenting, and maintaining well-being while achieving professional success.
• Uncensored insights into specific failures, regrets, and lessons learned that are rarely shared in formal lectures.

Join us for this judgment-free zone to ask the questions that matter most to your professional and personal journey.

Get ready for one of the fastest, brightest, and most beloved sessions of the Forum. In just thirty minutes, our WDS panelists will deliver 30 rapid-fire pearls - a mix of clinical wisdom, practice hacks, and the real-life lessons that only come from lived experience.

This is dermatology meets life coaching: from the exam room to the board room to the living room, each pearl is designed to spark insight, streamline your day, or make you think, “I wish someone told me that sooner.”

Expect a lively, upbeat format where every minute offers something new - smart diagnostic shortcuts, practice-saving “why didn’t I think of that?” tricks, and the small but mighty philosophies that shape careers, leadership, and well-being.

Key Takeaways Will Include:

• Clinical & Procedural Pearls: Diagnostic clues, treatment tweaks, and efficiency boosters you can use on Monday
• Practice & Professional Pearls: Time-savers, workflow tips, communication strategies, and leadership insights
• Life & Wellness Pearls: Bite-sized wisdom on boundaries, balance, mentorship, confidence, and resilience

Join us for this fast, fun, high-yield session - guaranteed to leave you with practical takeaways and thoughtful reminders to carry through the rest of your career (and life).

Every successful career is built upon targeted advice and meaningful connections, but large sessions often lack the opportunity for personalized guidance. This highly popular session converts the mentorship process into an interactive and intimate experience where you choose your own learning adventure.

The format features several small discussion tables, each hosted by a leading WDS subject matter expert (SME) focused on a specific, high-interest topic. Attendees will rotate through these tables, allowing them to engage with multiple mentors and address their most pressing professional and personal questions in a focused setting.

Key Takeaways Will Include:

• Direct, personalized advice from multiple leaders in a small-group, collaborative environment.
• Deep-dive discussions into niche topics such as negotiating tricky contracts, integrating new technology, or building a brand within a subspecialty.
• Practical strategies for immediately addressing current career challenges by learning from the experiences of established dermatologists.

Join us to tailor your mentorship experience, build your network, and gain practical wisdom designed to accelerate your career growth.

The cornerstone of the Women’s Dermatologic Society has always been its powerful commitment to mentorship, fostering a legacy that spans three and a half decades. This commemorative panel brings together trailblazing WDS members, spanning multiple generations, to reflect on the evolution of mentorship and the enduring power of professional connection.

The session will explore the profound impact of these relationships on shaping the field of dermatology. Panelists will share invaluable lessons learned, discuss the legacies they hope to leave behind, and detail how mentorships transcend professional guidance to become essential lifelong bonds of support and friendship.

Key Takeaways Will Include:

• Insights into the shifting dynamics of mentorship: from the traditional model to modern concepts like sponsorship and reverse mentoring.
• Strategies for cultivating and sustaining cross-generational relationships that benefit both the mentor and the mentee.
• Reflections on the most crucial career and personal advice shared over the last 35 years of WDS fellowship.

Join us to celebrate the past, understand the present, and invest in the future of WDS mentorship.

Dermatologists are multi-dimensional humans with talents, passions, and side quests that extend far beyond clinic walls. This light-hearted, inspiring session celebrates the unexpected hobbies and creative outlets that bring joy, balance, and renewed purpose to our lives.

From competitive Cajun cooking to chess mastery, from mastering credit-card points to strutting the runway, our panelists will share the passions that energize them outside of medicine, and how those pursuits make them better clinicians, mentors, and leaders.

In this fun, story-driven conversation, panelists will discuss how exploring diverse interests can spark creativity, build community, reduce burnout, and open doors to unexpected opportunities.

Key Takeaways Will Include:

• How personal passions can strengthen resilience, well-being, and career longevity
• Ways to carve out space for hobbies in a busy medical life (without guilt!)
• The surprising professional skills gained from “non-medical” pursuits—discipline, creativity, confidence, strategic thinking, and more
• Inspiration to embrace (or rediscover!) the off-beat talents and interests that make you uniquely you

Join us for a joyful reminder that dermatologists are more than medicine, and that nurturing your passions may be one of the most powerful forms of self-care and leadership growth.

For many women in medicine, the traditional definition of "family" often clashes with the demands of a high-achieving career. This essential and intimate panel provides an honest look at the diverse paths women dermatologists are taking to build their families and personal lives, paths that often defy conventional expectations.

The session will explore topics ranging from fertility journeys and non-traditional partnerships to the complexities of choosing to remain child-free. Panelists will share candid stories about the logistics, emotional toll, and ultimate rewards of their unique choices, creating a supportive space where attendees can find commonality and support regardless of their own circumstances.

Key Takeaways Will Include:

• Insights into navigating the medical, financial, and emotional decisions related to fertility, adoption, and family planning during residency and early career.
• Strategies for establishing and managing flexible, non-traditional, and blended family structures in a demanding field.
• Advice on communicating and advocating for your personal and family needs within academic and private practice environments.

Join us to celebrate the power of choice and learn how successful women are truly defining family on their own terms.

Every career path, especially in medicine, is marked by unexpected pivots, challenges, and setbacks that can feel like detours. This inspiring panel brings together prominent WDS leaders and accomplished dermatologists who have successfully navigated major professional and personal shifts, turning interruptions into opportunities.

The session will move beyond simple resilience by offering practical strategies for mastering change. Panelists will share candid stories about overcoming career transitions, managing unforeseen personal crises, and adapting to industry disruptions.

Key Takeaways Will Include:

• Strategies for maintaining confidence and self-worth during professional uncertainty.
• Tactics for reframing unexpected challenges as catalysts for new growth and specialization.
• Advice on building a supportive network that sustains you through periods of change.

Join us to learn how to not just survive, but thrive, when your professional map takes an unplanned turn.

When it comes to hormones, the skin often spills the tea before the labs do. In this lively, no-nonsense session, a vulvar dermatologist and OB/GYN team up to tackle some of the most controversial, and most misunderstood, topics in women’s health.

From Hormone Therapy (HT) myths to the real deal on topical estrogen (where it can go, where it shouldn’t, and why), our dynamic duo will dive into the science, the gray zones, and the clinical “are-we-really-doing-this?” moments that every dermatologist encounters but few talk about openly. Nothing is off limits, and the audience is invited to bring questions - yes, all of them.

Expect expert insights, evidence-based clarity, straight talk, and a lot of laughs.

Key Takeaways Will Include:

• What dermatologists really need to know about HT, perimenopause, and menopausal skin changes
• How, when, and where to use topical estrogen, plus what the data supports (and what it doesn’t)
• Vulvar derm pearls from the front lines
• Practical guidance for managing hormonally influenced dermatoses with confidence
• Honest answers to questions you’ve never felt comfortable asking

Join us for a fast-paced, candid cross-specialty conversation that will leave you smarter, more confident, and thoroughly entertained.