Jane Mast, PA-C, MPAS, DMSc, discusses an Educational Tool for HS Disease State and Psoriatic Disease State.
In this video
In this interview, Jane Mast, a regional medical director who moved from clinical practice into the industry side, describes a Jeopardy-style game she helped develop to teach the HS and psoriatic disease states. The goal was to make something "educational but fun," since the days of the didactic lecture can make it hard to pay attention. She notes the graphics made it feel like you were actually in the game.
On HS, she says the most-missed question was simply how prevalent the disease is — it's "under recognized and under recorded" globally — which is why she stresses recognizing these patients at an early stage rather than letting them bounce through years of misdiagnosis. On psoriasis, she frames psoriatic disease as "a spectrum," from the cutaneous forms that often present first to psoriatic arthritis, and emphasizes that clinicians are at a critical point to screen for that arthritic component early — even in mild to moderate patients.
- HS is under recognized and under recorded; be aware of how prevalent it really is and recognize these patients early.
- HS patients are often misdiagnosed in primary care and urgent care, spending years labeled with chronic infections or cellulitis.
- Psoriatic disease is a spectrum, from cutaneous psoriasis (which often presents first) to psoriatic arthritis.
- Screen psoriasis patients for psoriatic arthritis early — even mild to moderate psoriasis can have an arthritic component.
- Interactive, game-based formats can make disease-state education more engaging than a traditional didactic lecture.
