Curriculum

The dermatology residency curriculum is structured around formal didactics on Tuesday mornings from 7:30am to 12pm. The majority of the lecture schedule is coordinated by pathology-based “themes” with clinical and pharmacology lectures corresponding with the dermatopathology topics for the associated month. Scope-based dermatopathology teaching sessions are provided every other week for 2.5 hours based on Weedon chapters and are taught by both faculty and the dermatopathology fellows. Additional resident-led dedicated pathology review occurs every Thursday after Grand Rounds for 1 to 2 hours. Pharmacology core lectures are taught in a “case-based” approach based on cases provided to the residents in advance to review and prepare based on the corresponding Wolverton reading assignments and self-directed further reading. All full-time faculty participate in didactics, with a goal that all faculty provide at least one lecture per year. In addition to teaching on core dermatology topics organized by pathology “themes,” specialized lectures are provided including pediatric dermatology, basic science and translational medicine, and dermatology surgery didactics. Residents also receive several guest lectures by outside speakers each year and participate in supplemental procedural dermatology sessions taught by full-time and adjunct faculty members several times per year.

We provide several additional educational opportunities throughout the course of the year with the goal of enriching our residents’ clinical and professional education. We offer an evening teaching session at the Cantor Center for the Arts on Stanford University campus in collaboration with Cantor art museum educators, in which visual art is used to refine clinical and professional skills. In our effort to enhance our trainees’ professional development, we include several additional educational experiences during the year, including twice yearly interdisciplinary M&M/Quality Improvement conferences and monthly evening faculty-led journal clubs.