Curriculum

Residency Training Schedule

Resident Rotations

The resident curriculum for each year is designed to provide exposure to a wide range of clinical dermatology. Below is a breakdown of the major rotations each year of Residency. During all rotations, each resident will maintain a continuity clinic at HUP once weekly and will attend didactic sessions on Tuesday and Thursday mornings and Friday afternoons.

First Year Locations:

• Penn Presbyterian Medical Center
  Introduction to inpatient consults. In addition, participate in the Penn Presbyterian Wound Care specialty clinic.
• The Philadelphia Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center (VA)
  Participate in patient care at the VA dermatology clinics as well as the Dermatologic Surgery at the VA.
• Dermatopathology
  In addition to the weekly dermatopathology didactic sessions, each resident will spend up to one month per year participating in Dermatopathology Sign-Out as well as reviewing interesting cases with the fellows and doing independent review of teaching slides.
• Dermatologic Surgery
  Surgical experiences are provided throughout the year during the VA rotations. In addition, surgical exposure to Mohs, lasers, and other techniques occurs with Drs. Miller, Sobanko, Shin, Etzkorn, Giordano, Walker, McMurray, Higgins and Zhang.
• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP)
  Pediatric dermatology experiences are provided at the CHOP pediatric dermatology outpatient clinic. Elective: Pursue a research elective, clinical project, or work with another service in the hospital (rheumatology, infectious disease, plastic surgery) or pursue an away elective at another institution.

Second & Third Year Locations:

In addition to the first year locations, senior residents will rotate through the following services

• Pennsylvania Hospital
  Cover the Pennsylvania Hospital consult service and participate in outpatient clinic at our Penn Medicine at PAH site.
• HUP Consult Resident
  Provide dermatological consultation for HUP inpatients. In addition, participate in urgent care clinics and weekly clinical-pathologic correlation of inpatient biopsies.
• The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia Consult Resident
  Provide dermatological consultation for CHOP inpatients, while continuing to work in the outpatient clinic as well.
• The Philadelphia Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center (VA) Consult Resident
  Provide dermatological consultation for VA inpatients, review all pathology weekly on Monday afternoons from the VA and follow-up on appropriate biopsies and results

Dermatopathology Rotation
An overage of one month each year is dedicated to acquiring one-on-one experience at the microscope with our six dermatopathologists and their two fellows. Dermatopathology specimens processed per year amount to over 80,000.

Teaching Rounds
Consult Rounds are held weekly. The senior faculty and residents review the current week’s consultations. Physical examination findings, differential diagnosis and patient management are stressed.

Society Meetings
Residents attend the meetings of the Philadelphia Dermatologic Society which are held during the academic year at each of the six teaching hospitals in the Philadelphia area. Other rewarding meetings take place at the College of Physicians of Philadelphia, at other Philadelphia medical schools, and the Pennsylvania Academy of Dermatology. Senior residents attend the annual meeting of the American Academy of Dermatology in the spring.

Journal Club
Journal Clubs are an important part of resident education and are conducted by the faculty on a biweekly basis. JAMA Dermatology, the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology and a wide array of investigative and medical journals are focused on in these sessions. The discussions involve residents and faculty.

Research
The Penn Department of Dermatology leads the nation in both basic science and clinical investigation of skin biology. Our department is committed to training and mentoring residents so they may launch their successful careers as academic professors. We consistently rank in the top 3 in the nation for NIH funding.

We offer a research track for applicants interested in pursuing basic science, translational, and/or epidemiological research careers. Our research track aims to provide trainees an early start on their scientific training by replacing the majority of the PGY-4 year of clinical training with postdoctoral research. During the first two years of dermatology residency training (PGY-2, PGY-3), participants receive similar clinical training as their fellow residents. During PGY-4, participants will have 75% protected research time and will spend 25% effort on clinical dermatology. After completion of residency, participants will be promoted to Clinical Instructor and receive a competitive salary (as opposed to PGY-5 funding). The Department has a NIH T32-training grant, which may provide up to two years of postdoctoral fellowship funding support.

Our department has 13 research-focused faculty with internationally recognized expertise in a broad range of scientific disciplines, including epithelial biology, developmental biology, regenerative medicine and stem cell biology, microbiome, immunology, autoimmunity, cell adhesion, carcinogenesis, epidemiology and biostatistics, clinical trials, and health outcomes and disparities research. This critical mass of investigators promotes innovation and unique collaborative research opportunities.

Research track trainees will receive formalized mentoring through a departmental committee, which includes senior faculty and at least one faculty member outside the Department of Dermatology, to provide both scientific and professional career advice. Individualized development plans help trainees to choose their postdoctoral fellowship training mentors, who can be either within or outside the Department of Dermatology, and also guide senior fellows in navigating their career path toward an academic faculty position. In addition to a traditional research-in-progress seminar series, our department supports twice monthly trainee seminars to foster peer mentoring networks. Additionally, trainees benefit from core services offered through Penn Dermatology’s NIH-funded Skin Biology and Diseases Resource-based Center, including primary skin cell procurement and genetic engineering, organotypic skin culture and xenografts, histology, laser capture microdissection, biostatistics, and bioinformatics. We also have a dedicated clinical studies unit that supports patient-oriented and clinical investigation.

Research Laboratory Resources
The basic research laboratories are housed within the 10th floor of the Biomedical Research Building (BRB10). A spacious and newly renovated conference room on BRB10 is used for laboratory meetings, faculty meetings, and collaborative discussions within the Department and with researchers from other departments, centers, and institutes. BRB is centrally situated on the PSOM campus, facilitating interactions with other Departments, Centers and Institutes. Consolidation of basic research labs on BRB10 has led to increased interactions and efficient use of space. The nearly 14,350 square feet of usable research space are dedicated to an integrated cutaneous biology initiative. The principal investigators are allocated office (1,319 sf PI office space total), administrative support (1,500 administrative space), laboratory space (total 7,440 sf), cell culture (1,200 sf), cold room (270 sf), microscopy core (220 sf), and shared equipment (2,500 sf) space. In addition, trainees and faculty have access to approximately 2,500 sf of common space (conference room, eating area) integrated with the lab and administrative space.

Conferences & Lectures

• Duhring Conferences

  The Duhring Conference, named for the first Chief of Dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania, Louis A. Duhring, M.D., is held on Thursday mornings. During the pandemic, the conference is held virtually with patient presentation and discussion occurring simultaneously. First, patients are presented for discussion of their diagnoses, histopathology, treatment and a review of pertinent medical literature. This conference is attended by not only the residents and faculty of the department but also by residents from other Philadelphia training programs, community physicians, and often other invited specialists. Second, the Duhring Lecture allows for presentation of the latest material by recognized experts in their field. This event provides an opportunity to interact with well-known figures in the world of dermatology. This conference provides an outstanding educational forum and is CME accredited.Didactic Lectures – Dermatopathology lectures are weekly sessions with “unknown” slides presented. A review of a major dermatopathology text is also accomplished. These are conducted by Drs. Rosalie Elenitsas, Emily Chu, Carrie Kovarik, Adam Rubin, and John Seykora as well as their dermatopathology fellows. Clinical dermatology lectures are held weekly. Residents, fellows, and faculty participate in sessions focusing on clinical dermatology with a special emphasis on differential diagnosis of “unknown” slides and a review of a major clinical textbook.Guest lectures given by faculty from other disciplines at Penn, by dermatologists from other institutions in Philadelphia, or invited guest speakers from the surrounding area are given regularly.

• Samitz Lecture

  The Samitz Lecture in Cutaneous Medicine is held annually in November. This Lecture is named in memory of Morris H. Samitz, M.D., who was a preeminent professor in the Department of Dermatology. This is one of the highlights of the academic year with a featured lecturer of international reputation. The Morris H. Samitz Lectureship was endowed by Dr. Samitz’s students as a demonstration of their love and respect for him.

• Pillsbury Lecture

  The Pillsbury Lecture, named in memory of former Chair, Dr. Donald M. Pillsbury, is held in honor of the graduating residents each spring. This lecture, which has attained a prestigious reputation, features an internationally known guest lecturer. This lecture, held in May, is preceded the night before by a festive graduation dinner.