Dermatology Residency Program | Washington DC | MedStar Health
A female doctor wearing blue gloves examines the face of a female patient.

 

The MedStar Health—Washington Hospital Center Residency Program in Dermatology

The Dermatology Residency Program prepares physicians for the complex and challenging demands of a dermatology practice.

Individuals entering the categorical dermatology residency must complete one year of postgraduate training to be eligible. Internal medicine/dermatology residents will enter the program as a PGY-1.

Video tour of graduate medical education at MedStar Health

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Learn more about graduate medical education at MedStar Health with a video tour, hosted by Sailaja Pindiprolu, MD, internal medicine residency program director.

Dermatology residency program

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Take a virtual tour of some of our clinical sites and work spaces within the dermatology residency program.

Why train here

This residency program combines a broad clinical and didactic curriculum with a diverse and international patient population for a truly comprehensive training experience.

Residents gain experience in highly advanced diagnostic across a high volume of inpatient and outpatient cases with broad pathology diversity. Training sites include MedStar Washington Hospital Center, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Dermatology, Children’s National Hospital, the National Institutes of Health, and others.

Washington, D.C., is a vibrant city, home to some of the nation’s most cherished cultural and historical sites, museums, national parks, sporting events, and a rich selection of restaurants and nightlife.

Academic excellence

The residency is based on these pillars of academic and clinical excellence:
  • Volume: Depending on the rotation, residents routinely manage an average of 100 to 150 outpatient cases and provide 25 to 30 inpatient consults each week. They also occasionally take the primary role in managing inpatients on the dermatology inpatient service.

  • Education: A robust educational focus includes weekly book review conferences, basic science curriculum, journal club, Kodachrome didactics, inpatient consult rounds, clinical research, and weekly grand rounds alternating between busy clinical settings.

  • Diverse pathology: With a broad range of patient demographics and access to local and national referral centers, residents see atypical presentations of common dermatoses as well as very unusual cutaneous diseases. Our residents pride themselves on high acceptance rates of submitted cases to local and national meetings, such as the American Academy of Dermatology’s Gross and Microscopic Case Conference.

  • Advanced treatment modalities: Residents enjoy exposure leading-edge modalities including phototherapy, photodynamic therapy, Mohs surgery, laser surgery, and aesthetic procedures.

  • Meetings and conferences: Residents are encouraged to submit abstracts, papers, and posters to regional and national meetings and travel funding support is available. A generous book and educational fund helps defer the cost of books and supplies. And all residents are allowed time to attend the yearly American Academy of Dermatology meeting, three times during training.

Curriculum

The Dermatology Residency Program prepares physicians for clinical and academic careers in dermatology. Educational activities are throughout each week, and vary in scope and type. Some examples are:

  • Consult rewind

    Review cases and encourage learning from the inpatient hospital and pediatric services.

  • Multidisciplinary melanoma and skin cancer tumor board

    Weekly tumor board with the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center

  • D.C. resident consortium

    Quarterly, large-scale, didactic session conjoined with other dermatology residency programs from around the D.C. region.

  • Textbook review

    Meets once a week to deepen residents’ medical knowledge of dermatologic conditions and diseases.

  • Kodachrome conference

    Meets weekly to sharpen residents’ ability to recognize skin disease by means other than clinical examination.

  • Journal club

    Meets twice monthly to teach the scientific process of clinical investigation and analysis and to keep residents up to date with the latest methods and technology.

  • Grand rounds

    Meets weekly to improve recognition of common diseases, rare and exotic diseases, disease processes, and various alternatives to treatment of diseases. Grand rounds are distributed amongst the academic institutions in Washington, D.C., including Georgetown University, George Washington University, Howard University, and the National Institutes of Health.

Schedule

Categorical dermatology sample schedule:

  • First year

    • Seven months general dermatology
    • One month contact/patch testing rotation
    • One month dermatopathology
    • One month peds derm/inpatient peds service
    • One month inpatient dermatology
    • One month dermatologic surgery/procedural dermatology
  • Second year

    • Seven months general dermatology
    • One month contact/patch testing rotation
    • One month dermatopathology
    • One month peds derm/inpatient peds service
    • One month inpatient dermatology
    • One month dermatologic surgery/procedural dermatology
  • Third year

    • Four months general dermatology clinic
    • One month contact/patch testing rotation
    • One month inpatient consult
    • One month peds derm/inpatient peds service
    • 1.5 months dermatopathology
    • 1.5 months dermatologic surgery/procedural dermatology
    • One month elective
    • One month NIH


Internal Medicine/Dermatology Combined Program Sample Schedule:

  • PGY-1

    • Three months of preselected requirements: emergency medicine, infectious disease (inpatient), rheumatology
    • Four months inpatient wards
    • Two months of ICU/CCU
    • One month of general medicine ambulatory care
    • Two weeks of night float
    • Two weeks of elective
  • PGY-2

    • Three months of preselected requirements: neurology, geriatrics, oncology
    • One month of medicine consults
    • Four months of inpatient wards
    • Two months of ICU/CCU
    • Two elective months

Rotations

A wide range of rotations in different clinical settings exposes residents to a large volume of inpatient and outpatient cases representing a broad spectrum of dermatologic disease.

  • General dermatology

    Clinical blocks in general dermatology are staffed by attendings with diverse interests encompassing general dermatology, complex medical dermatology, immunodermatology, rheum-derm, CTCL, hair diseases, occupational dermatoses, allergic contact dermatitis/patch testing, and cutaneous manifestations of systemic diseases.

  • Dermatopathology

    This educational block is spent signing out cases with staff dermatopathologists, reviewing slide collections to hone skills, and preparing slides and images for grand rounds and upcoming conferences.

  • Dermatologic surgery/procedural dermatology

    Time is spent with the Mohs surgeon to develop surgical skills and competency in local excisions and Mohs surgery.

  • Pediatric dermatology

    Rotations at Children's National Hospital includes a vascular anomalies clinic, a pediatric vulvar dermatoses clinic, a general pediatric dermatology clinic, a pediatric procedural clinic, and inpatient/ED consults.

  • Inpatient consult services

    Numerous inpatient and ED consults are generated from these two large tertiary referral centers composed of 900-plus beds at MedStar Washington Hospital Center and 500-plus beds at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.

  • Electives/NIH

    Clinical rotations are available to upper-level residents, as well as a clinical rotation at the National Institutes of Health.

Training locations

The largest and busiest hospital in Washington, D.C., and surrounding area and serves as a referral center and central hub for the region’s most advanced acute medical care.

110 Irving Street NW, Ste. 1A50A
Washington, D.C., 20010
P: 202-877-7000

An esteemed not-for-profit hospital with 609 beds, located in Northwest Washington, D.C.

3800 Reservoir Road
NW Washington, D.C., 20007
P: 202-877-7000

Highly rated hospital offers residents exposure to a wide spectrum of infant and childhood dermatological conditions, from pigmentation disorders to birthmarks, congenital lesions, burns, blisters, and more.

111 Michigan Ave NW,
Washington, D.C., 20010
P: 888-884-2327

Our main outpatient clinic and Mohs Micrographic Surgery practices are conveniently located adjacent to the Mazza Gallery Shops.

The Chevy Chase Building
5530 Wisconsin Ave, Ste. 730
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
P: 301-215-9420

The NIH is the largest biomedical research agency in the world

19000 Rockville Pike
Bethesda, MD 20892
P: 301-496-4000

Application information

Contact us

We welcome your questions about our program. For additional information, please contact:

Ms. Naomi Simwenyi,
Administrative Director,
Dermatology Education,
Email: Naomi.N.Simwenyi@Medstar.net