Dermatology Pathway Introduction Sites and Personnel Description of Pathway Pathway Summary Table Dermatology Requirement Strongly Recommended Courses Suggested Electives Free Electives Textbooks and Learning Resources Evaluations Other Faculty Curriculum Committee of Department

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 To assist students interested in a career in dermatology with planning their fourth year rotations and to better meet their educational needs and career goals, the Department of Dermatology has developed a discipline-based pathway in dermatology. The pathway, or set of recommendations regarding the selection of rotations, should be front-loaded. The electives in dermatology should occur as early in the fourth year as possible in order to reconfirm the students interest in dermatology and to acquire letters of recommendation from dermatology faculty at DUCOM and/or other institutions. The primary goal is to familiarize the student with the broad scope of dermatology training and practice to allow for a realistic career decision. In addition, it is expected that each student will learn to diagnose and treat a wide variety of common dermatologic disorders.

In general, this pathway contains a minimum of required electives since only the dermatology elective is necessary to attain the primary goals. The student should have wide discretion in filling out the remainder of his/her schedule in many areas of medicine.

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Pathway Director and Site Coordinator
Drexel University College of Medicine
Christine Stanko, M.D.
Department of Dermatology
Drexel University College of Medicine
Broad & Vine Streets, Mail Stop 401
Philadelphia, PA 19102-1192
(215) 762-5553 Phone
(215) 762-5570 Fax

Associate Pathway Directors, Site Coordinators and Teaching Sites

Site	Associate Director	Site Coordinator
HUH	Christine Stanko, M.D. 219 N. Broad Street, 4th Floor Philadelphia, PA 19107 (215) 762-5550 Phone (215) 762-5570 Fax

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Click here for a summary table of the Dermatology Pathway.

A. Dermatology Requirement

Students in the dermatology pathway will be required to take one rotation in dermatology at HUH. Additional electives include a second similar dermatology rotation at another university program with a residency. Dermatopathology and plastic surgery electives are suggested.

The Goals and Objectives of the Dermatology rotation are as follows:

1. To learn to diagnose and treat the common dermatologic disorders
2. To learn to recognize more complicated skin problems.
3. Recognize cutaneous manifestations of systemic disease and their relationship to that disease.
4. To learn to perform common outpatient dermatologic procedures for diagnosis such as KOH preparations, fungal cultures, skin biopsies (incisional and excisional), and phototesting.
5. To become familiar with the wide variety of advanced dermatologic surgery procedures and their correct indications and usage.
6. To understand site selection for biopsies and to become familiar with correlating the histologic findings to the clinical findings.

During the fourth year all students, regardless of pathway, will be required to meet certain medical school requirements. All students will complete a four week rotation in Medicine and a four week rotation in Neurology . No more than three rotations will be allowed to be taken outside the DUCOM affiliates and no more than three rotations will be allowed to be taken in any one discipline.

B. Strongly Recommended Courses

Dermatology Elective at Another University
This elective will be very similar to the one described at University Hospitals, but will expose the student to new areas of subspecialty interest and additional faculty members at another university. The option of taking a home based rotation in a community based dermatology office (i.e., Lehigh Valley Hospital) may also be chosen if an exposure to a non-university setting is desired.

C. Suggested Electives

1. Plastic Surgery or Infectious Disease or Rheumatology
   A plastic surgery experience will provide an intensive exposure to larger cutaneous surgical cases. A rheumatology or infectious disease elective will provide exposure to a spectrum of diseases, which can affect the skin as well as the many side effects from the drugs used to treat such diseases.
2. Emergency Medicine or Ambulatory Pediatric Outpatient Rotation. This rotation would provide a broad clinical experience in treating any type of emergency. As physicians, whatever the specialty, a knowledge of emergency care is necessary.

D. Free Electives

Two free electives are to be chosen by the student. The student may choose any according to his/her interests.

Required Dermatology Rotation
During the four-week elective, the student will be exposed to a wide variety of common dermatologic disorders. These exposures will occur both during patient sessions and through a clinical series of didactic sessions to be given weekly. At a minimum, it is expected that each student will learn to diagnose and treat the following dermatologic disorders: 

1. Acne and its variants
2. Atopic Dermatitis
3. Common Viral Infections
   1. verruca
   2. herpes simplex
   3. herpes zoster
   4. molluscum contagiosum
4. Common Bacterial Infections
   1. impetigo
   2. erythrasma
   3. folliculitis
   4. cellulitis
5. Common Fungal Infections
   1. dermatophyte (tinea)
   2. candidiasis
6. Common Spirochete Infections
   1. syphilis
   2. erythema migrans (Lyme disease)
7. Common Parasitic Infections
   1. scabies
   2. pediculosis (lice)
8. Common Benign Tumors:
   1. seborrheic keratosis
   2. melanocytic nevi
   3. acrochordons
   4. keloids
   5. hemangiomas
   6. cysts
9. Common Precancerous or Malignant Tumors:
   1. actinic keratosis
   2. basal cell carcinoma
10. Seborrheic Dermatitis
11. Psoriasis Vulgaris

Conferences
All students are required to attend the following conferences:

1. The weekly (currently scheduled for Friday from Noon until 1 p.m.) student lecture is held at 219 N. Broad. At the conclusion of the lecture, students are required to return to their scheduled site;
2. Grand Rounds which is scheduled the second (at University of Pennsylvania) and fourth (at Hahnemann) Thursday of each month (please check the schedule). Patient viewing begins promptly at 9 a.m. at 219 N. Broad, followed by presentation and discussion of each case in the conference room in 219 N. Broad at approximately 9:45 a.m.
3. Thursday morning lectures which are scheduled at 10 a.m. or 11 a.m. (please check the schedule);
4. Wednesday 8-9 a.m. kodachrome session at the respective office sites;
5. City-wide conferences as announced per monthly schedule.

The following are resident only conferences:

1. Staff meetings;
2. Herb Allen session (8 a.m. before Grand Rounds); or
3. Journal Club

Note: Students interested in dermatology may attend some of the above if pre-arranged with the chief resident.

Recommended Reading:
Principles of Dermatology by Lookingbill and Marks. The reading corresponds to the lecture series. Copies of this text are available in the Department of Dermatology library, the medical school library, and the bookstore.
Week 1: Chapters 2 and 4
Week 2: Chapters 9 and 10
Week 3: Chapter 13
Week 4: Chapters 6, 7, and 8

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 As stated in the dermatology elective requirements above.

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 Evaluation of Student Performance
At the conclusion of the rotations offered by the Department of Dermatology, all students will be strongly encouraged to complete a formal evaluation form assessing the quality of their experience. In addition, each student will be evaluated by the residents, attendings most familiar with the student on each rotation, and the Chair.

The student will meet at least three times during the fourth year with Dr. Telang, Dr. Hsu, or Dr. Kantor to assess overall performance in the plan and to review guidance for dermatology residency applications.

Exit Interview
A written summary will be discussed with the student. The student will be asked to critique the course and must complete a confidential evaluation form.

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Faculty Curriculum Committee of Department
In the Department of Dermatology all curriculum issues are discussed at the monthly departmental faculty meeting. Items specifically related to the pathway are recorded separately in the minutes.

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