Training Tracks
Advanced Dermatology
Our Advanced Dermatology Residency Program was established in the 1930's and is currently composed of 26 residents. We are proud of our continued tradition of excellence and innovation year after year.
During their training, our residents gain knowledge and expertise in a wide array skin disorders of adults and children. Through rotations at six Harvard-affiliated hospitals, they receive clinical experiences in general and complex medical dermatology, inpatient dermatology, pediatric dermatology, dermatopathology, dermatologic surgery, and procedural and cosmetic dermatology. Our residents also participate in two continuity clinics per week. We are proud to offer a comprehensive didactic curriculum, three months of elective opportunities, formal research advising, and leadership opportunities within our program and our hospitals.
We strive to recruit residents of high academic caliber who uphold the values of integrity and compassion as clinicians, scholars, and leaders. We commit to providing professional opportunities, mentorship, and support to help our residents succeed. Many of our residents continue on to fellowship training and/or academic faculty positions upon graduation. Regardless of their chosen career path, we expect our graduates to contribute as leaders in our specialty in their areas of interest or expertise.
Our Residents, AY2023
Our Resident, AY 2024
The NRMP Match Number for our Advanced Dermatology Program is 1261080A0.
For the upcoming 2023-24 Match season:
The application deadline is October 1, 2023.
Virtual interviews will be held on January 9th and January 1th, 2024.
We will interview 42 candidates and plan to Match for 8 residents.
Research Track
Our program is proud to offer the option of a special research track for residents in our Advanced Dermatology residency program. This track combines 2 years of full-time clinical training with two years of basic and/or clinical research in order to prepare for a career as a physician scientist. Research track residents will still graduate at the end of PGY-4 year and be eligible to sit for boards, with the second year of support continuing for their first year post-residency. The research experience may take place within our own departments of dermatology or in other departments at Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, MIT, or affiliated institutions. An NIH T32 Training Grant provides supplemental funding to support the research activities of residents who enter our special research track.
Timeline
Pre-Residency
No commitment to the research track is required before matriculation into the program.
PGY-2:
Resident declares interest in entering special research track by January.
Resident begins exploring laboratory opportunities identifying candidate labs and principal investigators best suited for their research years.
PGY-3:
Clinical rotations are modified to ensure fulfillment of all residency related requirements.
Resident continues to explore laboratory opportunities and by February formally identifies a lab and principal investigator for their research years.
Resident makes final commitment to special research track and completes T32 grant application.
PGY-4:
Resident enters the laboratory, and spends 75% of their time on research.
Resident continues with one continuity clinic per week and an additional 24 clinics over the year to supplement their clinical training.
Resident graduates with their original class.
2nd Research Year:
Resident is now a junior faculty member at a Harvard affiliated institution.
Research continues under support of NIH T32 grant. Extension of grant or time in the lab beyond this year is at the discretion of the trainee and principal investigator.
Graduates typically maintain 1-2 half days of attending dermatology clinic per week at the same or other institution while completing their research.
Recent graduates of our special track program:
2021: Nicholas Theodosakis, MD, PhD
2020: Christina Weng, MD
2018: Chao Yang, MD
2017: Allen Ho, MD, PhD
2016: Adam Raff, MD, PhD
2015: Sherrie Divito, MD, PhD
2014: Esther Freeman, MD, PhD and Lilit Garibyan, MD, PhD
Health Policy Leadership Track
Program Description:
We are thrilled to offer residents the opportunity to participate in the Health Policy Leadership Track, a collaboration between the Harvard Combined Dermatology Residency Program and the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship at Harvard. This track allows residents to complete dermatology residency training while obtaining a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) or Master’s in Public Administration (MPA) in 3.25 years.
The Commonwealth Fellowship is a one-year health policy leadership program that facilitates an MPH at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health or an MPA at the Harvard Kennedy School. Fellows gain access to additional mentoring, leadership forums, and a practicum project focused on healthcare delivery systems and health policy.
We are grateful to Dr. Joan Reede for her collaboration in this unique professional development opportunity for our trainees.
Objective:
To prepare Harvard Dermatology residents to become leaders in healthcare access, health policy, and dermatologic care delivery, particularly for medically underserved populations.
Program Details:
Residents who match into the Harvard Combined Dermatology Residency Program are eligible.
Residents must be in good standing and meeting or exceeding milestones in ACGME core competencies.
Residents must indicate interest in this program by September of their PGY-3 year.
Interested residents must apply for the fellowship and graduate school of choice by December of PGY-3 year and be accepted into the program.
Accepted residents will complete the following:
2 years of dermatology training followed by
1 year as a Commonwealth Fund Fellow, supplemented by a weekly continuity clinic, followed by
3 months of dermatology training focused on healthcare access and health policy
Residents in this track will receive a salary based on their postgraduate level of training. The master’s degree will be fully funded by the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship.
Health Policy and Advocacy Community
In addition to the Health Policy Leadership Track, we launched the Harvard Dermatology Health Policy and Advocacy Community. This group brings together residents and faculty from across the Harvard Dermatology system who are passionate about expanding access to dermatologic care and improving healthcare delivery systems.
This community meets several times a year for discussions and events focused on healthcare policy, patient access, and systemic challenges in dermatology. It serves as a resource hub to highlight leadership and research opportunities in these areas.
Faculty members in this community have expertise in healthcare delivery, policy advocacy, academic research, and clinical care access. All residents are invited to participate, and those interested can be paired with faculty mentors aligned with their professional interests.
The Individualized Career Development Track
The Individualized Career Development Track is designed to offer 2.5 years of clinical training, combined with a 6-month American Board of Dermatology approved special training track focused on the resident’s career interests. This track aims to recognize residents as mature learners with individualized career goals. Track objectives include: 1) to support residents with career plans that extend beyond traditional clinical training and 2) to provide opportunity to practice independent clinical care in a sheltered setting.
Residents in this track will participate in clinical training and didactics 2.5 days per week while pursuing a career-oriented area of interest during the remaining time for the final 6 months of residency training. All residents in the advanced dermatology track are eligible for this program. As with all specialized tracks, successful candidates must meet or exceed expectations per ACGME competencies and demonstrate an accelerated trajectory towards their anticipated date of graduation.
Medicine-Dermatology Combined Residency Program
A medicine-dermatology residency program was established in 2009 between the Harvard Combined Dermatology Residency Training Program and the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. We are proud to have eight Med-Derm trained faculty members and many dermatology trained faculty experts in complex medical dermatology as teachers and mentors for our Med-Derm residents. To date, we have graduated 14 residents from our program.
Our Med-Derm program is designed to permit the acquisition of knowledge and experience across both disciplines that will aid in the care of patients with complex medical and dermatologic illnesses with candidates eligible upon completion of training to sit for boards in both internal medicine and dermatology. Training emphasizes the cutaneous and systemic management of complex medical dermatology illness including, but not limited to, autoimmune connective tissue and blistering disorders, cutaneous lymphoma and other cutaneous malignancy, inpatient consultative dermatology and more broadly the recognition of the dermatologic manifestations and implications of systemic diseases. This combined training will prepare trainees for a wide array of potential careers at the interface of internal medicine and dermatology, in clinical practice or in the academic setting. In addition, our residents are eligible for internal medicine and dermatology fellowships upon graduation.
For Applicants:
Please submit a personal statement that reflects your combined med-derm training interest and career aspiration. At least one letter of recommendation should be from the Department of Medicine. Candidates who match to medicine-dermatology will be committed to the five-year training program.
The NRMP Match Number for our Medicine-Dermatology Program is 1261785CO.
For the upcoming 2023-24 Match season:
The application deadline is October 1, 2023.
Virtual interviews will be held on January 8th, 2024.
We will interview 9 candidates and plan to Match for up to 2 residents.