Internship
The American Board of Dermatology requires all residents to have a postgraduate year of medical training in a specialty approved by the Board (i.e., internal medicine, general surgery, family
practice, obstetrics & gynecology, pediatrics, or emergency medicine), before starting dermatology training. It is the responsibility of the applicant to apply for a PGY-1 position at either UTMB or another ACGME accredited institution. An applicant
who is interested in pursuing an internship in internal medicine at the University of Texas Medical Branch should contact the Internal Medicine Residency Office at (409) 772-2654. Interviews with both the Department of Internal Medicine and the Department
of Dermatology cannot be scheduled on the same day.
First Year
The residency begins on July 1. House staff orientation is usually held during the end of June. First-year residents will assist in the Faculty Clinics as assigned in Galveston and in League City and attend
the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ) Clinic (Tuesdays). First year residents start their continuity clinic caring for patients seen for their entire residency program. Procedures with faculty supervision are also scheduled for the afternoons.
Second Year
Second-year residents will spend six months of the year staffing the morning dermatology clinics. They spend three months on the consult service where they manage the inpatient consults as well as see telemedicine
clinic consults and follow-ups in the TDCJ. Three months (Tues & Wed) are spent with Dr. Wagner and the Mohs Fellow, on the Dermatological Surgery Service with a focus on learning Mohs micrographic surgery, skin flaps and skin grafts. This is in addition
to the surgical experience gained during all three years of residency.
Third Year
Currently all third year residents are assigned chief resident functions (academic, scheduling, medical student education and conference),
as well as dermatolgy clinic. Each resident completes a dedicated three month dermatopathology rotation as well (this is in addition to dermatology training throughout the etire residency program). UTMB has an excellent dermatopathology fellowship and
the fellows and faculty are eager to teach our residents about the subspecialty of dermatopathology.
Electives
Currently electives are limited to a two week research elective that may be taken by third year residents
to complete their required scholarly project.
Dermatology Scholarly Project:
First-year dermatology residents are required to select a dermatology scholarly project and a dermatology faculty advisor by December of their first year. Following regulatory approval,
data collection and statistical analyses are conducted by the resident, culminating in the submission of an original manuscript for peer review by January of the senior year. Scholarly projects may be done in the areas of basic research, cutaneous infections,
cutaneous oncology, dermatologic surgery, dermatopathology, dermatopharmacology, laser dermatology, QI and media studies related to dermatology, skin diseases and pediatric dermatolgy. In addition to participation in the Dermatology Scholarly Project,
residents are encouraged to submit papers for publication and for presentation at national, regional and local meetings.
Call
Call is taken from home by residents for one week at a time to equal about 7-8 weeks per resident
per year. Holidays are covered by first-year residents.
Weekly Schedule of Clinics and Conferences
Friday mornings are reserved for academic activities including grand rounds, lectures and journal club. We have an active
conference schedule on other weekdays before clinics start that is supplemented by participation in the monthly Houston Dermatological Society meeting. In addition, trainees are encouraged to participate in a variety of regional and national dermatology
society meetings.