The MedStar Health—Georgetown University Hospital 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
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
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 advanced diagnostic workup across a high volume of inpatient and outpatient cases with broad pathology diversity. Residents train across diverse sites, including MedStar Washington Hospital Center, MedStar Georgetown University Hospital Dermatology, Children’s National Hospital, Water Reed National Military Medical Center, 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 60-80 outpatient cases and provide 25 to 30 inpatient consults each week.
- Education: A robust educational focus includes weekly book review conferences, basic science curriculum, monthly journal club, Kodachrome didactics, inpatient consult rewind, clinical research, and monthly 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, Mohs surgery, laser surgery, and aesthetic procedures.
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:
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Consult rewind
Review cases and encourage learning from the inpatient hospital and pediatric services.
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Multidisciplinary melanoma and skin cancer tumor board
Weekly tumor board with the Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center
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D.C. resident consortium
Quarterly, large-scale, didactic session conjoined with other dermatology residency programs from around the D.C. region.
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Textbook review
Meets once a week to deepen residents’ medical knowledge of dermatologic conditions and diseases.
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Kodachrome conference
Meets weekly to sharpen residents’ ability to recognize skin disease by means other than clinical examination.
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Journal club
Meets monthly to teach the scientific process of clinical investigation and analysis and to keep residents up to date with the latest methods and technology.
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Grand rounds
Meets monthly 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 Water Reed National Military Medical Center.
Schedule
Categorical dermatology sample schedule:
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First year
- 6 months medical dermatology
- 1 month contact/patch testing rotation
- 1 month dermatopathology
- 1 month pediatric dermatology/inpatient pediatric service
- 2 months adult inpatient dermatology
- 1 month dermatologic surgery/procedural dermatology
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Second year
- 6 months medical dermatology
- 1 month contact/patch testing rotation
- 1 month dermatopathology
- 1 month pediatric dermatology/inpatient pediatric service
- 2 months adult inpatient dermatology
- 1 month dermatologic surgery/procedural dermatology
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Third year
- 4 months medical dermatology
- 1 month contact/patch testing rotation
- 2 months adult inpatient consult
- 1 month pediatric dermatology/inpatient pediatric service
- 1 month dermatopathology
- 1 month dermatologic surgery/procedural dermatology
- 1 month elective rotation
Internal Medicine/Dermatology Combined Program Sample Schedule:
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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
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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.
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Medical 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.
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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.
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Dermatologic surgery/procedural dermatology
Time is spent with the Mohs surgeon to develop surgical skills, competency in local excisions, Mohs surgery and half day at Walter Reed Medical Center for cosmetics.
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Pediatric dermatology
Rotations at Children's National Hospital include a vascular anomalies clinic, pediatric rheumatology-dermatology clinic, pediatric Hidradenitis Suppurativa clinic, pediatric hair loss clinic, general pediatric dermatology clinic, pediatric procedural clinic, and inpatient/ED consults.
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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 and occasionally NRH.
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
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
One of the largest and most prominent military medical centers in the United States where residents get cosmetic exposure
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center
4494 Palmer Rd N.
Bethesda, MD 20814
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