The Department of Dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), was founded in the early 1960s, and has grown to include close to 40 full-time faculty members and 21 residents (Figure 1).
Fellowship training includes positions in pediatric dermatology, dermatopathology, and procedural dermatology, as well as additional
clinical and research fellowship opportunities.
The program seeks to produce graduates with exceptional clinical skills that prepare them for leadership roles in dermatology
within their communities, academic departments, organized medicine, or other venues, and we prioritize mentorship
and career development to help our trainees reach their goals.
Clinical training at UCSF is divided into monthly rotations split among four diverse sites, as well as a continuity clinic held each week. The residency is based at the UCSF Mount Zion campus, which houses many of the subspecialty clinics that provide residents with exposure to complex medical dermatology
(Table 1).
At this campus residents also participate in a variety of multidisciplinary clinics with faculty from various specialties
working together to care for patients with challenging diseases and disorders including cutaneous lymphoma and melanoma, birthmarks and vascular anomalies, and complex cutaneous tumors.
In-depth exposure to dermatopathology across all sites is a critical part of the program, and UCSF residents receive training
from the most active university-based dermatopathology service on the West coast.
Hands-on experience in Mohs, cosmetic, and laser surgery from UCSF's four procedural dermatologists is another core facet of the program.
Each year, one-to-two months are spent on the pediatric dermatology
service, which includes a pediatric surgery and laser clinic and an active pediatric inpatient consult service.
Residents also rotate on a dedicated, adult inpatient
consult service at our UCSF university hospital that is overseen by three members of the faculty with nationally recognized expertise in the emerging subspecialty of consultative
dermatology.
At San Francisco General Hospital, residents focus on caring for an underserved population, including a clinic dedicated to skin diseases in HIV-infected patients. The San Francisco Veterans
Affairs Medical Center provides residents with experience in geriatric dermatology and teledermatology, serving areas across Northern California.
The didactic curriculum at UCSF includes daily clinical and basic-science lectures given by members of the faculty, along with a monthly resident-led journal club. Departmental grand
