Program Spotlight: The Unified Division of Dermatology Residency Program of Albert Einstein College of Medicine

October 2011 | Volume 10 | Issue 10 | Features | 1122 | Copyright © October 2011


Adam Friedman MDa and Steven Cohen MD MPHa

aAlbert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY

Abstract

Resident Rounds is a section of the JDD dedicated to highlighting various dermatology departments with residency training programs. Resident Rounds includes three sections: (1) a program spotlight, highlighting pertinent information about the department and residency training program; (2) a section presenting study materials used by residents at the program; and (3) a section designed to highlight recent interesting cases seen at the institution. This issue of Resident Rounds features The Unified Division of Dermatology Residency Program of Albert Einstein College of Medicine. The editor of Resident Rounds is Omar A. Ibrahimi, MD, PhD. He is currently the Director of Cutaneous Laser and Cosmetic Surgery and a Mohs surgeon at the University of Connecticut. Dr. Ibrahimi is also a Visiting Scientist at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. If you are interested in highlighting your training program in a future issue, please contact Dr. Ibrahimi at omar.ibrahimi@gmail.com

CASE REPORT

The Unified Division of Dermatology of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, located in the Bronx, NY, was established in the late 1960s, and its residency training program was founded in 1970. The division is currently composed of 14 dermatology residents, 3 dermatopathology fellows, 10 full- and part-time faculty, including Directors of Dermatopathology, Dermatologic Surgery, and Research, and 25 voluntary faculty.
As of the 2009-10 academic year, clinical services provided by the division consisted of ambulatory care at Jacobi Medical Center (11,000 visits including 2,600 pediatric visits), Montefiore Medical Center and the Montefiore Children's Hospital (4206 visits, including 1,401 pediatric visits), North Central Bronx Hospital (910 adult care visits), and Bronx Lebanon (9,400 visits). In addition to adult and pediatric services, there are two half-day sessions weekly devoted to urgent care and dermatologic surgery, respectively, a bi-weekly HIV-Dermatology Clinic, and an ultraviolet treatment unit. More than 1,500 hospitalized patients with skin disorders are seen in consultation at participating hospitals annually.
The residency training program is primarily located on the Moses Campus of Montefiore Medical Center in a 2,700-square foot academic suite. The suite provides academic offices for the faculty, administrative and clinical offices for dermatopathology, and a library/conference space. It is in the resident library where residents participate in over nine hours of academic activities weekly, including a morning report with the Division Chief, Dr. Steven Cohen, clinical and dermatopathology textbook review, a basic science lecture series, visiting clinical lecture series, journal club, kodachrome sessions, and boards jeopardy. All full- and part-time faculty participate in these various sessions and programs, providing residents with a broad breadth of experience and knowledge. In addition, the dermatopathology fellows organize and hold weekly “unknown conferences” for the residents in the dermatopathology suite adjacent to the library, as well as “clincopathologic correlation” sessions for biopsies performed in the resident clinics.
The resident schedule is divided into monthly blocks, which include outpatient clinical rotations at Jacobi Medical Center, Montefiore Medical Center, North Central Bronx Hospital, and Bronx Lebanon Hospital. In each of these rotations, residents have opportunities to participate in specialty clinics unique to the individual sites, including urgent care dermatology, HIV dermatology, procedural dermatology, pediatric dermatology, cosmetic dermatology, and ultraviolet light therapy. Regardless of rotation, residents are assigned one half day to a specific continuity clinic and staff every week for the entirety of their training. Residents participate in a robust and active dermatology consult service covering the aforementioned hospitals, spending at least five to six months over their three years of their training. In addition, residents have dedicated two weeks to one-month to electives in dermatologic surgery and dermatopathology, providing intensive and dedicated time to these disciplines.