Resident Rounds. Program Spotlight: Wake Forest School of Medicine

The residency program of the Department of Dermatology at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center strives to be one of the premier programs in the country. The strength of the program is testimony to the faculty’s unwavering commitment to graduate medical education to provide for the highest level of resident training. The1:1 faculty to resident ratio creates a close, collegial environment whereby each resident receives considerable attention and individually catered clinical experiences that promote resident autonomy. Throughout their training residents obtain a solid foundation in general dermatology, along with specialized training in cutaneous surgery, dermatopathology, pediatric dermatology, cosmetic dermatology, contact and occupational dermatology, and phototherapy. Didactic training is a priority and consists of a rigorous curriculum, which serves to complement clinical exposure. Faculty and residents are involved in morning sessions dedicated to teaching including weekly journal club, textbook review, dermatopathology, kodachrome sessions, and subject specific lectures that often feature non-dermatologic specialists who address specialty specific topics which overlap with dermatologic diagnoses. Every other week residents and faculty attend Clinical Conference, which includes live patient presentations of interesting and challenging cases with subsequent discussion highlighting clinicopathologic correlation and detailing management options. These didactic sessions occur at the main dermatology clinic in Winston-Salem, which is a state of the art facility that opened in 2010 and is the primary venue where residents rotate in general medical dermatology and specialty clinics including Mohs surgery. Residents are also involved in the department’s outreach clinics in rural North Carolina in addition to serving the Winston-Salem Veterans Administration clinic weekly and the Dowtown Health Plaza weekly, which caters to indigent and semi-indigent patients. Additionally, volunteer community care clinics, medical student run free clinics, and skin cancer screenings programs are routinely staffed by residents and faculty. Dermatologic surgery and Mohs exposure begins in the first year of residency with at least one half day of surgery clinic per week. Second and third year residents are primarily involved with the dermatologic consult service, which averages 50 consults per month at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center Hospital. All residents are encouraged to pursue and are supported throughout research endeavors, which can be in collaboration with the department’s Clinical Studies Center. The combination of research, didactic training, and extensive clinical exposure along with a unique collegiality among faculty and residents creates a dynamic residency program at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, which aims to train physicians who will be well-equipped to assume positions of leadership in both clinical and academic dermatology.

The author has no relevant conflicts of interest to disclose.