Education Curriculum

The educational curriculum was structured with the Department's mission in mind, and seeks to provide the skills needed to pursue and achieve lifelong learning in dermatology.

Introductory Course for First Year Residents:

Under the leadership of the Director of Resident Education, Dr. Julie Schaffer, the initial six weeks of the year are dedicated to providing first year residents with the basic tools they need as dermatology residents. The goal is to arm residents with a sound approach to clinical diagnosis. During this time period, second and third-year residents review CME articles and clinical photographs of skin, hair and nail diseases.

Morning Didactic Sessions

After the first six weeks of the academic year, the first-year residents join the second and third year residents for the morning didactic teaching sessions which include lectures, seminars and conferences.

Wednesday: Journal Club

Residents review journal articles from major dermatology journals as well as the relevant non-dermatology literature; discussion takes place under the direction of Dr. Bruce Strober. Other faculty members also attend. This session serves not only to keep residents and faculty abreast of the advances in our field, but to encourage critical reading and knowledge of evidence-based medicine.

Thursday: Dermatopathology

Dermatopathology faculty lead this discussion of "unknown cases" whose pathology slides have been reviewed by residents prior to the session. A well-established and successful curriculum is updated annually. Clinico-pathologic correlation sessions are held approximately once per month.

Friday: Grand Rounds (Howard Fox Lecture Series)

Formal lectures on topics of dermatologic relevance are presented by leading members of the national academic dermatologic communities as well as related experts from outside the field of dermatology.

Noon Conference:

Twice weekly at noontime, residents attend clinical conferences during which NYU faculty lead a discussion on interesting cases from the clinics and consult services at Tisch and Bellevue, particularly those that have presented diagnostic or therapeutic challenges.

Tuesday Night Conferences:

This conference series, directed by Dr. Nicholas Soter., provides residents with a live patient viewing opportunity. Residents prepare protocols on interesting and unusual cases and a member of the full-time or voluntary clinical faculty leads a discussion based on these cases. Dermatologists and dermatology residents from throughout the New York Metropolitan area attend the conference.

Basic Science Research Seminars:

A dedicated basic science seminar on topics relevant to dermatology takes place monthly. It is delivered by members of the scientific community from around the world.

Multidisciplinary Pigmented Lesion/Tumor Conference:

This conference takes place the first Wednesday of each month in the Department of Dermatology's Orentreich Conference Room. The conference is run by Drs. Kopf, Polsky and Friedman, and attended by faculty, residents and fellows from Dermatology, Dermatologic Surgery, Plastic Surgery and Dermatopathology.

Multidisciplinary Melanoma Conference:

This conference takes place on the first Wednesday of every month. Dr. Richard Shapiro, Director of Melanoma Surgery, NYU Cancer Institute, directs the conference which is attended by faculty, residents, fellows and medical students from the Departments of Surgery, Dermatology, Oncology, Radiology and Pathology.