First Year Residency

First year residents spend twelve months in the general and pediatric outpatient clinics which are located in the University of Iowa Hospitals and clinics, Iowa City Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Iowa River Landing. By the end of the first year, we expect residents to be familiar with the clinical, pathological manifestations as well as treatment of the common congenital, inflammatory and neoplastic dermatologic diseases.

Residents should also be comfortable with punch and shave biopsies, liquid nitrogen cryotherapy, cyst excisions, simple excisions, UVB and PUVA photo therapy, and patch testing.

Second and Third Year Residency

In addition to time in outpatient clinics, there is a three-month assignment in cutaneous surgery, encompassing Mohs surgery and laser therapy. Three months are spent on the combined inpatient ward and consultation service and three months are also spent in dermatopathology. There are  rotations at the Iowa City VA medical Center where the resident is responsible for managing dermatological patients, the outpatient clinic, as well as the inpatient consultations and surgeries. A one month elective may be individually arranged.

Residents have the opportunity to participate in seminars and classroom teaching. They also are encouraged to engage in one-on-one teaching of medical students and have opportunities to speak to paramedical groups. Additionally, the dermatology residents interact with residents or fellows from other services on clinical rotations in the department.

While the emphasis in the training of resident physicians in this department is clinical, research (either clinical or laboratory) is encouraged. Adequate time for such research studies will be made available on an individual basis. According to the American Board of Dermatology guidelines, all residents should participate in basic or clinical research during their residency. Residents will be expected to participate in at least one clinically-relevant research project during their three-year residency period (a case report and literature review suitable for publication would fulfill this requirement). It is expected that each resident will acquire sufficient knowledge and skill to become a diplomate of the American Board of Dermatology.

There are educational conferences for residents, including textbook conferences, journal club, didactic lectures, and weekly grand rounds. The curriculum is designed to cover both basic science and clinical aspects of medical dermatology, dermatologic surgery and dermatopathology. Over the past 15 years we have had a 98% pass rate on the American Board of Dermatology certification exam.