Fellowships

A Clinical Fellow is a post-resident trainee who is pursuing further clinical or research training in their own specialty and has successfully completed all of the time and examination requirements which would allow them to be registered as a Dermatologist in their home country.

The Department of Dermatology and Skin Science offers advanced specialized training in focused sub-specialty areas of dermatology. The program currently has three clinical fellowships:

  • Mohs Surgery and Dermatologic Oncology
  • Laser medicine and photobiology
  • Immunodermatology

Additional fellowships are possible, but these have to be arranged specifically with a faculty member who has to agree to accept the Clinical Fellow. The fellowship period usually lasts 1 year, and is primarily a one-to-one mentorship with the faculty member.

All fellowships involve clinical and research activities, and rotations and projects are specifically designed to avoid overlap particularly with respect to clinical exposure.  Each Fellowship supervisor monitors these activities to avoid competition.

The goal is to position the fellow for a future career as an academic dermatologist or a practicing dermatologist who is interested in making significant contributions to their field.

In previous years, the clinical fellows in dermatology were from Quebec, USA, Singapore, Saudi Arabia, and China. They underwent advanced training in Dermatologic Surgery, Hair, Photomedicine and Lasers, and Dermatopathology.

How To Apply

  1. The candidate should approach one of our Faculty Members and discuss with them A) the type of training the candidate is looking for and B) what the candidate intends to do in their future career with the training you hope to receive.  The candidate should procure from the Faculty Member a letter stating that the Faculty Member agrees to be the applicant’s supervisor should they be accepted.
  2. The candidate must supply a letter from the postgraduate specialty college in their home country (with notarized translation if applicable) indicating that they have met the training requirements for a specialist in that country.  The letter should indicate the number of years of training necessary to achieve specialist status in the program, and examinations necessary to achieve specialist status.
  3. The candidate must provide proof (original with notarized translation if applicable) of successful completion of all examinations listed in the above letter.
  4. Only candidates who meet the English Language Proficiency Requirements will be considered. Please click here to find the details through College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia.
  5. Those candidates, who do not meet the above Fellowship eligibility criteria, but have sufficient postgraduate training to warrant admission to a Postgraduate Program at UBC, will be designated as “Postgraduate Trainees”.  Supporting documentation would include all specialty training certificates and a letter from the applicant’s specialty college.

The complete application guidelines are available online.

The following is a basic overview of the application process:

  1. Obtain a Faculty Member’s agreement of supervision
  2. Prepare the Application for Approval of Appointment Package
  3. Credentials Verification
  4. Process The College of Physicians and Surgeons  of British Columbia’s (The College) Clinical Fellow Temporary Registration
  5. If Applicant is non-Canadian: Processing Human Resources Development Canada’s (HRDC) Temporary Foreign Worker Application form to obtain Offer of Employment
  6. Prepare package that will be sent to the applicant
  7. Whether or not UBC is the paymaster:  when the Clinical Fellow Arrives to Vancouver, he/she must provide the Administrator, Department Of Dermatology and Skin Science with their document package.
  8. Once the above information is received, the Department of Dermatology and Skin Science Administrator will initiate the appointment notice. An appointment notice needs to be initiated within UBC’s Department of Dermatology and Skin Science regardless of whether or not UBC is the paymaster.