Curriculum & Content

The program is based at the six UBC teaching hospitals where the Department of Dermatology and Skin Science has clinics. Residents will receive training in both inpatient and outpatient dermatology. A minimum of one afternoon per week is spent by each resident in a teaching office practice. Residents also rotate through subspecialty clinics which include pigmented lesion clinic, mouth and mucosa clinic, pediatric clinic, patch test clinic, phototherapy unit, dermatologic surgery clinic, laser clinic, wound healing clinic, immunosuppressive clinic, connective tissue disease clinic, skin lymphoma clinic, hair clinic, and combined dermatology/radiation oncology clinic.

Clinical responsibilities increase through the period of training under staff supervision. There is an active academic program of morphology conferences, dermatopathology slide sessions with lectures and discussions, clinical meetings, patient presentations, teaching rounds, journal clubs and formal grand rounds. Weekly basic science and clinical seminars are prepared and presented by trainees under the direction of faculty members.

Emphasis throughout the three year core dermatology program is placed on excellence in clinical dermatology and basic skin science. Clinical and basic science research are strongly encouraged. Elective times for fourth and fifth year residents are available.

Candidates who select this program will complete at least one year (PGY-1) of approved resident training in internal medicine or pediatrics.

The majority of candidates are now selected through the CaRMS match. In this case, the PGY-1 & 2 years are designed to fulfill the requirements at the Royal College for dermatology training, and are provided at the University of British Columbia teaching hospitals.

Mandatory Content

Surgical Procedures

Procedures that are part of general dermatology such as biopsies, acne surgery and cryotherapy are taught in the context of general dermatology clinics both in hospital and in office settings.  More extensive surgical procedures are taught or demonstrated in the Dermatologic Surgery Clinic and supervised by our staff that have taken advanced training in this field and are certified Mohs surgeons.  Most residents normally do a minimum of one month in their 2nd year on the Plastics service, learning small excision surgical techniques, and burn care in a tertiary burn facility.

Pediatric Dermatology

Apart from sporadic exposures in general and subspecialty clinics, this occurs almost entirely in the Children’s Hospital where there is a full-time pediatric dermatologist, Dr. Julie Prendiville.

While on this service, residents see patients in the dermatology clinics which occur four half days per week and on the wards in consultation with other services.  This is an extremely valuable component of the program as children’s dermatology can be seen in association with other disorders.  In addition, there is the opportunity for exposure to the dermatological problems associated with newborns and premature babies.

The clinics see approximately 50 patients per week and of these, 2/3 will be new patients.  Many of these are complex diagnostic or management problems and are time consuming.

There are no designated pediatric dermatology beds but patients are admitted as the need arises.  There are approximately 220 active beds at BC Children’s Hospital and of these, 50 are in the nursery and 22 in ICU.

Elective Content

As defined by resident interest – 3 months maximum during last year of training; may be extended under special circumstances  – UBC Teaching Institutions or elsewhere as approved by the Program Director