Residency Program

The Residency Training Program of the Department of Dermatology at the Yale School of Medicine is an ACGME-accredited 3-year program. There is also a combined 2+2 Clinical Training and Research Track. To enter the program, candidates must have passed USMLE Step 2-CS (Clinical Skills), Step 2-CK (Clinical Knowledge) and Step 3 and completed 1 year of graduate medical training (PGY-1). Each year, over 700 applications are submitted to the Yale Dermatology Residency Program; and about 60 candidates are invited to interview. Interviews are by invitation only and generally occur in November, December, or January (see below for updated interview dates). There are 6 positions to be filled annually. Preliminary positions are not available.

All applications must be submitted electronically through The Electronic Residency Application Service [ERAS]. All positions are filled through the National Residency Match Program [NRMP]. Please contact the Dean's Office at your medical school regarding the registration process for both ERAS and NRMP.

The following information must be submitted with your ERAS application:

• Medical school transcript
• Medical student performance evaluation (MSPE)
• USMLE certified transcript of scores
• 3 letters of recommendation
• CV and personal statement

US medical school graduates, including those who have previously completed an ACGME-accredited residency program in the United States, are eligible to apply. Foreign medical school graduates must have completed one year of post-graduate medical training in the United States in an ACGME-accredited program and must possess a US Permanent Resident Card or J-1 Visa to be eligible to apply.

To view detailed information regarding the Yale Dermatology Residency Training Program, please go to the FREIDA Online/AMA web site to create your free user account.

All interviews will be conducted virtually for this application cycle. Interviews will be held on the following 3 dates:

• Interview Date 1: Wednesday, November 30, 2022
• Interview Date 2: Wednesday, December 14, 2022
• Interview Date 3: Wednesday, January 11, 2023

In addition, for all interview-invited applicants there will be a virtual Program Overview and Resident Social Hour with Yale Dermatology residents the Tuesday evening prior (~6 pm ET). Interview day on Wednesday (~10am-5pm ET) will consist of virtual interviews with the faculty, and “Tour of Yale Dermatology & New Haven” and “Life as a Yale Dermatology Resident” provided by the residents.

For applicants to the Yale Dermatology Physician-Scientist (2+2) Track, interview-invited applicants will also be given the opportunity to present their research and meet additional potential scientific mentors (specific schedules for such to be determined.)

The Yale Department of Dermatology and Yale University is committed to equal opportunity under law in the residency training program and faculty opportunities, and a full awareness of issues in diversity, inclusion, and equality. Yale University is committed to basing judgments concerning the admission, education, and employment of individuals upon their qualifications and abilities, and seeks to attract to its faculty, staff, and student body qualified persons of diverse backgrounds. In accordance with this policy and as delineated by federal and Connecticut law, Yale does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment against any individual on account of that individual's gender, sexual orientation, race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, age, disability, or handicap.

Yale University is committed to basing judgments concerning the admission, education, and employment of individuals upon their qualifications and abilities and affirmatively seeks to attract to its faculty, staff, and student body qualified persons of diverse backgrounds. In accordance with this policy and as delineated by federal and Connecticut law, Yale does not discriminate in admissions, educational programs, or employment against any individual on account of that individual's sex, race, color, religion, age, handicap, or national or ethnic origin; nor does Yale discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation. University policy is committed to affirmative action under law in employment of women, minority group members, disabled / handicapped individuals, special disabled veterans, and veterans of the Vietnam era.

The Yale Department of Dermatology is committed to affirmative action and equal employment opportunity in the residency training program and faculty opportunities, and a full awareness of issues in diversity, inclusion, and equality. There is a recognition and mission among the Yale Department of Dermatology to facilitate medical student mentorship and application to dermatology programs.

The Yale Dermatology Residency Programs offers an opportunity for URM medical students to spend two to four weeks in a dermatology inpatient consultation elective at Yale New Haven Hospital's York Street and Saint Raphael campuses (5 minutes apart by shuttle). This program immerses the participating students in inpatient dermatology consultation medicine and exposes students them to clinical and research faculty, medical students and residents and department and residency program leadership. Eligible students include third or fourth-year medical students in good standing who are enrolled in a U.S. LCME accredited medical degree granting program and who are from URM groups. These groups include Hispanic (Mexican, Chicano or mainland Puerto Rican), other Hispanic (Cuban, Dominican or other), Black/African-American (not of Hispanic origin), Native American or Asian Pacific Islander.

For those medical students from backgrounds that are under-represented in medicine (URiM) outside of Yale University, we are proud to support opportunity for mentorship from the Yale Dermatology Faculty. This program will consider applications for matching up with a faculty member who work with URiM medical students on a project of their joint choosing, e.g. epidemiologic study, case report, review article, book chapter, oral presentation. In addition, faculty will provide advice on navigating the dermatology residency application process. (Program Leadership: Dr. Ramachandran, Dr. Tomayko).

Several of our Yale Dermatology faculty leaders serve as liaisons for URM medical students. The following faculty have offered their time and availability to speak and advise such students, including with Dermatology Interest Groups (DIGs) at medical schools:

• Sarika Ramachandran, MD (Co-Director: Medical Student Electives; URM Mentorship Program)
• Mary Tomayko, MD PhD (Co-Director: Medical Student Electives; URM Mentorship Program
• Marcus Bosenberg, MD PhD (Dermatopathology; Dermatologic Research)
• Jeffrey Cohen, MD (Health Care Disparities; Outpatient Dermatology)
• Caroline Nelson, MD (Inpatient Consultative Dermatology; Off-Site Electives)
• Keith Choate, MD PhD (Dermatopathology; Dermatologic Research; NIH T32)

The Yale Dermatology residency is committed to providing diversity and inclusion education and training for all residents. The following are examples of curriculum components and other opportunities of residency training that address the critical issues of diversity and inclusion, as well as healthcare disparities that disproportionately affect certain minority populations.

1. Skin of Color - Faculty Specialty Clinics: The Yale Department of Dermatology clinical faculty have specialized training and clinical expertise in the diagnosis and treatment of dermatologic conditions for skin of color patients. Residents rotate and work with attendings in the diagnosis and cutting-edge treatments of skin of color patients for whom differences in cutaneous structure and function in such patients can result in skin conditions with distinct presentations and varying prevalence that require specialized treatment.
2. Resident Dermatology Longitudinal Clinics: Hill Health Center Dermatology Clinic, YNHH Primary Care Pediatric Dermatology Clinic, SRC Primary Care Adult Dermatology. Residents act as primary dermatologists, with Yale Dermatology attending supervision and teaching, for the care of patients in these longitudinal clinic settings that serves many minority and economically disadvantaged patients.
3. HAVEN Free Clinic: Elective opportunity to focus on healthcare disparities and provide care to predominantly minority and economically disadvantaged population. Work with volunteer attendings, medical students, and care staff from across the medical center. The HAVEN Free Clinic is a student-run primary care clinic that partners with Yale University to provide the New Haven community access to comprehensive, high-quality health care, free of charge. Spanish speaking caregivers are especially welcomed!
4. Remote Site Electives: Yale Dermatology Residents are offered two months of elective rotations. Available via application to an AAD Resident International Grant are elective rotations to international sites, e.g. Botswana, Malawi, and to the Native American Health Service Resident Rotation Program. Yale Dermatology Advisor: Caroline Nelson, MD.

The residents have rotations in the following:

• General Dermatology Clinics
• Dermatology Specialty Clinics (Pediatric Dermatology, Cutaneous T-Cell Lymphoma, Pigmented Lesion Disorders, Skin of Color, Oncodermatology, Transplant Dermatology, Wound and Ulcer Care, Blistering Disorders, Contact Dermatitis, Connective Tissue Diseases, Atopic Dermatitis, Psoriasis, Alopecia, Ichthyosis and Inherited Disorders of Keratinization)
• Dermatologic Surgery & Laser Clinic (Mohs Surgery, Cosmetic Dermatology, Laser Surgery)
• Photopheresis & Phototherapy Center
• Dermatopathology
• Consultation Service (Yale-New Haven Hospital: Internal Medicine Units, Intensive Care Units, Pediatric Hospital, Oncology Units, Transplantation Units)
• VA Connecticut Healthcare (General Dermatology, Dermatologic Surgery and Laser, Consultation Service)
• Elective (by individual design)

Click here to view a typical weekly schedule for a first-year Yale Dermatology Resident.

A one-month elective is currently available for second and third year residents. Residents are free to design their own on-site or off-site electives. Electives are planned with a Yale faculty member, and residents must present their experiences to the other residents upon returning from an elective, so that all may benefit.

All electives must have a Yale faculty advisor and an elective site faculty advisor, and must be approved by the Residency Director after proposal submission and review. A special arrangement has be made with St John's Institute of Dermatology at St Thomas Hospital to offer an opportunity for residents to spend a funded elective in London.

Co-sponsored by the Office of Graduate Medical Education and The Teaching & Learning Center at the Yale School of Medicine, this program is designed for aspiring clinician educators who wish to gain additional scholarship and training in effective teaching, evaluation and feedback strategies. Residents participate in institution-wide didactic sessions, observed teaching sessions with structured feedback, mentorship meetings with CED advisory faculty and scholarly or innovative work. Residents participate during their PGY2 and PGY3 years and are well-prepared for future careers as academic clinician educators.

Teaching and Learning Center

Faculty Advisor: Sara Perkins

CED Advisory Faculty: Sara Perkins, Jeff Cohen, Caroline Nelson, Mary Tomayko, Sarika Ramachandran

All Yale Dermatology residents have opportunities to become involved in clinical and/or basic science research during their training. Applicants to the Yale dermatology residency training program may also express their desire to be considered for a four-year (also called ‘2+2’) research fellowship track which consists of two years of primarily clinical training in dermatology, and two years of primarily research fellowship (typically in years three and four). Funding for this program is provided by the National Institutes in Health under a special training grant. Research Fellows continue to participate in clinical and teaching activities of the residency program, but spend the majority of their time in research. Opportunities are available throughout the Yale School of Medicine to train with world renowned professors in Yale’s many exceptional departments including Dermatology, Yale Cancer Center, Immunobiology, Genetics, Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry, Laboratory Medicine, Comparative Medicine, Epidemiology & Public Health, and Cellular & Molecular Physiology. All fellows are also advised closely by a faculty member within Yale Dermatology. The Yale School of Medicine is among a select group of medical centers nationwide that have been selected as a Specialized Program of Research Excellence (SPORE) for skin cancer research.

The Training in Investigative Dermatology Program is an NIH T32-funded track which is dedicated to training future physician-scientist leaders in academic dermatology. Yale has one of the longest-running training programs, and it has a long record of success in developing field-leading physician-scientists.

This program has three primary objectives:

1. To provide rigorous training, mentorship, and relevant clinical exposures for trainees engaged in basic and translational skin biology research, with a primary goal of inspiring and enabling physician-scientists to become leaders in investigative dermatology
2. To equip trainees with skill sets and resilience necessary to transition to independence through mentoring and training in innovative methods and state of the art technologies with a focus on cross-disciplinary approaches which can enable new insights into disease pathobiology
3. To improve human health by training future leaders dedicated to understanding and developing therapies for cutaneous disease.

Residents participate in the following conferences:

• Grand Rounds (weekly)
• Inpatient Consult Teaching Rounds (twice weekly)
• Visiting Professor Lecture Series (twice monthly)
• Research Lecture Series (twice monthly)
• Journal Club (weekly)
• Resident Lecture Series (weekly)
• Dermatopathology Didactic Conference (weekly)
• Veterans Administration QA (quarterly)

• Connecticut Dermatology and Dermatologic Surgery Society (twice a year)
• New England Dermatological Society (four times a year)
• Atlantic Dermatological Conference (once a year)

• American Academy of Dermatology
• American Society of Dermatologic Surgery
• Society of Investigative Dermatology