The program includes intensive experiences in both didactic instruction and learning and hands-on clinical experience. Residents attend the following conferences on a regular weekly basis:

Habif Text Review
For the first two months of the academic year, this time slot is used by the first-year residents to discuss the assigned reading of Habif’s Skin Disease: Diagnosis and Treatment textbook, under the supervision of faculty and third-year residents.

Clinical Morphology Conference
For the remaining ten months of the academic year, this time slot is alternately dedicated to a clinical morphology session led by residents or faculty members. The attending faculty will project and discuss clinical images for teaching morphologic description and differential diagnosis. Residents will use this opportunity to project additional clinical images on a topic that they are covering for their presentations in the Integrated Basic and Clinical Science Curriculum.

Integrated Basic and Clinical Science Curriculum
The core curriculum commences with cutaneous pharmacology through a review of Wolverton’s Comprehensive Dermatologic Drug Therapy by the second- and third-year residents; the first-year residents also attend these sessions and are encouraged but not required to read this pharmacology text material until after their two month Habif Text Review has been completed. During the initial two months the Wolverton review will be conducted on Tuesday mornings, and the remainder will be distributed on alternating Monday mornings and/or occasional Friday mornings throughout the year, culminating in a complete review of the text. After the first two months of the academic year, all resident classes will participate in an in-depth study of Andrew’s Diseases of the Skin, supplemented by readings from Lever’s Histopathology of the Skin and Bolognia’s Dermatology and selected articles from the peer-reviewed literature. All residents are responsible for reading all the primary assigned material before each conference and are encouraged also to read the supplementary texts. The core curriculum conference will periodically include quizzes prepared by peer residents and the attending faculty. Residents are assigned topics (roughly corresponding to the readings as listed in the subsequent section of this Handbook) and cover them in rotation via PowerPoint presentations and handouts.

Surgical Series
Selected topics regarding dermatologic surgery will be covered throughout the academic year on Wednesday mornings. The resident responsible for each topic will present the material, drawing on sources of his or her choosing, in order to cover and convey the information the best. Likewise, prior to the lecture residents will be responsible for educating themselves about the topic from resources of their choosing. This lecture series will be presented under the direction of the surgical attending faculty, and will also include lectures by faculty members.

Dermatology Special Conference
The Dermatology Special Conference (DSC) is a clinical-pathologic session in which participants examine interesting patients in the clinic, review their biopsy findings, are presented with their histories, and discuss the cases with emphasis on teaching, diagnosis, or management. After viewing of patients, a formal presentation and discussion ensue during which residents describe morphology, offer differential diagnoses, and present relevant literature. The goals of the conference are to:

• Develop residents’ skills in morphologic description, differential diagnosis, case presentation, and public speaking
• Assess and improve residents’ knowledge of clinical dermatology, including pathophysiology and therapeutics
• Teach dermatology and dermatopathology through clinical-pathologic correlation
• Arrive at informed, rational management decisions through the process of internal consultation
• Review recent key literature relevant to the clinical practice of dermatology
• Prepare outstanding teaching cases for subsequent presentation at the Chicago Dermatological Society meeting, other regional or national meetings, and publication in the peer-reviewed literature
• Encourage interaction between residents and faculty through a collegial group dynamic.

Dermatopathology Conferences
Residents are responsible for learning the pertinent pathophysiology, clinical-pathologic correlation, and diagnostic criteria of skin diseases by studying dermatopathology textbooks and multimedia resources of their choosing, including those listed on the Dermatology website. During the weekly Attending Faculty Dermatopathology Slide Conference residents describe and offer diagnoses for slides representing topics pertinent to the current readings for the Integrated Basic and Clinical Science Curriculum/Bolognia text review. Periodically, other interesting cases will also be presented and quizzes will be given. In contrast, the weekly Dermatopathology Fellow Slide Conference is organized by pattern or histopathologic differential diagnoses. During the first eight weeks of the academic year, the dermatopathology fellow will direct introductory conferences (“Dermpath Boot Camp”) for the first-year residents.

Journal Clubs
All residents should read the Archives of Dermatology and JAAD every month from cover-to-cover. Articles of particular interest will be discussed in a monthly conference. The consultation resident will assign particular articles to residents for presentation and discussion. The particular article assignments will be distributed to the entire faculty and house staff no later than the Friday PM before the meeting. Monthly there will also be a basic science journal club series moderated by Dr. Deborah Lang.

Friday Lecture Series
The Chief Resident will schedule outside speakers and faculty members in dermatology and relevant specialties to lecture to residents on Friday mornings from 8:00 to 9:00 am in the Conference Room.

Melanoma Tumor Board
This interdisciplinary (Medicine, Dermatology, Surgery, Pathology, etc.) conference presents the histories, pathology slides, radiographs, etc. of melanoma patients referred to the University of Chicago, and emphasizes diagnosis and management, including entry into clinical trials. The conference is generally held on alternating Friday mornings in room S-644, from 7:30 to 8:30 AM. Dermatology residents are expected to attend the Melanoma Tumor Board whenever it is in session and there is no competing Friday lecture scheduled.

Board Review Series
Dr. Sethi will conduct a board review session at least every four to eight weeks to prepare residents for the mock and actual board examinations.