Medical Students

The Department of Dermatology provides education to UAB medical students through the core curriculum in a course of dermatology during the second year. In the musculoskeletal and skin module, the dermatology section includes 4 days of lectures and one patient interaction session. During this week-long course, students participate in didactic lectures including basic science, pharmacology, dermatopathology, clinical diagnosis, and specialty lectures. The week concludes with a 4-hour clinic involving live patient demonstrations. Dermatology residents are assigned to each clinic room to provide valuable instruction to the students in observational skills, interrogation skills, and dermatologic differential diagnoses. 

Dermatology electives are offered to 3rd and 4th year medical students through 2- and 4-week rotations. This includes exposure to patients seen in our Whitaker Clinic and Children's of Alabama pediatrics clinic at the Acton Road facility. Inpatient rounds on the consult service are available to interested students. Students participate in weekly dermatology lectures and are required to attend Grand Rounds and Journal Club. They are also required to present a short PowerPoint presentation on a topic of their interest at the end of their rotation during Grand Rounds. They are evaluated by their PowerPoint presentation, a short written examination, and clinical performance. 

Our course offerings include a Dermatology Acting Internship (a 4-week experience recommended for those interested in applying to dermatology), Dermatology Experience (a 2-4 week elective for students not going into dermatology), Dermatology Selective (a 2-week rotation for 3rd year students), a Visiting Elective in Dermatology (a 2-4 week experience for non-UAB students), and a Dermatology Research Elective (arranged with individual faculty mentors).

Applications 

To check for availability of a particular dermatology course, please click here.

To learn more about the Visiting Elective in Dermatology and to apply through VSLO, please click here. 

To learn about and apply for our Diversity VIP Scholarship for UIM MS4 students interested in rotating at UAB Dermatology for a period of two to four weeks, please click here. We will be accepting applications through March 31, 2023.

Graduate Students

Department faculty contribute to the education of graduate students by participating as course directors, instructors, mentors, and hosts of journal clubs. The department’s efforts are led by our research faculty.

In addition to acting as dissertation/thesis committee members, our research faculty also participate in mentoring programs for graduate students. These programs have included:

• Cancer Research Program(CaRES) for entering or first year medical students
• Cell and Molecular Biology Graduate Program Rotations
• Pharmacology and Toxicology Graduate Program Rotation
• Medical Scientist Training Program Rotation
• Summer in Biomedical Sciences(SIBS) Undergraduate Research Program
• UAB Dermatology Training Grant Mentor
• UAB Clinical And Translational Science Training Program (CCTS)
• Graduate student advisory and collaborations
• Medical student independent research and scholar activity project