Dermatology Residency
Overview of the Program
The Dermatology Residency at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School is a three-year, ACGME-accredited program dedicated to training the next generation of exceptional dermatologists. Established to address the growing need for academic dermatology in central New Jersey, as well as the national and regional shortage of dermatologists, our program currently admits two outstanding residents per year.
Our curriculum emphasizes comprehensive clinical dermatology, equipping residents with the skills, experience, and confidence to excel in both patient care and academic practice. Residents gain extensive hands-on experience in our high-volume outpatient dermatology clinic, managing a diverse patient population spanning private insurance, managed care, charity care, and self-pay. This rich clinical exposure ensures that graduates emerge as highly competent, versatile, and compassionate dermatologists ready to meet the challenges of modern dermatologic practice.
The residents attend clinic every day except Friday afternoons which are reserved for didactic sessions. Among the clinics are specialty sessions, such as Complex Medical Dermatology, Pediatric Dermatology clinic, Patch testing clinic, and Surgery clinics (including general dermatologic surgery, cosmetic procedures, and Mohs surgery). Residents also have dedicated dermatopathology training, including hands-on experience at the microscope and active participation in sign-out sessions. Our residents also rotate through the VA in East Orange, where they provide dermatologic care to our veterans and gain exposure to a wide variety of skin cancers and other conditions. This experience is both highly rewarding and an excellent educational opportunity. Residents spend a total of 12 months at the VA, distributed across the three years of the residency at Rutgers.
Residency and fellowship programs training at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School benefit from the resources and interprofessional opportunities available through the Rutgers Health institutional sponsorship. Learn more about all of the Rutgers Health sponsored graduate medical education programs on our sponsoring institution webpage.
Accordion Content
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Class of 2026
Alison Romisher, MD
Chief Resident
Sidney Kimmel College of Medicine
Alexandra Rubin, MD
Rutgers RWJ Medical School
Class of 2027
Arda Celen, MD
NYU School of MedicineKatelyn Singh, MD
Yale School of Medicine
Class of 2028
Medha Rao, MD
Rutgers RWJ Medical School
Loma Dave, MD
SUNY Upstate College of Medicine
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Our past residents have gone on to thrive in diverse career paths, with some pursuing competitive fellowships and others excelling in private practice or academic medicine. Below is a glimpse into the diverse career paths our past residents have pursued.
Private Practice in Pennsylvania, California, New Jersey, Florida, New York, Maryland
Mohs Fellowship at University of Minnesota
Mohs Fellowship in New Jersey with Dr Goldberg
Mohs Fellowship at Northwestern
Laser fellowship at Harvard
Pediatric Dermatology Fellowship at CHOP in Pennsylvania
Pediatric Dermatology Fellowship at John Hopkins
Academic Dermatology at Rutgers RWJ
Academic Dermatology at Dartmouth -
For a resident accepted into the research track in Dermatology, we are committed to providing a strong pathway for their development as a clinician and as a physician-scientist. To that end, we commit to four years of support for this 2+2 program. The majority of the first two years will be clinical; residents are encouraged to begin the groundwork for their research (for example, starting the IRB process and recruiting study subjects after IRB approval is received). Years 3 and 4 will be predominantly research-oriented to allow for the development of skills with the goal of becoming an independent investigator. We will encourage research track residents to write a grant proposal to fund part of the research effort as this enhances the career development of the candidate. Receipt of funding will be welcome but is not required in any way for our commitment to residents in this track. We also will work to mentor the residents, establishing mentoring committees that will parallel that of a PhD student so that the resident may take advantage of the collective experience. We have a cadre of outstanding basic, translational, and clinical mentors, and many research opportunities with extensive institutional research resources.
Qualified MD/DO/PHD, or MD/DO/MPH applicants are invited to apply during the 1st year of Dermatology residency (PGY-2 year). During the residency interview process, please let us know if you intend to apply for this research track so we may set up interviews with appropriate research mentors.
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Outpatient clinical dermatology services are provided at 1 World’s Fair Drive, Somerset, NJ. The clinic measures 2,600 square feet and is contiguous with an additional 1,400 square feet of administrative space available for residents’ use. There are eight to nine half-day sessions per week, and residents spend approximately 30-35 hours in clinic each week. Residents participate in the care of all patients as there are no separate faculty and resident practices. All patient encounters are staffed by the attending physicians with no exceptions.
Specialty clinics include General Dermatologic Surgery (2 half days per week) that is attended by all residents, Pediatric Dermatology (1 half day per week) participated on by all residents, and Patch testing service assigned on a rotating basis.
Space and equipment are available for instruction in dermatologic surgery, electrosurgery, phototherapy, cryosurgery, laboratory techniques (KOH preparations, ectoparasite scrapings and Tzanck smears), application of topical medicaments and dressings, epicutaneous testing, phototesting and other diagnostic and therapeutic procedures.
The patient population in clinic is diverse, as are the conditions the residents see and treat. New Brunswick is a small city with a large African American and Latino community; thus, resident exposure to a range of skin types. We see patients who come directly to us for care, those who are referred from their primary physician, and those that are referred from dermatologists in the community.
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Our residents benefit from visits by outstanding volunteer dermatologists who supervise clinics, deliver lectures, and serve as invaluable resources to enrich their education.
Chris Sciales, MD
Michael Bagley, MD
Sandy Milgraum, MD
Babar Rao, MD
Jason Miller, MD
Elizabeth Quigley, MD
Helen Shin, MD
Julie Schaffer, MD
Emily Berger, MD -
The Center for Dermatology Residency Training Program at Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School requires a $75 payment for Dermatology residency verifications and reference evaluations. This fee is necessary to recover costs associated with retrieval and processing verifications and references for housestaff who attended the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Residency Training Program.
Please contact the program coordinator with the information needed to complete your verification.
Program Assistant/ Residency Program Coordinator
Aida Cardona
Office: 732-235-7765
Fax: 732-235-6568
aida.j.cardona@rutgers.edu
Payment Link for Dermatology Residency Verification
Processing can take 5-10 business days. To help expedite the process, please send a copy of your Rutgers dermatology residency certificate.
Benefits and Salary
Our residency and fellowship programs offer a uniform package of benefits consistent with those provided at all graduate medical educational programs operated by the medical school. Full details regarding benefits and salary are continuously updated by the Office of Graduate Medical Education.
Contact Us
Cindy Wassef, MD
Program Director
Assistant Professor of Dermatology
Email: wassefci@rwjms.rutgers.edu
Aida Cardona
Program Assistant/ Residency Program Coordinator
Office: 732-235-7765
Fax: 732-235-6568
Email: aida.j.cardona@rutgers.edu