Residency Program Overview

Message from the Director

Welcome to the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Dermatology Residency Program website. This site will provide you with an overview of the residency program, as well as specifics regarding location, rotations and programs, curriculum and research. As you can see on the menu on the left, we have included information about our requirements for eligibility, salaries and benefits. We have also provided links to other Rutgers sites for your convenience.

We’re pleased that you are visiting our website and we hope that you find the information in our site helpful. We welcome comments, questions and suggestions.

Sincerely,

Cindy Wassef, MD
Program Director
Assistant Professor of Dermatology
Resident Research Track

The Rutgers-RWJ Center for Dermatology has an exciting resident research track, or 2+2 program.

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 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.

About the Dermatology Residency Program

The Dermatology Residency at the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (Rutgers RWJMS) offers a three-year residency program accredited by the ACGME. The program is a relatively new one, with our first resident having started residency in 2001. Rutgers has one other medical schools (New Jersey Medical School to our north in Newark ), which have dermatology residencies. We started our program in response to the need for an academic department in central New Jersey, the shortage of dermatologists in the US, and the relative shortage of dermatologists in this part of the state. We currently accept one resident per year.

The focus of the program is mainly on clinical dermatology designed to allow the residents to develop a high degree of competence, experience and confidence. We have a very busy outpatient dermatology clinic, where most patients whether they have private insurance, managed care, charity care or are paying “out of pocket”, are seen by the dermatology residents.

The residents attend clinic every day except Friday afternoons which are reserved for didactic sessions. Among the clinics are specialty sessions, such as Pediatric Dermatology clinic, Patch testing clinic, and Surgery clinics (including general dermatologic surgery, cosmetic procedures, and Mohs surgery).

In addition to clinical dermatology, we emphasize the need for continued research and learning which includes our current studies and clinical research trials.

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.

About the Location

Rutgers RJWMS is located in Middlesex County in Piscataway, New Jersey. Most classes for first and second year medical students are held there. Third and fourth year medical student activities take place on the New Brunswick campus (about 5 miles from Piscataway, also in Middlesex County, http://www.newbrunswick.com/), where RWJ University Hospital (RWJUH, http://www.rwjuh.edu/), most of the outpatient clinics and administrative offices of the clinical departments, the medical library, the Cancer Institute of New Jersey and the Child Health Institute are located. Dermatology residents see patients in RWJUH on that campus.

In September 2006, the Dermatology Department moved from the New Brunswick campus to the Somerset satellite, about 5 miles from the New Brunswick campus and about 3 miles from the Piscataway campus. Our department (including the clinical and administrative space) occupies approximately one third of the second floor of One World’s Fair Drive. Our move has roughly tripled our space and brings all of our activities under one roof.