Didactics and Conferences

At UC Davis, we greatly value our residents’ education, and feel it is important to reserve protected time during the week for didactic activities.  Every Wednesday morning and every other Thursday morning are reserved for educational content.  Some highlights:

Grand Rounds

Grand Rounds are held on the 2^nd and 4^th Wednesday of every month.  Interesting or instructive patient cases are presented, followed by case discussion.  There is also a lecture, frequently from invited national or international experts.

Text review

Residents are assigned weekly sections of the Bolognia dermatology textbook.  These are reviewed each week as a group along with faculty.  We are currently on an 18-month curriculum, allowing more time to discuss topics in depth. Additional texts reviewed include Wolverton Drug Therapy and Hurwitz Pediatric Dermatology.

Dermatopathology Curriculum

Our dermatopathology faculty run a year-round curriculum with lectures twice a month and review of the Elston Dermatopathology textbook. 

Special lecture topics

Not everything you need to know is in the textbook!  We have a robust lecture series covering many aspects of dermatology, but also other topics such as billing/coding, ethics, professionalism, diversity, wellness, etc.

Journal club

There is a faculty-led journal club every month covering the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, and JAMA Dermatology.  There is also periodic review of other journals.

High yield board review

We have special lectures from faculty prior to CORE board exams, to help focus studying and emphasize important topics. 

Digital Image Review

Frequent sessions with clinical images are essential for developing good morphology and recognition skills.  We have a variety of different types of sessions conducted my multiple faculty members.

Yearly research symposium

UC Davis dermatology has a strong commitment to research.  Every year the department puts on a morning symposium dedicated to research in the department.  Our active clinical and basic science labs present their research findings, and residents who have been conducting research also present their projects.

CPC

There is a monthly clinical-pathologic correlation conference.  Interesting or challenging cases from our hospital consult service are presented, along with consult service faculty and our dermatopathologists.  This leverages our outstanding teaching cases beyond just the residents directly involved in the patient’s care. 

6-week curriculum

For our new first-year residents, we have a 6-week introductory curriculum.  We do a quick broad overview of dermatologic disease, morphology, basic surgical techniques, EMR tips, etc.  We have found that this greatly improves the transition to residency.

Local Conferences

Sacramento has a long history of an active and collegial group of community dermatologists, and UC Davis attendings and residents are active members.

•  The Sacramento Valley Dermatology Society meets every other month. They present interesting cases, and often have invited speakers.  Residents are welcome to attend.
• The Sacramento Community Journal club has been active for almost 40 years. This is a group of community dermatologists that review journals on a monthly basis.  Residents are welcome to attend.

National Conferences

We encourage meeting attendance – the breadth of dermatology can be surprising, and meeting attendance can open up new opportunities or approaches for residents.  Most of our residents attend the annual AAD meeting, and residents can elect to attend another meeting in an area of their interest, if they wish.  Additional meeting time for presentation of research findings is also available.