Rotation Descriptions

The Dermatology Residency Training Program at the Columbia Presbyterian campus of New York Presbyterian Hospital is under the direction of Dr. Stephanie Gallitano, Program Director and Assistant Professor of Dermatology.

Residents rotate through the following month-long rotations:

  • NewYork-Presbyterian Ambulatory Care Network Dermatology Clinic: 4-6 months per year
  • VA clinic: 4 months per year
  • Milstein/Allen Adult Inpatient Consult: 1 month per year
  • Pediatric Inpatient Consult: 1 month per year
  • Surgery: 1 month per year
  • Elective: 1month over 3 years
  • Faculty practice: 1 month over 3 years
  • Vacation: 4 weeks per year

Dermatology Consult Service

Dermatology residents complete consults on inpatients at NewYork-Presbyterian Columbia University Irving Medical Center, including the Milstein Hospital, Allen Pavilion, and the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital as well as the affiliated emergency departments. Residents are assigned a one-month block each year to the Adult Consult Service under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Gallitano.  Pediatric consults are completed during the Pediatric Dermatology rotation (see below).

Dermatologic Surgery

The surgical training program is directed by Faramarz Samie, MD, PhD; J. Lowry Miller Professor of Dermatology; who is a fellowship-trained Mohs Surgeon. The program consists of didactic lectures and demonstrations covering all aspects of dermatologic surgery. The program offers extensive hands-on experiences during all three years of training including 1-2 cadaver sessions per year Residents perform surgical procedures on patients in bimonthly surgical clinics, and in a weekly cosmetic surgical clinic.

Each year, during the one-month surgical rotation, residents work both in academic and community practices with full-time and voluntary surgical faculty. Experience is gained in excisions, repairs, as well as Mohs surgery and complex excisions and repairs, including flaps and grafts. In addition to surgical experiences, residents participate in cosmetic sessions where they perform a variety of cosmetic procedures from neuromodulators and fillers to lasers and peels under direct 1:1 supervision by cosmetic faculty.

Faculty Practice

During the faculty practice rotation, residents spend time working alongside faculty in areas of expertise including immunodermatology and cutaneous oncology. Additionally, residents have an opportunity to work with general dermatology faculty in their faculty practices.

James J. Peters Bronx VA Medical Center

Residents spend 4 months each year at the James J. Peters VA Medical Center in the Bronx. There are 4 residents assigned to the VA rotation each month. Residents participate in outpatient clinic sessions 7 half-day a week. All clinics are general dermatology, except for weekly surgery clinic and twice monthly dedicated Mohs surgery clinical days. In addition, residents and attendings see inpatient consults at the bedside.

The dermatology service at the VA is dedicated to providing excellent dermatologic care to our nation’s veterans, and in the process, residents are exposed to a diverse population of patients with a wide range of skin types. This allows for ample opportunity for the residents to learn and perform procedures in the treatment of skin cancer, in addition to their training in general dermatology. The residents on the VA rotation participate in all of the educational sessions. The VA rotation is directed by Dr. Jessica Newman, Assistant Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Columbia University.

NewYork-Presbyterian Ambulatory Care Network Dermatology Clinic

Residents assigned to this outpatient rotation see patients 7 half-day sessions per week. Two clinics per week are exclusively devoted to pediatric dermatology patients. Two sessions per month are surgical sessions.  All other sessions are general adult dermatology sessions. In 2018, there were ~10,000 patients in the ambulatory resident practice. Residents spend approximately 4-6 months per year in resident practice.

Pediatric Dermatology

Pediatric Dermatology is an active and diverse service at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. The Program is a joint venture between the Departments of Dermatology and Pediatrics dedicated to providing dermatologic care to children and adolescents. Care is provided to inpatients and outpatients at the Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital and the Department of Dermatology outpatient practices. The Pediatric Dermatology service cares for children and adolescents with a wide variety of dermatologic conditions from the most common to the most complex.

During this one-month rotation each year, residents complete inpatient consults, attend pediatric ambulatory sessions each week, participate in pediatric surgery sessions as well as multidisciplinary clinics such as Vascular Anomalies Clinic and Epidermolysis Bullosa clinic.