Dermatology Goals and Objectives

The Department of Dermatology at Saint Louis University School of Medicine recognizes its primary missions include providing excellence in patient care while simultaneously providing excellence in residency teaching and education*.*  The residency program is currently under the guidance of the program director, Dr. Gillian Heinecke and Associate Program Director, Dr. Emily Smith. Dr. M. Yadira Hurley serves as interim chairman of the department.  The goal of the program is to provide a coordinated, clear leadership and seamless execution as the department continues to recruit new faculty, expand its clinical operations, and develop a synergy between these clinical and academic goals and responsibilities.  The principal goal of the department’s activities is to strengthen and develop further excellence in the residency program.

The chairman’s major focus is to simultaneously oversee faculty, clinical practice, and residency program development.  It is recognized that residency education and teaching occurs in many venues.  Participation in direct patient care activities is the most critical component of residency education.  This component is well developed at Saint Louis University, and has provided many graduates an accomplished career as dermatologists.  This must be balanced with distinct educational activities to include didactic lectures, book review conferences, dermatologic literature reviews, procedural lab sessions, clinical conferences, grand rounds presentations, hospital consult rounds, resident lecture preparations to other clinical services and non-dermatologist professionals, resident teaching of peers as well as rotating non-dermatology residents and medical students.

The program director, with the input of all faculty and residents, will strive to create the necessary balance between time committed to clinical responsibilities, teaching activities, and research. The program director will continually evaluate processes and procedures involving the residents and improve deficiencies when possible.  The residents are also encouraged to be active in the management of their program and to actively implement changes that continue to strengthen and further develop it.  Enclosed in Appendix I is a form suggested as a tool to discuss and bring forth new program ideas.

The program recognizes the importance of teaching the resident physicians all aspects of dermatology, and emphasizing the unique demands both clinically and administratively that are placed on and experienced by a primarily outpatient-based clinical practice.  These too must be balanced with and incorporated into the educational demands of the program.