After I graduated, I went straight into working in dermatology. During didactic year in school, we got about 2 weeks of derm, and it makes up a whopping 5% of the PANCE. Those 2 weeks and some dermatology shadowing I did before were enough to spark my interest in the field, but not quite enough to make me feel confident enough to know what I really needed to. I am extremely lucky to have a great supervising physician and I was able to do my 2 elective rotations in dermatology, so that was helpful, but even after being at my job for almost 3 years, I still find myself looking up information multiple times daily! Today, I'm going to share with you some resources I found helpful while in school and what I currently use in practice!
In school:
- AAD Basic Dermatology Curriculum - The American Academy of Dermatology has a specific curriculum for medical education, and it's awesome. The lessons are thorough and a great overview of some basic dermatology topics that are likely to come up both on boards and rotations. They don't take a ton of time, and I think are definitely worth taking a look at.
- Dermatology Secrets Plus - This is a small, simple book that is filled with pictures, which are so helpful in dermatology. I used this book during didactic year, and I still refer to it occasionally in practice as a quick reference. Not the best book if you are looking for every detail on a subject, but more of a quick overview w/ pics.
In practice:
- UpToDate - I recommend UpToDate for any specialty really! Like the title says, it has the most current information and is updated regularly. One of my favorite features is print outs for patients! These are so helpful, and the majority of the time there is one for what I'm looking for. The drug information is also very specific and always provides exactly what I'm looking for, including dosage and how the medication is supplied.
- VisualDx - This is a resource that I use on a daily basis. I pull it up on the computer as soon as I get to work to have it ready to go! You can look up multiple dermatologic subjects and there is a huge photo library with great examples, and it provides all the info you need to know, including pearls, diagnosis methods, differentials, and treatment. There's a really nice accompanying app as well!
- Habif's Clinical Dermatology - This is the first actual textbook I got for derm when I started working, and I have used it a bunch! For a textbook, this one is very easy to read. My one complaint is that sometimes it does lack some of the details I'm looking for so I'll visit my supervising physician's library to borrow one of her books.
- Practical Dermatology- Practical Dermatology is my favorite journal for getting all of the up and coming derm news. It's very easy to read and the topics tend to be more common things that I actually want to read and learn about.
- Litt's Drug Eruption and Reaction Manual - Possibly my most helpful book. This is my go to for any rashes that could be caused by drugs. It lists every medication and the possible side effects. Great for my itching, photosensitive, and hairloss patients when medications are involved.
- Wolverton Comprehensive Dermatologic Drug Therapy - This is the most in depth book about dermatology medications. If I have any question about side effects, contraindications, dosing, etc, this is my go to. UpToDate is great, but this is strictly derm, and sometimes I just sit and read it. (Nerd alert)
- Andrews' Diseases of the Skin and Bolognia's Dermatology - These are my supervising physician's favorite books. She can actually just pick one of these up and turn to the page she wants because she used them so much during residency. It's amazing! But they have so much detail and every obscure derm disorder ever.
- SDPA Diplomate Fellowship Program - I've just started these modules, but so far, they are very well done. This is training specifically for derm PAs, and it follows Bolognia's Dermatology Essentials
Some of these links are affiliates, which means if you use them, I get a small cut from Amazon, but you pay the same low prices and get your Prime shipping! I hope that some of these are helpful to you, and please comment with any other resources you love to use!
