Welcome From the Chair

Hi everyone!

Welcome to the UMass Chan Pediatric Dermatology Fellowship website. I’m thrilled that you have considered training in one of our fellowship programs!

We are proud of our long-standing training program at UMass Chan with our clinical partner, UMass Memorial Medical Center, as well as our residents and fellows, who have become caring and expert dermatologists, including many who are now leaders in our specialty. We are known for our camaraderie and small, family feel. We thoroughly enjoy teaching, as well as learning from, the many wonderful residents and fellows who have trained in our program. As our future colleagues, we seek to build your clinical knowledge, surgical skills, patient experiences and collaborative approach to patient care, all while getting to know you as a person and key contributor to our team and our patients. In our program, we will provide you with new and exciting opportunities to expand and deepen your understanding of clinical pediatric dermatology and preparation for your licensing exams, as well as connecting with basic, translational, and clinical researchers to consider new project ideas.

We are proud of our numerous continuity opportunities for fellows. Patients experience longitudinal follow-up care with fellows, so that both top-level patient outcomes as well as fellowship training are prioritized. We also offer fellowship training in dermatologic surgery and dermatopathology. We offer a diverse range of clinical experiences in our outpatient clinics, including both common conditions, as well as uncommon and rare presentations through our many specialty clinics, which include epidermolysis bullosa, connective tissue diseases, psoriasis, and vitiligo clinics.

A satisfying work-life integration is important to me, our faculty, and our trainees; so, we have developed our program to encourage and support this balance. We offer dedicated academic time every week so that residents and fellows can collect their thoughts, further investigate interesting cases they have observed, write up reports to publish, or consider initiating a research project. Our clinical research team is happy to support you in studies you would like to initiate, including consultations for designing studies, IRB preparation and recruitment of subjects. Accomplished scientists are available for supporting new ideas for extended research projects as well. Finally, our residents and fellows work as a team, supporting each other through thick and thin when unexpected circumstances arise.

We all appreciate your interest in our department and look forward to meeting you!

Sincerely,
John Harris, MD, PhD