Program Overview

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Introduction to the Dermatology APP Fellowship

The OHSU Dermatology Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship is a 12-month program designed to provide high-level dermatology training to both NPs and PAs. The program is open to newly graduated nurse practitioners and physician assistants seeking clinical and didactic experience in dermatology, as well as APPs with no dermatology background who want to transition to specialty care.

About the Fellowship

The fellowship will have structured didactics simultaneously with the OHSU dermatology residency program. The APP will engage in faculty clinics as well as supervised continuity clinics later in the curriculum. The focus of training is on diagnosis and management of common and complex medical dermatology. The APP will rotate through several multidisciplinary clinics, including the CLEAR Eczema Center, Center of Excellence for Psoriasis and Psoriatic Arthritis, Melanoma Multidisciplinary Clinic, and others.

Mission

The mission of the OHSU Dermatology Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship is to establish and maintain a high-quality, structured, and comprehensive educational program for APPs within the specialty of Dermatology. The Fellowship provides dermatology-specific competencies, provides team-based learning, and allows transition to specialty clinician roles for APPs.

Vision

The vision of the OHSU Dermatology Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship is to define and promote excellence in the education of APPs within the specialty of Dermatology. This program, along with its future Dermatology APPs, its educators, collaborators, and patients, will help the Dermatology Department at OHSU continue to realize its own vision: To be a worldwide leader in freeing the world of human suffering caused by disorders of the skin.

Eligibility

The 12-month Advanced Practice Provider Dermatology Fellowship is designed for:

• Newly graduated nurse practitioners and physician assistants seeking clinical and didactic experience in dermatology.
• APPs with no dermatology background who want to transition to specialty care.

Required Qualifications

Before the start of the program, final candidates must meet all eligibility requirements, including:

• Being U.S. citizens or legally able to work in the U.S.
• Having completed an accredited PA or NP master's program.
• Having unencumbered licensure as either a physician assistant with the Oregon Medical Board or a nurse practitioner with the Oregon State Board of Nursing with certification in one of the following areas: Family, Adult, Adult gerontology acute/primary care, or Acute care.
• Having national board certification as a physician assistant from the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) within 6 months of beginning fellowship, or as a nurse practitioner from a nationally accredited organization such as the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) or the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners (AANP).
• Being eligible for DEA licensure.
• Having BLS/ACLS certification.

Benefits and Expenses

• Hired as an employee (Instructor level).
• 40 hours weekly in the dedicated learner program.
• Salary paid every 2 weeks.
• No tuition expenses.
• Paid time off/sick time.
• OHSU Health insurance.
• Living expenses such as housing, meals, transportation, and parking are at the fellow's expense.

Curriculum

The program delivers a comprehensive curriculum for the fellow in general and complex dermatology, procedural skills, pediatric dermatology, and quality improvement. Fellows will be required to complete the SDPA Diplomate Fellowship Program or the NP Dermatology Curriculum. All fellows will receive a certificate of completion.

Didactic Curriculum

• Weekly morphology conferences.
• Weekly conferences (Journal Club, faculty forum, translational talks, research proposals, scanning journal club).
• Weekly text reviews (Bolognia).
• Complications conference.
• Bimonthly In-patient conference.
• Professionalism.
• Weekly text review.
• Kodachromes.
• Dermpath/Path unknowns.
• Dermoscopy.
• Genoderm conference.
• Monthly Oregon Dermatology Society (ODS) meetings.
• Annual OSDA conference.
• One annual CME meeting with a dermatology professional organization.
• Sit for the National Dermatology NP Certification through the Dermatology Nursing Certification Board (NP's).
• Completion of the online SDPA Diplomate Fellowship Program (PA's).

Clinical Curriculum

The first 3 months are General Dermatology Rotations. After the first three months, Fellows will rotate every 2-4 weeks in dermatology specialties with faculty experts in the field. Examples of specialty clinics include:

• Psoriasis.
• Wound clinic.
• Atopic Dermatitis.
• Pediatric Dermatology.
• Surgical / Mohs surgery.
• Pigmented Lesion clinic.
• Dermatology surgery and laser.
• Hair and Nail Disorders.
• Autoimmune Disorders.
• Inpatient Dermatology.
• Contact Dermatitis.

Learning Objectives

Upon completion of the APP Dermatology Fellowship, the fellow should be able to demonstrate:

• Professionalism and Communication: Demonstrate leadership within the department and University by balancing the roles of a mentor, a mentee, a student, and a provider.
• Equitable Care: Demonstrate acceptance of all backgrounds, beliefs, values, race, sexual choices, and gender identity.
• Patient Centered Care: Demonstrate patient-centered equitable care by creating a safe patient-provider relationship that is accessible, respectful, and timely while providing quality care.
• Clinical Reasoning: Demonstrate a growing understanding of Dermatology and be able to discern information and think critically while delivering equitable, quality care.
• Clinical Knowledge: Demonstrate Dermatological knowledge and skills and have the maturity to realize opportunities for growth as an individual and as a provider.

Fellowship Directors

• Kim B. Sanders, M.P.A.S., P.A.-C. (she/her), Fellowship Director.
• Lara A. Clayton, M.P.A.S., P.A.-C., Associate Fellowship Director.

About OHSU Dermatology

The Department of Dermatology is a full-service academic department of the Oregon Health & Science University whose mission includes a focus on three equally important areas:

• The dedicated care of people with disorders of the skin, hair, nails, and mucous membranes.
• The training of doctors (dermatologists-in-training, medical students, and other students).
• The search for new knowledge through medical research of both treatments and disease.

Vision Statement

OHSU Department of Dermatology is a worldwide leader and collaborator with patients, the global dermatology community, and industry in promoting optimum skin health and freeing the world of human suffering caused by disorders of the skin.

Serving the Pacific Northwest

Since the founding of the medical school in 1887, dermatology has been a part of the curriculum. The department provides exceptional care to patients in the Pacific Northwest and beyond and has contributed important advances to the understanding and treatment of many dermatologic diseases.

Training the Next Generation

The faculty have dedicated their careers to the training of the next generation's dermatologists. The dermatology training program has trained nearly 200 dermatologists and is currently training many residents, fellows, and students.