In conjunction with Beacon Clinical Research and Clinical
Research IO, DermCare Experts offers its Combined Dermatology
and Clinical Research Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Fellowship, an innovative
two-year program designed to help college graduates gain extensive exposure to
patient care, clinical research, and start-up health care technology, through
an immersive and diverse experience which strengthens their medical school
application in this extremely competitive environment.
DermCare Experts is a busy urban dermatology clinic in metro
Boston, affiliated with Beacon Clinical Research which is an independent
clinical research site with a 25-year track record in dermatology and internal
medicine trials. Clinical Research IO is a dynamic healthcare software
start-up with an international footprint, now considered among the top three
companies in its niche worldwide. Premedical fellows will therefore gain
a wide variety of experiences in two years.
As certified medical assistants, they will be deeply engaged
in outpatient dermatology, one of the most competitive medical specialties to
enter. In doing so, they will learn core clinical skills and critical thinking
applicable to all areas of medicine, as well as gain an understanding about the
fundamentals of patient management and clinical decision-making. By working
alongside the physician, fellows witness the importance of continuity of care,
as they are often the first point of staff contact the patient has with the
clinic, and continue following the patient throughout their treatment. Fellows
also enhance their interpersonal skills working with the clinic’s culturally
and socioeconomically diverse urban patient base.
At Beacon Clinical Research, premedical fellows also work as
certified clinical research coordinators fully responsible for leading a
variety of trials sponsored by multinational pharmaceutical companies, and will
have a first look at therapeutics in the pipeline. They serve as the main
contact for the pharmaceutical study monitor, while managing all aspects of
patient recruitment and trial execution under the supervision of the principal
investigator. Although many studies are dermatology trials, fellows also work
on trials in other disciplines, and attend funded national training conferences
for the trials they run.
At CRIO, fellows can be engaged with any aspect of this
aggressively-growing start-up in which they may be interested. Client
management, marketing, study design, QA, coding, sales, international launches,
and overall business development are all possible areas of focus. Winner
of a Great Place to Work certification, CRIO is dynamic, diverse, and flexible,
where fellows will have the freedom to explore a multitude of interests to
expand their business acumen. This may be particularly attractive to
those who intend to pursue an MD MBA.
Additionally, fellows will also be asked to engage after
hours in academic pursuits related to what they are learning in clinic. They
are asked to read widely, ranging from textbooks to medical journals, as well
as the popular press about hot button issues in medicine. Clearly, they will be
expected to gain dermatology knowledge, and they may be responsible for leading
discussions about issues they encounter in clinic by delivering presentations
to their peers. They have the opportunity to attend the clinic’s lecture series
by invited speakers; grand rounds; educational dinner lectures in metro Boston;
and dermatology conferences both in-town and out-of-town, the latter for which
housing and transportation would be funded. Fellows are also encouraged to
write publishable work when opportunities arise.
Through the program’s contacts, they also have the chance to
shadow and network with physicians in other fields of medicine, thus expanding
their understanding of different specialties. In addition, fellows work side by
side with medical students who at times rotate through the clinic.
Fellows also spearhead the clinic’s community and public
health outreach, by arranging free skin cancer screenings and a variety of
programming at community organizations. The clinic has also launched an
Urban High School Premedical Mentorship Program, where fellows serve as Big Sibs
to underprivileged youth to further their interest in medicine as a future
career.
As appropriate, fellows may join the physician on
international medical mission trips, with possible funding for expenses such as
flights and hotel.
With this holistic and intensive training approach, those who
graduate are uniquely poised to excel in the medical school application process
and later as medical students, having developed confidence in interacting with
patients to help manage their care under the tight supervision of the
physician. In particular, participants will be extremely well-prepared to
undertake future dermatology rotations in order to enter the highly competitive
dermatology residency match. Graduates of our program have achieved
extremely high USMLE scores, AOA, and have obtained advanced opportunities in
dermatology typically reserved for dermatology residents.
Those who are looking only to scribe from 9 to 5, and who are
reluctant to invest the effort and hours this highly demanding and
all-encompassing fellowship requires, will find this program a poor fit.
Successful fellows have grit; will accept and incorporate constant and blunt
feedback without wilting under pressure; and are willing to work in a driven
environment characterized by honesty and transparency with excellent patient
care as the key touchstone. Fellows should be prepared to function as
junior trainees. They will have substantial responsibility, will be held
accountable for their actions, and should expect immediate and unsparing evaluation
of their output. They will become familiar with the parameters against
which they will be evaluated in the future, as they will be assessed against
the basic principles embodied in the core competencies of the Accreditation
Council of Graduate Medical Education, tailored of course to their very early
stage of training.
Specifically, the first three to four months are the most
challenging. Because they arrive with no true medical background, fellows
should expect an incredibly steep learning curve and will often have 12 to 14
hour workdays, with weekend catch-up as they work on their notes and grapple
with the entirely new vocabulary of medicine, specifically dermatology.
Clinic is fast-paced with many patients daily who come to be seen because of
our good reputation for quality care, and every patient generates
administrative work for which the fellow is responsible. Managing their
patients with physician oversight is how fellows learn, both now and through
the years as a medical student and resident. Through this they gain a
first-hand understanding of self-directed learning as practicing physicians.
The fellowship is total immersion, with long hours and
sometimes critical, maybe even biting, feedback. Do not expect a relaxing
gap year. This will be the most difficult work endeavor one will have
undertaken by this point post college.
Do expect to graduate with the skills to rise
to the top of one’s medical school class, and particularly stand out to the
dermatology department if that is the field one desires.
One should absolutely not apply if one is not prepared to
fully engage in this all-encompassing experience into real-life patient care,
clinical research, and start-up tech culture.
Candidates must submit a cover letter, resume, transcript,
and one actual letter of recommendation emailed directly to the clinic at info@dermcare.expert, or through their
school’s career center listing such as Handshake. Incomplete applications will
not be considered. It is also strongly advised to have completed the MCAT
before the fellowship because studying to score higher on the MCAT will be frankly
impossible given the fellowship’s hours. Interviews are conducted via
video meetings. We actively seek diversity in all senses: gender
identity, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, and socioeconomic
status.