With its affiliated site Beacon Clinical Research, DermCare Experts offers its Dermatology and Clinical Research Post-Baccalaureate Premedical Fellowship (https://dermcare.expert/premedical-fellowship/), an innovative two-year program designed to help college graduates gain extensive exposure to patient care and clinical research as well as technical skills (e.g., phlebotomy, vitals, ECGs, basic suturing) necessary to strengthen their medical school application in this extremely competitive environment.

Successful applicants will become certified medical assistants 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.

Program participants 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. Fellows 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 are expected to attend fully-funded research training conferences for the trials they run.