Dermatology Education for Medical Students

The Medical Student Curriculum

While the BCD does not ‘set’ the curriculum for dermatology training in medical schools, we have developed a BCD Medical Student Curriculum which is designed to support UK medical schools by providing guidance on the minimum competencies required of a medical school graduate to ensure the safe care of patients with skin disease.

The core curriculum is set out as learning outcomes with suggestions for how these might be learnt, taught, and assessed.

Despite the prevalence of skin complaints across primary and secondary care, there is a striking lack of postgraduate opportunities to learn clinical dermatology. Adequate undergraduate attainment underpinned by clinical experience has the potential to ensure that every future medical practitioner has sufficient grounding needed to diagnosis and manage the most prevalent, serious, and life-threatening skin conditions.