Subspecialties and procedures may be key to privileging dermatologists

Editor's note: HCPro's Credentialing Resource Center is constantly adding to and updating its library of Clinical Privilege White Papers, which outline sample privileging criteria and background research for a wide range of medical specialty and subspecialty areas, procedures and new technologies, and allied health practice areas. The following is an excerpt from the specialty Clinical Privilege White Paper for Dermatology—Practice area 132.

Dermatologists are physicians who specialize in evaluating and managing adults and children with benign and malignant conditions and disorders of the skin, hair, nails, and adjacent mucous membranes, according to the American Board of Dermatology (ABD). Dermatologists have had additional training and experience in:

• Diagnosis and treatment of skin cancers, melanomas, moles, and other tumors of the skin
• Management of contact dermatitis and other inflammatory skin disorders
• Recognition of skin manifestations of systemic and infectious diseases
• Dermatopathology
• Surgical techniques used in dermatology

Postgraduate training for dermatologists is four years in length. Physicians may enter a three-year full-time residency program after completing a broad-based clinical year of training in an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)?accredited program. Alternatively, they may enter a four-year dermatology training program during which the first year is spent on broad-based clinical education. Osteopathic physicians must complete a one-year American Osteopathic Association (AOA)-approved internship year and three years of dermatology residency training in an AOA-accredited program.

The ABD is the certifying board for dermatologists. The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) recognizes two subspecialties of dermatology: pediatric dermatology and dermatopathology. Physicians who have completed additional training and are certified in dermatology may become board-certified by the ABD in either subspecialty.

The American Osteopathic Board of Dermatology (AOBD) offers certification for dermatologists, as well as certificates of added qualifications (CAQ) in dermatopathology, pediatric dermatology, and Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS).

Dermatologists may also complete an ACGME-accredited procedural dermatology fellowship. Procedural dermatology is the subspecialty that is concerned with the study, diagnosis, and surgical treatment of diseases of the skin and adjacent mucous membranes, cutaneous appendages, hair, nails, and subcutaneous tissue.

This one-year program includes dermatologic surgery, which may occur in an ACGME-accredited dermatology residency training program. Although the ACGME recognizes procedural dermatology, currently there is no certification examination process for procedural dermatology.

Source: Clinical Privilege White Paper Dermatology – Practice Area 132