Business Education in Dermatology Residency: A Survey of Program Directors

With the rising cost of health care in the United States and an increasingly competitive market, dermatology residents would benefit from business training. We constructed an 8-part questionnaire for dermatology program directors (PDs) to determine the current perceptions of and resources available for business education. Of the 139 surveys distributed, 35 were completed (25.2%). Approximately one half of the respondents said their programs offered business training, primarily through seminars or lectures. Most PDs felt business education during residency was important and that programs should implement more training. The most important topics identified for inclusion in a business curriculum were economics or finance, management, and health care policy or government. Our survey identified a gap between the perceived importance and current supply of business education during dermatology residency training. Future efforts should aim to develop a standardized, dermatology-specific curriculum that is readily available to all programs and residents.