How combined internal medicine-dermatology residency programs can improve patient and population health.

The volume of knowledge and skills that medical students and residents must learn is increasing. With the focus of medical education shifting toward competencies and outcomes, greater emphasis is being placed on objective measurements of competency in different areas of medicine, including recognition of common skin disorders and dermatologic procedural skills. In addition, physicians today are being trained in an era of mounting health care costs, decreased funding for medical education, rising medical–legal expenses, and increasing levels of complexity in treatment regimens.