Susan Burgin MD
Rabkin Fellow in Medical Education, 2006-2007
Advanced Fellow in Medical Education, 2008-2009
Assistant Professor of Dermatology, Harvard Medical School
Director of Resident Education, Harvard Combined Dermatology Residency Program
Director of Medical Education, Department of Dermatology, BIDMC
Attending Dermatologist, Department of Dermatology, BIDMC
Rabkin Fellowship Project:
Teaching the art of physical diagnosis in dermatology
Advanced Fellowship Project:
The effect of a faculty development workshop on dermatology teachers' clinical teaching skills: a self- appraisal by participants
Dr. Susan Burgin is a faculty member of the Department of Dermatology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and is an assistant professor of dermatology at Harvard Medical School. Susan graduated at the top of her medical school class from the University of the Witwatersrand Medical School in South Africa, and then trained as a dermatologist before moving to the United States. She completed her U.S. dermatology residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, where she served as chief resident in her final year.
Dr. Burgin has a deep commitment to medical education. She has completed two fellowships in medical education. She is currently the director of resident education for the Harvard Combined Dermatology Residency Program, and director of the dermatology curriculum for Harvard Medical School's Patient/Doctor II Course. She is involved at the national level in the creation of a dermatology curriculum for medical students. Locally, she teaches medical students and residents, and has led numerous faculty development discussion sessions. She runs the dermatology department's resident-as-teacher program and gives guidance and feedback to residents on their teaching sessions to co-residents and to medical students.
In 2001, she designed and implemented a course to teach an approach to differential diagnosis. As a Rabkin Fellow in Medical Education, Dr. Burgin worked to extend the course into a comprehensive, year-long curriculum, with the goal of increasing the Harvard residents' skills as diagnosticians. The year-long curriculum includes interactive discussion sessions, review sessions given by residents, and the use of laminated cards which Dr. Burgin created to display diagnostic pathways and algorithms used in diagnosis. It is taught on annual basis.
In 2008-2009 Dr. Burgin completed an Advanced Fellowship in medical education. Her fellowship project consisted of designing and implementing an educational workshop prototype for faculty development within the department of dermatology on best practice for teaching in the dermatology clinic. The efficacy of the educational workshop was assessed using an adapted assessment instrument for self-assessment of teaching skills.
In 2002 she received a faculty teaching award, presented by the NYU dermatology residents in recognition of her outstanding achievements in resident education and mentoring. In 2007, she was similarly honored by the Harvard dermatology residents, who presented her with the Samuel Moschella Scholar award for her devotion to teaching and training.