SSM Health/Â鶹´«Ã½ offers a one-year ACGME-accredited dermatopathology fellowship program sponsored by the Department of Dermatology. Nicole Burkemper, M.D., serves as fellowship director, and M. Yadira Hurley, M.D., serves as associate fellowship director.
The fellowship is open to physicians who have completed a residency in either dermatology or pathology and is designed to train individuals to function as independent dermatopathologists. Though our program is accredited for two positions, one fellow is accepted each year. Our goal is to have one dermatology-trained fellow and one pathology-trained fellow.
Â鶹´«Ã½ the Application Cycle
Our fellowship is filled through the 2025-2026 academic year.
- In accordance with the ASDP's current recommended timeline, we are now accepting applications for the 2026-2027 academic year effective July 1, 2024. More information about deadlines and interviews will be posted here as those are known.
Required Application Materials
To apply, email the documents below to Joey Weissmann, dermatology residency and fellowship program coordinator, at joey.weissmann@slucare.ssmhealth.com. Please note: It is much appreciated to have all documents, including letters of recommendation, sent from a coordinator to keep applicant files together and complete. Additional files including a standard CAP are not needed and will not be used.
- CV
- Personal statement
- Three letters of recommendation (one from current program director)
- Medical school transcripts (unofficial copy is okay)
- USMLE (unofficial copy is okay)
Â鶹´«Ã½ SLU's Dermatopathology Training
All faculty members in the dermatopathology division are board certified in dermatology or pathology, as well as in dermatopathology, and have diverse interests.
The program provides training in the morphologic evaluation of inflammatory skin disease and cutaneous neoplasms, use of histochemical and immunohistochemical stains, and evaluation of direct immunofluorescence specimens.
The dermatopathology specimen caseload for the fellowship includes approximately 57,000 routine dermatopathology surgical specimens, 300 consult specimens, and 450 direct immunofluorescence skin specimen panels. The program also provides the opportunity for instruction in the interpretation of frozen and permanent Mohs micrographic surgery specimens. Rotations to evaluate electron microscopy are also available.
For dermatologists, the fellowship involves surgical pathology training in the Â鶹´«Ã½ Department of Pathology and . Pathology-trained fellows will participate in clinics in the Department of Dermatology, completing clinical requirements with an emphasis in clinicopathologic correlations.
Research in either the Department of Dermatology or Department of Pathology is required. Fellows actively teach medical students and residents and participate in didactic conferences as appropriate to previous residency training.
Meet Our Current Dermatopathology Fellow
Georgeanna (Georgie) Cornell, D.O.
Hometown: Columbia, Missouri
Undergraduate: University of Missouri-Kansas City
Medical school: Kansas City University
Intern year program: University of Missouri-Kansas City Preliminary Internal Medicine
Dermatology interests: Dermatopathology, global health outreach
Moment you first saw yourself as a dermatologist: I saw myself as a dermatologist
during the pathology curriculum in medical school when I had the opportunity to see
how beautiful and complex the skin is under the microscope.
Extracurricular interests: Napping, watching Disney movies, trying new restaurants
with my husband, entertaining my dog, Poncho
If you were a dermatology diagnosis you would be: Leiomyoma, because I love (glycogen)
snacks