Bridge Year Program in Wellesley, Massachusetts (minutes from Boston)

Learn. Excel. Succeed.

Dermatology and Skin Care Associates (DSCA) is proud to offer an elite, paid program for top students to “bridge” the time from completing college to applying and enrolling in medical school. Going beyond a traditional “gap year” program, our bridge year program offers a unique opportunity to work closely on a daily basis alongside caring, highly educated doctors and gain clinical knowledge while transitioning to medical school. Strengths of our bridge program include the development of many skills essential to delivering outstanding, longitudinal medical care in an out-patient/office-based setting, such as:

– unparalleled hands-on in person patient care interactions (typically averaging 10-12 daily) that go far beyond scribing to include mastery of patient history taking and discussing diagnoses, laboratory results, and prescriptions with patients
– individualized coaching on interacting with patients of diverse ages and backgrounds
– learning the fundamentals of diagnosing and treating many dermatologic diseases
– recording information efficiently and usefully into the medical record
– learning to deliver personalized and compassionate patient care including experience discussing pathology results with patients
– gaining criticial experience in patient advocacy such as obtaining prior authorizations for medications such as systemic biologics

If you are an outstanding student, apply today!

Email Danielle@dermandskincare.com to learn more.

At DSCA, we are proud of our collegial and collaborative work environment which includes not only supportive staff but also a cohort of like-minded bridge-year colleagues at the same stage of training. During their one- to two- years at DSCA, our bridge-year students have the opportunity to attend monthly educational seminars, get certified in Basic Life Support, and participate in instructional suture labs. They form warm bonds with each other that typically last far beyond the bridge year program. We love keeping in touch with our bridge-year students and hearing about how their experience at DSCA helped them excel in medical school and their chosen residency programs!

Working at DSCA has been an incredibly profound and influential experience. I have been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to gain clinical exposure, to learn how a medical practice operates, and to play a role in patient care. While applying to and interviewing at medical schools, my experience at DSCA has often been a key part of my application because many schools are excited to see applicants who have hands-on experience with medicine. DSCA has been an instrumental part in shaping my identity and how I see myself in the future as a provider. As I prepare to enter medical school, I feel confident that many of the experiences I had at DSCA, such as taking a patient history, communi- cating information to patients, and just being a source of compassion for patients, will carry over to the next step.

– Harry C, MD, Class of 2022 Yale School of Medicine

Participate in our on-site suture lab and receive CPR and AED certification.

Learn to safely and confidently handle liquid nitrogen.

Practice sterile techniques in preparation for surgery.

Prepare pathology reports, submit records to labs, and communicate with patients.

Scribe daily for doctors using electronic records.

Learn to prep rooms for procedures and surgeries.

Dermatology and Skin Care Associates (DSCA) located minutes from Boston in Wellesley, Massachusetts offers an elite, paid Gap-Year Program for top students who have completed college and are applying to medical school. This one- to two-year fast-paced environ- ment delivers a unique opportunity to work closely alongside caring Ivy-League educated doctors and gain clinical knowledge before transitioning to medical school. Students learn patient history taking, fundamentals of diagnosis and treatment of many dermatologic diseases, and hands-on opportunity.

To learn more contact our office manager:

Students learn to use lasers as training progresses through the program, gaining more opportunities for patient contact including laser treatment delivery.

“Dr. LaRaia taught me an incredible amount about dermatology and taking care of patients during my gap year at DSCA. Being from Illinois and having gone to undergrad in Rhode Island, I was excited to stay on the east coast for one more year before starting medical school, and could not have asked for a better mentor and teacher than Dr. L. Also, with so many encouraging coworkers there to support me through the medical school application process, I was able to really lean into my gap year opportunity to become the best clinical assistant that I could. The lessons I learned during my time at DSCA have already carried into my first two years of medical school at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and I know they will stay with me as I begin my third year rotations.”

– Abigail Cuevas
University of Illinois Chicago School of Medicine

‘I was fortunate to spend my year with the program working with Dr. Wolpowitz. After graduating from college in Chicago in 2020 , it was exciting (albeit nerve-wracking) to become immersed into the clinical setting. I feel so lucky to have spent the year learning with the excellent team at Dermatology & Skin Care Associates, and I truly feel as though the experience has set me up with a unique perspective and insight into the practice of medicine. I have been extraordinarily well-prepared for all of my clinical interactions in medical school, and as I head into my next few yeast of clinical rotations at UIC, I look forward to continuing to apply the communication skills as well as practical knowledge of what medical practice looks like that I learned during my time with the program.”

Isabel Scharf
University of Illinois Chicago School of Medicine