Opportunities for Residents through the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists

IADVL DIGITAL ACADEMY PLATFORM

The opportunities not only include observerships, training or scholarships but also enhancing knowledge. IADVL offers an extensive learning platform to all members. This can be accessed through iadvl.org and the IADVL Digital Academy page. IADVL digital academy has webinars, e-conferences, continuing medical educations and workshops on diverse specialties of dermatology that can be accessed using the IADVL website member-specific credentials.

ONLINE TRAINING MODULES (OTMS)

The OTMs were started during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and are being continued since then. At present, there are 12 OTMs [Table 1] available on our website (https://iadvl.mediknit.org/online-training-module). Each module is composed of four video lectures by eminent faculty followed by multiple choice-based evaluations. A score of 50% or more is required to get a course completion certificate. Six more modules are in the pipeline and will be uploaded soon.

DIGITAL HISTOPATHOLOGY SLIDE LIBRARY

IADVL special interest group (SIG) dermatopathology (IADVL Academy) has digitalised 20 histopathology slides of common dermatoses. These can be accessed by logging in at www.digiscan.in (username: iadvl2022, password: iadvl2022).

PG THESIS RESEARCH GRANT

Every year, a grant of 50,000 INR each is awarded to 25 candidates to help with the MD- Dermatology thesis. The time of announcement varies depending on the admission process. For the students of the 2022 batch, the announcement will be made in February. To help the fresh postgraduate students with the thesis, a thesis bank with topics suggested by the 16 SIGs of IADVL is available on the website (https://www.iadvl.org/sig-thesis-topic-bank.php). A PG thesis protocol template approved by IADVL Academy is also available. Further, SIG dermatology clinical research runs an online helpline for supporting the students during writing the protocol and final thesis (https://www.iadvl.org/clinical-research-helpline.php).

PG THESIS-BASED AWARD PAPER SESSION

Each year ten abstracts are selected for presentation of the thesis work done by residents at DERMACON and MIDDERMACON. The proposed timeline for the announcement of the application this year is mentioned in [Table 2]. Three awards including a certificate and cash priced (10000/-, 8000/- and 5000/-) are awarded to the student and the guide. The thesis-based award session is open to all postgraduates who would have appeared for their examination by the last date of abstract submission or have cleared the exam in the preceding 2 years.

SCHOLARSHIPS (NATIONAL)

For MIDDERMACON, 30 scholarships (ten each for PLM, life member [LM] < 35 years and LM > 35 years) of 15,000 INR are announced every year. For DERMACON, 99 scholarships (33 each for PLM, LM < 35 years and LM > 35 years) of 15,000 INR are announced every year. Only registered delegates presenting a paper/poster who have not obtained any scholarship to attend a national conference from the IADVL and has no other funding sources (e.g., conference organisers, state branches, government, the Indian Council of Medical Research, pharmaceutical company or institutions) are eligible to apply. The announcement is made well in advance for the residents and members to apply in time [Table 2].

SCHOLARSHIPS (INTERNATIONAL)

IADVL also offers international scholarships to its members to help attend important annual international meetings. The announcements are made in line with the timeline of these international meetings. As a routine, scholarships are announced for annual meetings of the American Academy of Dermatology, the World Congress of Dermatology and the International Leprosy Congress.

A member can avail one national and one international scholarship through IADVL in a lifetime.

DR. B. V. SATYANARAYANA MEMORIAL BEST THESIS AWARD

One award is given for the best thesis each year. The evaluations are done by SIG dermatology clinical research using pre-designed and approved criteria. All IADVL members (LM/PLM) who have successfully cleared their MD/DNB (Dermatology) examinations during the last year are eligible to apply. The application should be accompanied by a recommendation from the Guide that also certifies the authenticity of the work done and the time frame, in which the study was completed.

IADVL ABBOTT BEST RESEARCHER AWARD

IADVL Abbott researcher award is given for published original research papers in Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy. A cash prize of Rs 25,000 each, for one researcher below 35 years of age and one above 35 years of age, along with a certificate is awarded. The evaluation is done by members of IADVL Academy with a pre-approved evaluation sheet.

IADVL OBSERVERSHIPS

IADVL observership program is the flagship program of IADVL that is well appreciated by senior and junior members. Each year 99 observerships are awarded to <35-year members (4 weeks duration with 10,000 INR stipend) and 32–>35 years members (2 weeks duration without stipend). The selected observers get to train under national faculty at the 30 observership centres across India in diverse dermatology subspecialties including clinical dermatology, paediatric dermatology, dermatopathology, dermoscopy, lasers, aesthetics and human immunodeficiency virus medicine. The list of current observership centres is available on our website (https://www.iadvl.org/announcements.php?AnnouncementId=6386f954efa0707c19737362).

IADVL TRAININGS

For those planning for more extensive training, a 3-month course having a structured approved curriculum is offered by seven centres across the country in paediatric dermatology, hair restoration, dermatopathology and procedural dermatology. This entitles the candidate to a 10,000 INR/ month stipend. A predesigned logbook needs to be submitted to the IADVL Academy after course completion.

IADVL AWARDS

Many IADVL awards are given to PLM or young life members (<35 years) and one must be aware of them to apply in time. These include the Prof. H.C. Mohanti award, MGM Medical college prize, Prof. F. Handa prize, Prof. B. N. Banerjee medal, Dr. B. B. Gokhale medal, Prof. K. Siddappa medal and Prof. D. K. Gupta medal. These are announced by the Honorary secretary general in July each year.

Apart from the routine activities, many presidential projects are initiated each year focussing on residents. In 2022, under national president Dr Rashmi Sarkar many projects were initiated. Most notable of them concerning residents were ‘Guruderm: An IADVL virtual mentorship program’ and IADVL leadership pipeline program. For Guruderma, senior and learned members mentored selected mentees during five virtual and one physical meeting. In addition national resident connect committee (NRCC) gives a platform for residents to connect with each other and communicate. NRCC also utilises social media to reach out to residents and motivating them to participate in resident centric activities conducted by IADVL.

The email information regarding all IADVL activities and opportunities is sent to all registered members regularly in addition to the website upload. One must keep checking the emails received from IADVL to avoid missing important opportunities. In case, a member is not receiving such emails, this can be communicated to Honorary Secretary General by writing to administrator@iadvl.org.

The residents must apply for a PLM hip soon after joining the MD course to benefit from the diverse opportunities available through IADVL. Although IADVL offers a wide range of opportunities to its residents, many remain unaware or ignorant. A broad timeline to help residents plan better is depicted in [Figure 1]. There are yet more opportunities that keep on developing each year and this is beyond the scope of this article, the members are recommended to regularly visit iadvl.org for the latest updates and announcements.

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Figure 1:

A proposed year-wise timeline for availing opportunities available through IADVL. JR1: Junior resident 1^st year, JR2: Junior resident 2^nd year, JR3: Junior resident 3^rd year, SR: Senior resident, IADVL: Indian association of dermatologists, venereologists and leprologists and JR: Junior resident.

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‘Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.’