Attending the three day “Essential Medical Dermatology” course was an excellent starting point for my Fellowship which focused on complex inflammatory skin disorders and connective tissue disease.

My clinical experience at Guys and St Thomas’included attending four immunobullous clinics under the supervision of Dr Richard Groves. This experience was complimented by spending three mornings in the Immunodermatology laboratory. I also observed multidisciplinary assessment of patients with complex inflammatory skin disease in the complex eczema and psoriasis clinics, under the supervision of Prof Catherine Smith and Prof Jonathan Barker. Use of a range of pre-clinic questionnaire assessments and access to a psychologist facilitates holistic management of these patients and I am keen to develop a similar approach in my work as a consultant dermatologist.

I was also able to attend three oral dermatology clinics, under the supervision of Dr Jane Setterfield, and two additional oral medicine clinics at the Eastman Dental Hospital, under the supervision of Dr Tim Hodgson and Dr Martina Shephard. These have provided me with valuable insight into the assessment and management of a range of oral mucosal disorders particularly relevant to dermatology.

I was most fortunate to spend a week with Dr Simon Meggitt at the Royal Victoria Infirmary, Newcastle, where I attended a cutaneous lupus clinic, a joint skin and muscle disease clinic and a joint dermatology/rheumatology connective tissue disease clinic. This valuable experience has particularly developed my ability to manage cutaneous lupus and dermatomyositis.

I gained further, experience in connective tissue disease by joining Dr Cate Orteu at the Royal Free Hospital, in the morphoea, lupus and dermatomyositis, and systemic sclerosis and overlap connective tissue disease clinics.

Before I complete my BSMD Fellowship, I am planning to attend the cutaneous sarcoid clinic at Kings College Hospital, the hidradenitis suppurativa clinic at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospitals, the complex psoriasis clinic at the Royal Free Hospital and the joint lupus dermatology clinic at Guys and St Thomas’ Hospitals.

This Fellowship has not only provided me with an excellent opportunity to see patients with a wide range of complex medical dermatological problems, but also to observe how sub-specialty services are organised in large, tertiary centres and to develop personal contacts within the field to facilitate the management of such patients in the future. I am most grateful to the BSMD for funding a wonderful, personalised training opportunity and would like to thank my supervisors for welcoming me to their clinics and providing me with such invaluable experience.