Core Curriculum

An Education Planning Guide

The Core Curriculum provides an organized list of everything a practicing dermatologist needs to know, both clinical and non-clinical, to provide optimal dermatologic care to patients. It identifies learning objectives for dermatologists for every topic within the Core Curriculum.

Credit

No Credit Offered

Overview
How to Use the AAD Core Curriculum
Learning Objectives
Recommended

Core Curriculum Offers Tools to Develop Valuable Dermatologic Education
The Academy recently launched an enhanced version of its Core Curriculum to serve as the central education planning guide for the practicing dermatologist.

What is the Core Curriculum?
The Core Curriculum provides an organized list of everything a practicing dermatologist needs to know, both clinical and non-clinical, to provide optimal dermatologic care to patients. It identifies learning objectives for dermatologists for every topic within the Core Curriculum.

How can I use the Core Curriculum?
Those who develop educational sessions and materials can use the learning objectives provided in the Core Curriculum to help guide their work and ensure they thoroughly cover a given topic. Practicing dermatologists can use the Core Curriculum to help identify gaps in their knowledge so they can seek education on those topics.

Who created the Core Curriculum?
The Core Curriculum was developed by the AAD’s Curriculum Task Force and peer reviewed by members of the AAD’s Education Research Committee.

Audiences

Program Directors
Teaching Faculty
AAD Faculty and Speakers
Podcast subject matter experts
Writers and authors
Planning groups responsible for addressing a wide breadth of educational needs
Practicing Dermatologists
Residents/Fellows
Medical Students

Access the AAD Core Curriculum

The AAD Core Curriculum can be accessed by any of the following methods

Select Core Curriculum in the AAD Learning Center left hand navigation list (Figure 1 - 1).
Select the Core Curriculum catalog filter (Figure 1 - 2) and then select the AAD Core Curriculum course listing (Figure 1 - 4).
Type ‘Core Curriculum’ into the course catalog search field (Figure 1 - 3) and then select the AAD Core Curriculum course listing (Figure 1 - 4).

First time users to the AAD Core Curriculum will be directed to an informational page. Select the blue Get Started button (Figure 2 – 1) to access the AAD Core Curriculum.

Figure 1 – Access the AAD Core Curriculum

Figure 2 – AAD Core Curriculum - Get Started

Browsing the AAD Core Curriculum

From the AAD Core Curriculum homepage (Figure 3), select one of the nine primary topics (Figure 3 – 1). Once the primary topic has been selected, all the subtopics associated with the primary topic will be displayed.

Figure 3 – AAD Core Curriculum Homepage

Selecting the + (plus) symbol will expand the topic hierarchy associated with the subtopic (Figure 4 – 1).

Figure 4 – AAD Core Curriculum Subtopics

Selecting the desired topic (Figure 5 – 1) will display the associated learning objectives, if there are no assets associated to the topic (Figure 6).

Figure 5 – AAD Core Curriculum topic

Figure 6 – Learning Objectives

If there are assets associated to the topic, select the “Learning Objectives” link to see the associated learning objectives (Figure 7-1)

Figure 7 – Learning Objectives cont.

Selecting the disease state hyperlink will take you directly to all the assets that are tagged to that topic (Figures 8&9).

Figure 8 – Asset Link

A screenshot of a computerDescription automatically generated

Figure 9 – Assets Tagged to a Topic

Searching for a Topic

From the AAD Core Curriculum homepage, select the radial button next to Topics (Figure 10 - 1) and then click anywhere inside of the search box with placeholder attribute of Search keywords (Figure 10 – 2). With the search box selected, enter a short keyword associated with the desired topic (Figure 11 – 1) and then select the blue Search box.

Figure 10 – Topic Search

Figure 11 – Topic Keyword

Searching for Assets Tagged to a Core Topic

Option 1: From the AAD Core Curriculum homepage, select the radial button next to Content (Figure 12 - 1) and then click anywhere inside of the search box with placeholder attribute of Search keywords (Figure 12 – 2). With the search box selected, enter a short keyword associated with the desired topic (Figure 13-1). Any assets that are tagged to that topic will appear, click to open, and view them in the Learning Management System (LMS).

Figure 12 – Content Search

A screenshot of a computerDescription automatically generated

Figure 13 – Content Associated to a Topic

Option 2: From the AAD Core Curriculum homepage, select the radial button next to Content (Figure 14 - 1) and then select any of the main Core topics (Figure 14-2).

$A screenshot of a computerDescription automatically generated$

Figure 14 – Content Search

Select the topic link to view all the assets tagged to that topic (Figure 15-1). Or expand the topic to narrow the asset search to topics further down the tree (Figure 16-1). The number of assets tagged to a topic will be listed in parentheses ().

A screenshot of a computerDescription automatically generated

Figure 15 – Contents Search cont.

A screenshot of a computerDescription automatically generated

Figure 16 – Contents Search cont.

Searching for a Learning Objective

From the AAD Core Curriculum homepage, select the radial button next to Learning Objectives (Figure 17 - 1) and then click anywhere inside of the search box with placeholder attribute of Search keywords (Figure 17 – 2). With the search box selected, enter a short keyword associated with the desired Learning Objectives (Figure 18 – 1). If desired, additional Learning Objective filters can be selected (Figure 18 – 2 and Figure 18 - 3). With the desired keyword and Learning Objective filters entered, select the blue Search box (Figure 18 – 4).

Figure 17 – Learning Objective Search

Figure 18 – Learning Objective keyword

A screenshot of a computerDescription automatically generated

Figure 19 – Learning Objective search results

What is a Learning Objective
A brief measurable statement of demonstrable skills or knowledge that the learner should be able to do upon completion of the educational activity.

Learning Objectives Overview
There are over 750 topics in the Core Curriculum with each topic having its own set of learning objectives. Topics and their learning objectives are organized within 9 Primary Topics. Primary Topics are labeled along with an identifying icon as seen in the example below:

Basic Science

Types of Learning Objectives

Disease. Each disease has multiple features. Each feature has an associated learning objective.
Medical Therapies. Each therapy has multiple features. Each feature has an associated learning objective.
Population. Population learning objectives communicate Adult, Pediatric, Skin of Color and/or Sexual and Gender Minority populations for a given topic.
Applicable. These are learning objectives for non-clinical and procedural topics.

Learning Objectives by Primary Topic

Adult and Pediatric Dermatology
This Primary Topic has two types of learning objectives. These are Population learning objectives and Disease learning objectives.

	Population Learning Objectives Example



	Disease Learning Objectives Example

Medical Therapies
This Primary Topic has two types of learning objectives. Population learning objectives and Medical
Therapies learning objectives.

	Population Learning Objectives Example



	Medical Therapies Learning Objectives Example

Non-Clinical and Procedural
These Primary Topics have one type of learning objective. 

	Applicable Learning Objectives Example

How do I find my Topic and associated Learning Objectives

Searching for a Topic
From the AAD Core Curriculum homepage, select the radial button next to Topics (Figure 7 - 1) and then click anywhere inside of the search box with placeholder attribute of Search keywords (Figure 7 – 2). With the search box selected, enter a short keyword associated with the desired topic (Figure 8 – 1) and then select the blue Search box (Figure 8 – 2).

Figure 7 – Topic Search

Figure 8 – Topic Keyword

Searching for a Learning Objective
From the AAD Core Curriculum homepage, select the radial button next to Learning Objectives (Figure 9 - 1) and then click anywhere inside of the search box with placeholder attribute of Search keywords (Figure 9 – 2). With the search box selected, enter a short keyword associated with the desired Learning Objectives (Figure 10 – 1). If desired, additional Learning Objective filters can be selected (Figure 10 – 2 and Figure 10 - 3). With the desired keyword and Learning Objective filters entered, select the blue Search box (Figure 10 – 4).

Figure 9 – Learning Objective Search

Figure 10 – Learning Objective keyword

Question of the Week Self-Assessment - 2024

Multiple Credits

Question of the Week Self-Assessment - 2025

Multiple Credits

Question of the Week Self-Assessment - 2024 Additional Quality Improvement Questions

Multiple Credits

Question of the Week Special Edition – Diagnosing and Managing Skin Disease in a Spectrum of Skin

.5 CME and 3 CPP credits will be granted each week after all three questions have been answered.

Multiple Credits

JAAD 06/24 Acne scarring-pathophysiology, diagnosis, prevention and education – Part 1

Multiple Credits

JAAD 03/24 Erythromelalgia. Part I: Pathogenesis, clinical features, evaluation, and complications

Multiple Credits