Caroline Nelson, MD, MHS-Med Ed, FAAD

Caroline Nelson, MD is a medical dermatologist at Yale School of Medicine. She treats patients at Yale New Haven Hospital and at the Yale Medicine Dermatology New Haven and Madison clinics.

“As a medical student, what inspired me to go into dermatology was seeing the negative impact of skin diseases on quality of life. I wanted to make a difference, particularly for critically ill patients,” she says. Following her dermatology residency at the University of Pennsylvania, Dr. Nelson completed a fellowship in complex medical dermatology at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute of Harvard Medical School.

At Yale, Dr. Nelson attends on the consult service and focuses her clinical and research activities on severe cutaneous adverse reactions, such as drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms (DRESS) and Stevens–Johnson syndrome/toxic epidermal necrolysis (SJS/TEN). She also has expertise in neutrophilic skin disorders and paraneoplastic syndromes. In her outpatient clinics, Dr. Nelson performs skin cancer screenings and treats patients with a variety of skin problems, including acne, psoriasis, and eczema.

Dr. Nelson is passionate about medical education. She teaches the inpatient dermatology curriculum at Yale School of Medicine and and has published a comprehensive board review as well as practice examinations to prepare residents for the American Board of Dermatology in-training and certification examinations. She finds particular fulfillment in her role as a longitudinal coach and high-engagement tutor for medical students, and as co-director of the Attacks and Defenses master course.

“Teaching is not simply about communicating facts,” she says, “it is about demonstrating how the doctor-patient relationship can improve the lives of patients with skin diseases.” An emerging area of interest for Dr. Nelson is exploring how dermatologists can work synergistically with cutting-edge technologies to improve patient care while preserving the human doctor–patient relationship.