Sep 7, 2026 · 58 min · 10 segments
In this episode of the DIGA Podcast, we speak with Dr. Vinod E. Nambudiri, MD, MBA, MPH, EdM, Program Director of the Harvard Combined Dermatology Residency Program. Dr. Nambudiri shares his journey…
Vinod NambudiriGuest
Shan FrancisHost
I think so many of our audience, so many people in our audience could resonate that, of course, you know, trying to make that decision about, you know, what part of dermatology may be right for you and and what you should specialize in.
And so just understanding that the right time, right place, it definitely you find your place.
And then all this understanding that, you know, you do fall into what you're supposed to be and it worked out for you and you fall into something that you've loved.
And one thing you did say, which really stood out to me, was that you had really good mentorship and support within your program.
My ask is, what was that transition like to leadership to become that support for others? Was that something that you always thought you might want to pursue or that it just fell into place like everything else along your path?
I think the amazing, like the powerful thing about mentorship is if you have the privilege of experiencing great mentorship, it almost it kindles the spark in you to like pay it forward and do the same for others.
I think I had the opportunity during residency to start cultivating that mentorship spirit, if you will, working with a lot of medical students who came through either from our own institution or from other institutions that were rotating with us or that were working on our teams or in our clinics, both on the medicine side and on the derm side.
And I thought for me, it was so important to be able to foster that interest, just like I knew that had been so impactful for me.
And so opportunities that I had to even do small one-off things, like be on a panel and talk about what it was like to be a resident or to apply to residency or whatever.
It's, you know, taking an hour out of the day to spend some time and have those discussions, but just knowing how meaningful those had been for me, it was the kind of thing that I tried to stay connected to and to pay it back.
During my time as a resident, I also had the chance to start mentoring more junior trainees on kind of one-off individual research projects or scholarly projects.
And that was also really valuable for me as a resident to not be the person overall in charge.
We were still working under an intending and still very much so learning as we were doing, but having the opportunity to build a little bit of a mentoring relationship really started out then.
And I knew as I was kind of making the transition from resident to attending hood, I wanted to stay in a place that could allow me the opportunity to continue being a mentor and to continue being involved and engaged somehow in the process of education that was super important to what I was doing and super important to why I really loved what I was doing.
And so those two things were kind of a thread for me as I was looking for jobs and opportunities.
The first job that I ended up taking right out of residency also allowed me to have a role formally as like an associate program director of a residency program.
And that was particularly meaningful in shaping my commitment to graduate medical education.
And then I had the opportunity thereafter to become a program director for a transitional year residency, which is a little bit out of the mold for maybe a dermatologist, but is very much consistent with training in internal medicine as well.
And having the chance to work with 12 folks who had literally just stepped out of medical school and were doing the first acts of being a doctor for the first time, being an intern, you know, figuring out what it means to be the one putting in the orders and being the person that sees your patients day in and day out as the front line.
I really, really found it particularly valuable and meaningful and think it helped me affirm my commitment to training and education and mentorship.
I think so many of our audience, so many people in our audience could resonate that, of course, you know, trying to make that decision about, you know, what part of dermatology may be right for you and and what you should specialize in.
And so just understanding that the right time, right place, it definitely you find your place.
And then all this understanding that, you know, you do fall into what you're supposed to be and it worked out for you and you fall into something that you've loved.
And one thing you did say, which really stood out to me, was that you had really good mentorship and support within your program.
My ask is, what was that transition like to leadership to become that support for others? Was that something that you always thought you might want to pursue or that it just fell into place like everything else along your path?
I think the amazing, like the powerful thing about mentorship is if you have the privilege of experiencing great mentorship, it almost it kindles the spark in you to like pay it forward and do the same for others.
I think I had the opportunity during residency to start cultivating that mentorship spirit, if you will, working with a lot of medical students who came through either from our own institution or from other institutions that were rotating with us or that were working on our teams or in our clinics, both on the medicine side and on the derm side.
And I thought for me, it was so important to be able to foster that interest, just like I knew that had been so impactful for me.
And so opportunities that I had to even do small one-off things, like be on a panel and talk about what it was like to be a resident or to apply to residency or whatever.
It's, you know, taking an hour out of the day to spend some time and have those discussions, but just knowing how meaningful those had been for me, it was the kind of thing that I tried to stay connected to and to pay it back.
During my time as a resident, I also had the chance to start mentoring more junior trainees on kind of one-off individual research projects or scholarly projects.
And that was also really valuable for me as a resident to not be the person overall in charge.
We were still working under an intending and still very much so learning as we were doing, but having the opportunity to build a little bit of a mentoring relationship really started out then.
And I knew as I was kind of making the transition from resident to attending hood, I wanted to stay in a place that could allow me the opportunity to continue being a mentor and to continue being involved and engaged somehow in the process of education that was super important to what I was doing and super important to why I really loved what I was doing.
And so those two things were kind of a thread for me as I was looking for jobs and opportunities.
The first job that I ended up taking right out of residency also allowed me to have a role formally as like an associate program director of a residency program.
And that was particularly meaningful in shaping my commitment to graduate medical education.
And then I had the opportunity thereafter to become a program director for a transitional year residency, which is a little bit out of the mold for maybe a dermatologist, but is very much consistent with training in internal medicine as well.
And having the chance to work with 12 folks who had literally just stepped out of medical school and were doing the first acts of being a doctor for the first time, being an intern, you know, figuring out what it means to be the one putting in the orders and being the person that sees your patients day in and day out as the front line.
I really, really found it particularly valuable and meaningful and think it helped me affirm my commitment to training and education and mentorship.
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