Much blame for what ails residency education has been heaped on limited resources, the rapid growth in medical knowledge and technology, shifts in lifestyle attitudes of trainees, and marked changes affecting the health care industry.

By contrast, less heed has been given to the possibility that inertia and ineffective leadership or oversight may be the major stumbling blocks to better education.

This essay is dedicated to the belief that what residents are taught and how they are taught are of seminal importance to the future of our specialty.

It focuses attention on constructive mechanisms and strategies that, if employed, might improve the processes of teaching and learning during residency.

Finally, it advances the notion that all dermatologists (academicians and community practitioners alike) should harbor concern and demonstrate responsibility for the education of our future colleagues.