Farewell Q&A: Dr. Jenny Chen Reflects on Her Time as Clinical Research Coordinator

Each year, the UW Department of Dermatology proudly welcomes fellows from across the country to engage in our clinical, research, and educational programs. As our latest cohort nears the end of their training, we invited our fellows to reflect on their experiences and share their aspirations for the next chapter of their professional journey.

Please join us in bidding a warm farewell to Jenny Chen, MD, who joined UW Dermatology in June 2023 as a Clinical Research Coordinator supporting the work of Michi Shinohara, MD, Professor and Vice Chair of UW Dermatology.

"In the past two years, Jenny has touched many of us with her beautiful and thoughtful drawings, Zoom meetings with her kitties in the background, and music from "Cello Chen." I wish her the very best in her next steps, and look forward to collaborating with her in her future career as a radiation oncologist." —Dr. Michi Shinohara  

Farewell Q&A 

What are your post-fellowship plans? 

I will be going on to complete a radiation oncology residency at Cedars Sinai.  

What did you enjoy most about your fellowship experience? 

I really felt welcomed and felt like I mattered. I was excited to come into work, not only because I found the research projects I was working on to be exciting, but also because I was looking forward to the interesting conversations with residents and attendings. 

What accomplishments are you most proud of? 

We have six first author papers that are either published or submitted.  

Who were your mentors and how did they support you? 

My mentor was Dr. Shinohara. She is one of the best mentors that anyone can possibly have. She really tailored my fellowship to my interests, encouraged me to explore my career options, and modeled what a healthy mentorship looks like.  

I was also mentored by other attendings in the department. I’m thankful to Dr. Nghiem, who helped me rediscover my love for music. To Dr. Anna Cogen, who always modeled compassion and empathy for her patients and her students. To Dr. Kalus, who allowed me to venture outside of CTCL and work on projects with the SKCC free clinic. And to Dr. Hanson and Dr. Chang, for agreeing to review 40+ pathology reports on their own time for my ChatGPT project.  

Thank you to the residents and staff at UW Dermatology for taking time out of their day to teach me and make me feel at home. 

I’m forever grateful for the time I spent at UW, and I will always partially be a Husky at heart.