James Donnelly, MD, received his bachelor's degree from Northwestern University and his medical degree from Washington University in St. Louis. He received training in internal medicine at the Jewish Hospital of St. Louis, and completed a dermatology residency at Barnes Jewish Hospital, serving as chief resident in dermatology during his final year.

He is past-president of the St. Louis Derm Journal Club and the St. Louis Dermatological Society. Other memberships include the Missouri Dermatological Society and the American Academy of Dermatology, and he has been named to the national register of Best Doctors. He joined Associates in Dermatology in 1991.