Advice for the Away Dermatology Rotation

It’s almost the beginning of the 2010—2011 academic year, and new MS4s across the country who are hopeful about a dermatology career will be taking dermatology electives away from their home schools. Those doing so will probably learn a lot and broaden their educational horizons by visiting different programs across the country or even in the same city, state or region. What distinguishes a good dermatology student from a great one during an away “audition” rotation in the eyes of the faculty, residents, and staff? We polled several dermatology residents and faculty, and came up with the following:

-An excellent dermatology rotator arrives on time in the morning, dresses appropriately, and stays until the last patient is seen in the afternoon clinics. If it is necessary to be absent from any clinic assignment, lecture or rotation, the excellent rotator will let the impacted resident and faculty know about it as soon as is possible.

-An excellent dermatology rotator works hard during the rotation to learn the most possible, including reading about patients seen in the clinic.

-An excellent dermatology rotator shows genuine interest and enthusiasm for dermatology by asking dermatology residents and faculty good questions at appropriate times.

-If an opportunity for research during the rotation becomes available (most often a case report unless the rotation is a planned research elective), the excellent dermatology rotator will volunteer to help research the related medical literature, take the initiative to write up the case and diligently work with the resident and/or faculty, trying to complete the project prior to the end of the rotation or shortly after it. This is a great opportunity for rotators to learn and to create an excellent impression if your interactions, quality and timing of this effort consistently exceed expectations. Be careful not to become too overextended with multiple projects if you don’t think it is possible to complete them in a timely manner with high quality. Faculty and residents understand that no one student can participate in every research idea during a short clinical rotation, and would prefer to see you excel with one project rather than underperform with many.

-An excellent dermatology rotator will avoid drama during all interactions with residents, faculty and staff. Remain professional and positive at all times!

-Past academic performance still counts. Many programs are looking for applicants who have evidenced high academic achievement (high step scores, AOA, published research) but the “perfect” application is rarely achieved. However, the away rotation is an opportunity to create a great first impression that is not possible through impersonal electronic applications. In rare instances, there is nobody applying from a medical school that offers a dermatology residency, so that program must select outside applicants to fill their available position(s). Several dermatology residency programs are not affiliated with a medical school or not closely tied to one in the same city, so they always have to fill with outside applicants.

-If you do well during an away rotation, request a letter from the faculty you worked most closely with, especially if there was research involved. Even if you do not match at that program, the dermatology community is small and that letter may open doors at other programs that are familiar with the writer.

Good luck from the UTMB DIG in your upcoming away dermatology rotations!