The Next Step: Growing Professionally Contributing to Dermatology Knowledge

There is no doubt that you are an excellent student! You probably did well on the SAT and got into your first choice undergraduate college. You continued to excel academically and had a high undergraduate GPA, aced the MCAT, and got into medical school. During medical school you continued to do well academically and high passed/honored most of your courses, and may even have been be elected to AOA. You also scored well on the Step 1 and Step 2 exams. Your professors think you are great and you have no problem getting enthusiastic letters of recommendation. There is no doubt that you are an excellent student!

While most residency programs would be delighted to interview someone with your academic achievements, many dermatology residencies are looking for even more from applicants. This has occurred because the supply of residency positions in dermatology are much less than the current demand for them. Due to self-selection (and often times the advisement from a wise medical school Dean with recent experience in NRMP statistics from previously successful dermatology applicants from your school), most dermatology applicants have the numbers to match. However, in recent years some of them still have not been successful in obtaining a dermatology residency.

Given the oversupply of capable dermatology applicants, how do programs decide who to interview and rank highly on their match list? Different programs use different criteria. However, many programs are interested in applicants’ transition from excellent student to active contributor. Student professional development and maturation can be demonstrated in a variety of ways. One way is to engage in productive dermatology research at your medical school or through leadership roles in active volunteer student organizations that permit interaction with faculty. Not all medical students have the same research skill sets or organizational skills to engage in complex research or student leadership roles right away, but research skills and leadership, just like study skills can be developed over time if the student is motivated to do so. Try finding a dermatology resident or faculty with an “interesting case” and take the initiative to research the medical literature to see if this patient had unusual or novel aspects to their disease presentation, diagnosis, treatment or course. If you are able to become actively engaged and write up the case report with close interaction and feedback with the team members caring for the patient, you will certainly learn and at the same time develop important research skills that will help you throughout the remainder of your professional career. By going through the steps needed for poster presentation and or publication, you will be sharing your unique experience and helping other dermatologists learn. Based on your early research exposure, you may even become involved in more complicated research projects or even become the Principal Investigator of a dermatology study you initiate. Likewise, leadership roles may be learned by joining a student organization on campus and learning from more senior students. Of course your supervising dermatology faculty will see your research and leadership abilities grow and will be able to provide a more in-depth letter of recommendation that may encourage faculty from another dermatology program to put you on their interview list!