The Unpublished Applicant

The unpublished dermatology applicant is becoming scarce. Many dermatology applicants now have several publications on their ERAS application. What should those with a career interest in dermatology but no publications do? Certainly there are still applicants who successfully match into dermatology programs without publications. However, if there is interest in publishing, one rewarding approach is to contact dermatology faculty and residents about writing an case report about one of the interesting patients they have seen. Writing and publishing a case report is an excellent introduction to medical writing. Successful case reports involve researching the disease and distinguishing aspects about the case that make its presentation unique. Just because it was an interesting case in clinic does not mean that journals will be interested in publishing it. Critical thinking is important at this stage of selecting a case that will be of interest to journals, and faculty input is very important here. Some faculty have authored numerous case reports and have acquired a good understanding about what the journals prefer. Published case reports are ideally the first description of a new disease, but this is a rare event. More likely it will have to deal with a very rare disease that journal readers want to know more about, an uncommon presentation of a common disease, or some new drug or device that was useful to successfully treat skin disease. Recently introduced drugs may also have unreported adverse reactions on the skin, mucosa, nails or hair, and this observation could also make an interesting case report.

Once the topic is selected, student authors should collect all of the related materials such as clinical photos and dermatopathologic images, and do a literature review on the topic, creating a reference list. A journal should be selected and the case report should be written in the same style according to its authorship guidelines. Several revisions are typically needed before journal submission, with input from all of the co-authors. The student submits the article to the journal and begins the editorial review process. Often times manuscript revision is needed as advised by the reviewers and editor. Be sure to communicate with all of the co-authors to get their input at this point in the process. If the article is rejected from the first journal, the article should be submitted to another journal. An article may be rejected several times for many different reasons, but chances are if your case report has merit, the article will probably be published if you are persistent and find the right journal for it. Dermatology programs generally understand that first author publications by medical students are great professional accomplishments that take enormous talent and effort, and having publications on your ERAS application certainly may result in more invitations to interview for a dermatology residency position.