Early Dermatology Residency Interview Offers Catch Some Applicants Off Guard This Year: Is the De Facto Application Dermatology Residency Application Deadline Now October 1st?

Some dermatology applicants were pleasantly surprised last week when they received interview offers from dermatology residency programs. In the past, most dermatology residency programs did not begin to offer interviews until after their application deadline, typically November 1^st. However, now that the Dean’s Letter is released to Program Directors through ERAS on October 1st, dermatology residency programs are free to review completed applications on October 1st and offer interviews earlier than was possible in previous years. Future dermatology applicants may want to complete their ERAS applications as soon as is possible so that they will be considered for competitive interview slots at these “early bird” programs. In addition, this changing national timeline for dermatology could reward students who complete all of their home and visiting dermatology rotations by October 1^st  with additional interviews. Time will tell if more dermatology residency programs embrace this practice next year. With the earlier availability of the Dean’s Letter, perhaps dermatology programs will use October 1^st as their application deadline in future years.