Editors



Current Editors: Fareen Momin and Jane Onyemachi

(Please email editors if there is blog-worthy news that you would like to see shared)

Past Editors: Andrea Francis, Renat Ahatov, Michael Phan, Elise Weisert, Michael Ryan, Keith Wagner, Tim Allen, Kristyna Gleghorn, Dung Mac, Alex Acosta, William Tausend, Sheila Jalalat, Rebecca Philips, Chelsea Altinger, Lindsey Hunter, Alison Wiesenthal, Leslie Scroggins, Mara Dacso, Ashley Group, Fadi Constantine, Emily Fridlington, Joslyn Witherspoon, Tasneem Poonawalla.

Monday, May 04, 2015

DIG Meeting Recap from 4/27/2015


Advices from MS4s for preparing for residency
1.     Meet with Dr. Raimer and/or Dr. Wagner when you decided on dermatology to see what advices they have for you. Also meet with them before letter writing time (August).
2.     When on a dermatology rotation, use AAD.org medical student education powerpoints (https://www.aad.org/education/basic-dermatology-curriculum/teaching-and-learning-guides/learner-s-guide) to help prepare for the rotation.
3.     Away rotations- keep in mind west coast schools might not give you interviews. It’s also not a good idea to have too many UTMB students (>3-4) doing aways at the same school. The school may not offer interviews to all of the students.
4.     You could get interviewed during your derm rotations (UT Houston does a panel interview for away students), so always be prepared.
5.     You can use your dermatology personal statement for your prelim/transitional year personal statement.
6.     The decision to select a prelim or transition program is important!
a.     If the applicant would be happy in another specialty as a backup then a preliminary PGY1 year in that specialty is good (internal medicine, pediatrics, etc).
b.     However, if the MS4 does not match into an advanced PGY2 dermatology position as a MS4, matching into a PGY1 position in medicine or pediatrics will preclude Medicare funding of residency for the PGY4 year of dermatology if they decide to try again for dermatology and successfully match. This could be a major competitive disadvantage for dermatology reapplicants.
c.      If the MS4 plans on reapplying to dermatology should they fail to initially match into dermatology, it would be better to match into a PGY1 position in general surgery (5 years of funding) or a transitional PGY1 year (funding to be determined by PGY2 specialty selection).
7.     Interview questions: Most interviewers ask about your personal statement so be sure to know your personal statement well and have a fluent story ready. Also you may be asked questions about conflicting experiences you’ve had a faculty or colleague on a project and how you handled the situation.
8.     Money saving tips: Use AriBnB.com for rooming

How to Prepare an Honors Thesis
1.     This is a complicated process that can take more than 6 months to process for approval (expect multiple revisions)
2.     See attached document for more specifics information https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1X_P-TTWEkiWlM3SXBWNmZpSW8/view?usp=sharing

Upcoming DIG volunteering events
1.     Stay Shady Presentation- at Crenshaw Elementary School on Thursday, 5/7/2015, 2:45-3:45PM. Contact Kristyna to volunteer (klglegho@utmb.edu)  
2.     AIM Melanoma Walk- Saturday 6/6/2015, registration starts at 8AM, location at UTMB Alumni Field House. For more information and to register online, visit http://galveston2015.aimatmelanoma.org/Static/Event-Info
a.     Fee: None- Each participant encouraged to raise $50
b.     Register by May 22nd to ensure FREE T-Shirt
c.      Contacts: Julie Ann Amthor (jaamthor@utmb.edu), Neil Jackson (ndjackso@utmb.edu), and Jasmine Stephens (jcstephe@utmb.edu)