Couples Matching for Dermatology Applicants

As competitive as the dermatology residency application are, what happens when the dermatology applicant is in a couples match? When both applicants want to match into the same dermatology program, it could become much more difficult to match because most dermatology residency programs have relative few positions each year. Matching into dermatology programs in the same city or geographic area can also be difficult, even if there are multiple dermatology programs in the area because of the competitive nature of the application process. However, there may also be an advantage to couples matching when the couple wants two different specialties. Since dermatology interviews tend to be toward the end of the interview period with most dermatology interviews held in January, the applicant to a different specialty has often interviewed earlier. If the earlier applicant is competitive for that specialty and is wanted by the program director, it is not unusual for the program director to contact the dermatology program director at the same institution and request an interview for the dermatology applicant. When these types of internal contacts occur at multiple institutions it can result in an increased number of interviews for the dermatology applicant. Of course, more dermatology interviews are often correlated with increased chances of matching into a dermatology residency program.