Derm Residency is 3 or 4 Years?

[gary5]

Hi. I've seen references to 3- and 4-year derm residencies. Which is it? When people mention 3 years, are they implying an additional year of preliminary medicine?

Thanks!

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[ckent]

Yup. It's 3 yrs plus one year of preliminary work, usually preliminary medicine or a transitional year. It makes applying for derm a huge hassle, since not only do you have to apply to all 100 derm programs out there, you also have to apply for a bunch of prelim programs in all these different cities if you want to do your prelim at the same city of wherever you are able to get in for derm (which is almost impossible to predict prior to getting your interviews).

 

[gary5]

What do residents do if they've done their year of preliminary medicine but don't get into a derm program? I assume they apply for some other specialty residencies. Does the 1 year count as a year toward that other programs?

Thanks!

 

[ckent]

Yes, the pgy-1 year counts as a year of medicine if you do it in medicine, or surgery if you do it there. Most places won't count a transitional year for anything, so you should be careful if you choose to do that. The match process is extremely complicated, but you can pick a prelim spot and a derm spot in the same city, but if you don't match in that derm spot, you can specify to go on to your next prelim spot matched with your next derm spot, or, most people have a few IM residencies or other specialties as back up on their eras. Those that don't can choose to match in their prelim year (you can choose not to match if you don't match in derm too), and re-apply during their prelim year, or, many take a year off to do research. Derm is extremely competetive for everyone right now, and the sad reality is that most people who apply don't match. Those that do are usually AOA, have high board scores, excellent letters of reccomendation, and many have derm research.

 

[ptstanto]

M3 here looking at derm as a potential. 255 on Step 1 with AOA likely. Not too interested in doing research, but will if I need to. Any ideas of my chances without research? Thanks.

 

[ny skindoc]

Would strongly suggest doing research at least as a way of demonstrating a true interest in the field and getting strong letters of rec.Dermatolgy is a highly academic specialty and research is highly valued by residency programs.although your score is great it does not guarantee a match on its own.