I think this is a great topic. The process of applying in Derm is so opaque that there really needs to be a concerted effort to help applicants understand the choices they are making. After the application process, there are definitely things I wish I knew or at least asked.
Quantitative Things:
--Papers per resident published as a surrogate of mentorship or faculty members; put the journals on there too and whether they were case reports that barely qualify as research or something more legitimate
--Avg. percentile scores on the in-service as a surrogate of clinical knowledge or at least time off to study
--Grants/awards won by residents in the past several years
--List of faculty members that served as advisors to residents (and the projects advised) which indicate whether the big shots really actually care about residents
--% that went to any of the fellowships; data on those who didn't match would be useful
--List the institutions or practices where grads/recent alumni went on to
--% that went to academics/private practice
--Average of job offers per newly graduated resident
Qualitative Things
--This is tough to answer in a website, but I wish there was an anonymous way or at least free form text where senior residents or recent graduates can comment on research mentorship; was there enough money/time/support (statistical, laboratory, engineering, whatever) to get stuff done.
--Indication of which sub-specialities in Derm the department is exceptionally strong in. If you're great at Dermpath, let it be known. If you're the center for peds derm, terrific. If you don't do much cosmetics training, just admit it. If you don't have that much Mohs, please let us know.
--What's the alumni network look like? Are you getting connected to sweet job opportunities or on your own to figure it out once 4th year strikes.
And I love the
@OveractiveBrain quote--I think there is much truth to it. I can't remember the paper, but it was maybe a year ago. Rads and Derm were the fields that had the most respondents declare they would not consider another speciality but had the highest proportion of respondents that regretted going into medicine...