Question about best derm residencies

[1dayatatime]

What is the draw for getting into the "best" derm residency one can get into (I mean after all it is derm, which is already ridiculously difficult to get into, let alone medical school is already difficult to get into)? I mean, I know top private places have generally better teaching, more research opportunities and money, and perhaps better fellowship placement and higher board pass rate (can I get this info about the boards pass rate somewhere?) but is that really for people who wanna do Academics/high-powered positions? I'm assuming it doesn't matter so much for ppl who wanna do Private practice?

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[asmallchild]

What is the draw for getting into the "best" derm residency one can get into (I mean after all it is derm, which is already ridiculously difficult to get into, let alone medical school is already difficult to get into)? I mean, I know top private places have generally better teaching, more research opportunities and money, and perhaps better fellowship placement and higher board pass rate (can I get this info about the boards pass rate somewhere?) but is that really for people who wanna do Academics/high-powered positions? I'm assuming it doesn't matter so much for ppl who wanna do Private practice?

For most of us, you get in where you can. If you are fortunate enough to be in the driver's seat for this process, "better" derm residencies could but do not necessarily mean better teaching (but perhaps more malignancy and longer hours), more research opportunities and funding (but perhaps more of an emphasis on research for those who have no interest in it), and better networking opportunities which in turn could lead to better fellowship placement (or more competition amongst your co-residents). Board pass rates are almost all the same amongst all programs.

But again, for most of us, you apply broadly, you interview where you get invites, and pick the program where you think you'll be the happiest.

 

[1dayatatime]

What's your opinion on small (3 and under) vs larger (3+) residency class size?

 

[Tamahawk]

What is the draw for getting into the "best" derm residency one can get into (I mean after all it is derm, which is already ridiculously difficult to get into, let alone medical school is already difficult to get into)? I mean, I know top private places have generally better teaching, more research opportunities and money, and perhaps better fellowship placement and higher board pass rate (can I get this info about the boards pass rate somewhere?) but is that really for people who wanna do Academics/high-powered positions? I'm assuming it doesn't matter so much for ppl who wanna do Private practice?

Agree with Asmallchild. If you just want to do general dermatology +/- cosmetics in private practice, then it really doesn't matter at all where you go for residency (in terms of obtaining a job. You may be slightly less knowledgable about rare/complex diseases, but you don't really need to be all that good to be a general Derm in private practice-- the bar is pretty low).

If, on the other hand, you want to do a fellowship or are considering academics, it helps to go to the "best" place you can get accepted into.

 

[asmallchild]

What's your opinion on small (3 and under) vs larger (3+) residency class size?

All personal preference, I preferred the camaraderie (not to mention shared call pool) of a larger program.

 

[smartparts]

im in a large program but one of the advantages to a smaller programs is getting to see pretty much every interesting case referred to your program in person. in other words, the other residents will pull you into their exam room in clinic or tell you about puzzling consults on the floor. it will still happen in large programs, but you will rely more on grand rounds/case conferences to see such cases. just an observation.

 

[doctalaughs]

im in a large program but one of the advantages to a smaller programs is getting to see pretty much every interesting case referred to your program in person. in other words, the other residents will pull you into their exam room in clinic or tell you about puzzling consults on the floor. it will still happen in large programs, but you will rely more on grand rounds/case conferences to see such cases. just an observation.

Not sure I totally agree - its probably more a function of the culture of your program. I was at a large program and co-residents routinely pulled you in for interesting things (if you were at the same sites). Of course, you wouldn't see EVERY single case referred to your program but there were more cases overall so it balanced out.

I agree that grand rounds tend to be way better at larger places due to the large # of patients to draw upon. I remember attending several small/medium program grand rounds and thinking "why are they bringing a condition I see once a week"

Smaller programs you might get to know the attendings better though, since there are fewer.

 

[gurlyderm77]

I agree with doctalaughs. It is more the culture of the program. I know a small program that does not share anything. It is every resident for themselves. A terrible environment to train.

Sometimes it can be difficult to tease this information out during the interview. It is best to get input from other residents/medical students who rotated through the program and know the dynamics of it. Make friends with other med students during your aways and interviews. This is probably your best resource about the true nature of the program.

 

[PatsyStone]

im in a large program but one of the advantages to a smaller programs is getting to see pretty much every interesting case referred to your program in person. in other words, the other residents will pull you into their exam room in clinic or tell you about puzzling consults on the floor. it will still happen in large programs, but you will rely more on grand rounds/case conferences to see such cases. just an observation.

Besides this (and better grand rounds), what I liked about larger programs is that you get exposure to more attendings, which means you'll have more exposure to different ways of treating and managing conditions

 

[spartan564]

how does one go about tactfully figuring out how long the hours worked by the residents are? what about assessing if a program is "malignant"? Any specific questions that would be a good for assessing for these?

 

[asmallchild]

how does one go about tactfully figuring out how long the hours worked by the residents are? what about assessing if a program is "malignant"? Any specific questions that would be a good for assessing for these?

You find the least enthusiastic resident during happy hour, wait til they have a couple drinks in them, then fire away with questioning