Student without a Home Dermatology Department Seeking Some Insight

[CsZon]

Hey All!

I'm currently a MSI at a low-tier Allopathic medical school and had come into medical school interested in dermatology. I know that it is still extremely early to be thinking about preparing for match as a first year, but I have heard from many individuals that for competitive specialties such as Dermatology, it is best to participate in research early on to show your interest. So far, I have been performing pretty well academically and want to begin to participate in some research projects. However, without a home derm department finding research seems to be a problem. Hearing from some upperclassmen at my school, I believe that my medical school has one dermatologist that has case reports that can be written up by medical students. However, other than that I believe that the research opportunities are pretty limited.

Ideally, I would be able to complete a derm research project the summer between MS1 and MS2, but I don't see that happening at my medical school. I was hoping to hear some first-hand accounts from some individuals who have successfully matched into dermatology without a home dermatology department. Did you look for dermatology research at other medical schools (cold calling?). Are there summer research fellowships that are dermatology-related that I should be applying to? Would it be a good idea to look for research in another field at my medical school that may be somewhat related to dermatology? (maybe immunology research?)

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

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[asmallchild]

Hey All!

I'm currently a MSI at a low-tier Allopathic medical school and had come into medical school interested in dermatology. I know that it is still extremely early to be thinking about preparing for match as a first year, but I have heard from many individuals that for competitive specialties such as Dermatology, it is best to participate in research early on to show your interest. So far, I have been performing pretty well academically and want to begin to participate in some research projects. However, without a home derm department finding research seems to be a problem. Hearing from some upperclassmen at my school, I believe that my medical school has one dermatologist that has case reports that can be written up by medical students. However, other than that I believe that the research opportunities are pretty limited.

Ideally, I would be able to complete a derm research project the summer between MS1 and MS2, but I don't see that happening at my medical school. I was hoping to hear some first-hand accounts from some individuals who have successfully matched into dermatology without a home dermatology department. Did you look for dermatology research at other medical schools (cold calling?). Are there summer research fellowships that are dermatology-related that I should be applying to? Would it be a good idea to look for research in another field at my medical school that may be somewhat related to dermatology? (maybe immunology research?)

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

I would look elsewhere. If you are going to dedicate a summer to research, you want more than a case report to show for it. Try asking around other schools with dermatology programs or consider a summer position at something like the NIH if available

Are there students who have matched successful from your school? Try asking them where they pursued their research.

Research in something related to dermatology (allergy, immunology, infectious disease, surgery, etc) can also be helpful if you prefer to stay at your home institution

 

[DermViser]

Hey All!

I'm currently a MSI at a low-tier Allopathic medical school and had come into medical school interested in dermatology. I know that it is still extremely early to be thinking about preparing for match as a first year, but I have heard from many individuals that for competitive specialties such as Dermatology, it is best to participate in research early on to show your interest. So far, I have been performing pretty well academically and want to begin to participate in some research projects. However, without a home derm department finding research seems to be a problem. Hearing from some upperclassmen at my school, I believe that my medical school has one dermatologist that has case reports that can be written up by medical students. However, other than that I believe that the research opportunities are pretty limited.

Ideally, I would be able to complete a derm research project the summer between MS1 and MS2, but I don't see that happening at my medical school. I was hoping to hear some first-hand accounts from some individuals who have successfully matched into dermatology without a home dermatology department. Did you look for dermatology research at other medical schools (cold calling?). Are there summer research fellowships that are dermatology-related that I should be applying to? Would it be a good idea to look for research in another field at my medical school that may be somewhat related to dermatology? (maybe immunology research?)

Any input would be greatly appreciated!

There are some summer research type programs that can be done after M1 in which you can participate in a research project. This can be a formal type of program or something you can just set up on your own to work with an academic dermatologist on a short term research project. You could also participate in a project that has direct application to dermatology but in another specialty -- Peds, Allergy, Onc, Rheum, etc.