Where do I stand? Just needing advice

[Dermaholic]

MSIII
USMLE Step 1 - 251
USMLE Step 2 - scheduled
Excellent preclinical grades
AOA - not selected (yet?)
Honors - IM so far
Lots of extracurriculars
Non derm research - 2 presentations, 1 abstract, and grant awarded
Dermatology - 1 case report on the way, 1+ research projects on the way
2 away electives in Derm scheduled for next year
Good relationship with my home school's Derm department (I think)
Possibly only candidate applying from my school that I know of

I haven't been able to compared myself to any other applicants because I don't know anyone else applying. I really need advice on what to improve upon and I'd just like a reality check if my stats are good enough to get me into ANY kind of program. I'm looking to just get in somewhere.

Do I have a decent shot? Is is reasonable to go through match this year? Anything I can do to improve my chances?

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[rolling wheal]

Just do what's expected.. apply to a bunch of places.. at least 50.. be nice to everyone. There's no guarantee in this process but I'd say your chances are very very good. Just keep working on your projects.

 

[dermRus]

You have a strong application but a weakness (shared by many strong derm applicants) in that you do not have much research. Research and publications count for a lot and so continue to work hard on your projects to take them to publications. Work on review articles too so that you continue to publish while working on your research projects.

 

[violet7]

You have a strong application but a weakness (shared by many strong derm applicants) in that you do not have much research. Research and publications count for a lot and so continue to work hard on your projects to take them to publications. Work on review articles too so that you continue to publish while working on your research projects.

So basically it all comes down to the number of publications with your name on them?

From the Dermaholic's post I got an an impression that he/she's actually done a lot of research work...grant awarded, abstract, presentations...are you saying that all of this doesn't matter if it doesn't result in a publication?

 

[asmallchild]

So basically it all comes down to the number of publications with your name on them?

From the Dermaholic's post I got an an impression that he/she's actually done a lot of research work...grant awarded, abstract, presentations...are you saying that all of this doesn't matter if it doesn't result in a publication?

they do matter, it's just better if you can get a publication out of it

 

[deltamed]

So basically it all comes down to the number of publications with your name on them?

From the Dermaholic's post I got an an impression that he/she's actually done a lot of research work...grant awarded, abstract, presentations...are you saying that all of this doesn't matter if it doesn't result in a publication?

The problem with abstracts, presentations etc. is that you may have put a lot of work into them, or you may have thrown em together and got a bunch quickly... ie "garbage" research. It's hard for PDs to tell.

Even publications in crap journals and case reports and 4th author publications may be easy to get.

But if you have a first author (or multiple) pubs in a reputable name brand journal then likely you put substantial work into the research... maybe years of work. The PDs know the difference, believe me.

That being said, cases, abstracts, presentations etc is better than nothing and honestly if you are thinking about this as a 3rd year med student thats probably the best you can hope for unless you have a project with a whole lot of work behind you going to submission NOW.

 

[dermRus]

Violet 7, both research and publications are important but I think we should give advice on a forum like this toward a dermatology applicant and not general advice for application into a residency. What you say is true, having grants and abstracts are wonderful and do show a interest in research (and being able to obtain a grant on any level is impressive, might I add, especially if you had to put a proposal together to obtain it). But then comes the reality of the situation that publications are the commodity of research.

The OP asked for honest advice on application to dermatology and how to improve his/her chance in an application for dermatology. Because dermatology is competitive, for better or for worse, applicants are better served to know the distiction on what is considered a greater effort within the research arena. There is no question, and I agree with deltamed on this, that publications (especially first-author) require more work that an abstract and a medical student grant (although both are impressive too). Also, the question is how much better can the OP improve their application and set themself apart from the reset of the applicant pool. Dermatology departments LOVE students that have a mind toward research (and journal publications show off research to a greater depth than abstracts and grants).

 

[wonderboy00]

i don't mean to stray too far off the conversation, but while we're on the topic of publications, i was just wondering how review articles are perceived by programs? i'm assuming they lie somewhere between case reports and basic science research, but any more clarification would be helpful...

 

[N-Surge]

i don't mean to stray too far off the conversation, but while we're on the topic of publications, i was just wondering how review articles are perceived by programs? i'm assuming they lie somewhere between case reports and basic science research, but any more clarification would be helpful...

I would think this would depend on the following question. Are the authors experts in the field, with a track record of prior publications in defining that which is being reviewed? If the answer is yes then the reviews would hold a ton of weight, imo. It demonstrates leadership in teaching and keeping the science/medical community up to date in the area.

 

[N-Surge]

MSIII
USMLE Step 1 - 251
USMLE Step 2 - scheduled
Excellent preclinical grades but no school rankings
AOA - not selected (yet?)
Honors - IM, Exceptional ratings in all other clerkships, more to come
Lots of extracurriculars, volunteering, and leadership stuff
Urology research - 2 presentations, 1 abstract, and grant awarded
Dermatology - 1 case report on the way, 1+ research projects on the way
2 away electives in Derm scheduled for next year
Good relationship with my home school's Derm department (I think)
Possibly only candidate applying from my school that I know of

I haven't been able to compared myself to any other applicants because I don't know anyone else applying. I really need advice on what to improve upon and I'd just like a reality check if my stats are good enough to get me into ANY kind of program. I'm looking to just get in somewhere.

Do I have a decent shot? Is is reasonable to go through match this year? Anything I can do to improve my chances?

See here to compare your stats to who Matched this past March.

Good luck, and nice avatar!

 

[wonderboy00]

I would think this would depend on the following question. Are the authors experts in the field, with a track record of prior publications in defining that which is being reviewed? If the answer is yes then the reviews would hold a ton of weight, imo. It demonstrates leadership in teaching and keeping the science/medical community up to date in the area.

Hey thanks for the response....yea the PI is definitely well-known in his field. I'm actually going to take a year off to work with him and hopefully get out a few review articles/case reports/book chapters out. my only qualm is that he doesn't do basic science research...i'm hoping that these pubs will still look good though and a lack of basic science research pub doesn't hurt me...i just hope i made the right choice....what do u think? (hehe i'll be honest, i'm fishing for some words of encouragement)

 

[N-Surge]

Hey thanks for the response....yea the PI is definitely well-known in his field. I'm actually going to take a year off to work with him and hopefully get out a few review articles/case reports/book chapters out. my only qualm is that he doesn't do basic science research...i'm hoping that these pubs will still look good though and a lack of basic science research pub doesn't hurt me...i just hope i made the right choice....what do u think? (hehe i'll be honest, i'm fishing for some words of encouragement)

Clinical studies/trials or meta analysis? If so, I would see no problem in that!

 

[W5D]

Hey thanks for the response....yea the PI is definitely well-known in his field. I'm actually going to take a year off to work with him and hopefully get out a few review articles/case reports/book chapters out. my only qualm is that he doesn't do basic science research...i'm hoping that these pubs will still look good though and a lack of basic science research pub doesn't hurt me...i just hope i made the right choice....what do u think? (hehe i'll be honest, i'm fishing for some words of encouragement)

a year of clinical research / epidemiology can be even more worthwhile than a year of basic science research in some cases. it is much easier to publish / complete your projects.

i took a year to do clinical research with a well-known PI, published a number of articles (some in lower level journals and some in higher level journals), decent board scores / grades, mid-level school, got 20 interviews.

 

[wonderboy00]

a year of clinical research / epidemiology can be even more worthwhile than a year of basic science research in some cases. it is much easier to publish / complete your projects.

i took a year to do clinical research with a well-known PI, published a number of articles (some in lower level journals and some in higher level journals), decent board scores / grades, mid-level school, got 20 interviews.

were u able to publish the results of the clinical research, or were your pubs case reports/review articles that you did on the side? and congrats on the number of interviews!

 

[W5D]

were u able to publish the results of the clinical research, or were your pubs case reports/review articles that you did on the side? and congrats on the number of interviews!

i was involved in both larger industry-funded clinical studies and smaller investigator initiated studies. not involved in the publications for the larger studies. usually, only the big names get on those articles. did publish the results from the smaller, investigator initiated studies. these can often be done relatively quickly, particularly if you are doing retrospective studies / chart reviews. also involved in some case reports and review articles (related to research) on the side.

as a side, during the interviews, i found that people were much more interested in the smaller-investigator initiated studies than the larger industry-funded studies.

if i were you, i would try to publish a case report or 2, maybe a review article or 2, and maybe one or 2 articles from a retrospective study / epidemiology study (if possible). a good amount of work, but worth it i think. plus, i found that i had a lot more free time during the research year than during med school.

 

[dermish irony]

i didn't have any publications. i also matched into a program that i didn't even rotate through. i also wasn't AOA. my step1 was average for a derm applicant (240s). i'm not sure how i slipped through the cracks.

maybe it was my personal statement (which i personally thought was bad) and rec letters (including one from a big name derm guy)? maybe my personality stood out (which is not snob/dick/impersonable weirdo who is a hermit doing research all day)? and i felt all my interviews went really well! there's hope!

 

[Myta]

Hey,

this is a cool site for seeing prior applicant years stats, where they applied, where they received interviews, and where they matched.

http://dermatology.matchapplicants.com/

There are only 62 applicants, but it is informative.

The take home message is, apply broadly, very broadly.
In fact, I know someone who applied to alll 110 or so of them.

Best,

 

[sensitive skin]

Hey,

this is a cool site for seeing prior applicant years stats, where they applied, where they received interviews, and where they matched.

http://dermatology.matchapplicants.com/

There are only 62 applicants, but it is informative.

The take home message is, apply broadly, very broadly.
In fact, I know someone who applied to alll 110 or so of them.

Best,

I know someone who applied to ALL programs, got only 1 interview, and got the spot. NOT JOKING. Coincidentally he did a rotation there...so apply broadly but make the BEST impression you can make on rotations.