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Hey guys,
Im currently going to be rising senior in undergrad and Im planning on taking a year off before medical school. I shouldnt have any problem of getting into good med school, but I think I would like to wait a year before I apply instead of deferring upon an school that I would have received acceptance from this year.
Im actually interested in pursuing a 1 year research fellowship opportunity in the field of skin disease/dermatology. Aside from a variety of reasons including that my mother is a dermatologist, derms definitely a serious field Id like to consider. Of course, Im aware about the competitiveness (USMLE of 240-250+, honors, letters of recc, and all the other criteria on the NRMP statistics) and I'm definitely ready for the challenge.
In the meantime, I think the best advice I have received from a several derms in their residencies was to get involved in derm research as early as possible and do a little resume building with posters/clinical case studies. They emphasized this point because after a solid usmle score, honors, the external factors such as research and letters of reccs from notable academic dermies become highly valued. So I hope I dont sound naive in the decision Id like to make but rather I really conversed with many people in the field of dermatology who provided me the scope of what Im getting myself involved in.
Now this isn't the only reason why I would like to take a year off. Part of me really wants a break from academics but at the same time, I want to do research thats conducive to applying for the residency Im interested in.
Basically, I wanted to ask you guys about what approach I could take to apply for such a fellowship. Would it be best to contact and email professors or are there certain programs out there that accomdate students? Would such an opportunity come via connections or should I email and forward my resume to as many derm faculty out there??
To be flat out honest, I am definitely interested but at the same time, I realize how important the end-products (pubs, posters, case studies) become highly valued when applying for residency so I would want to pursue this 1-year option only if its plausible that such tangible results are possible for a pre-1st year med student.
Thanks.
Im currently going to be rising senior in undergrad and Im planning on taking a year off before medical school. I shouldnt have any problem of getting into good med school, but I think I would like to wait a year before I apply instead of deferring upon an school that I would have received acceptance from this year.
Im actually interested in pursuing a 1 year research fellowship opportunity in the field of skin disease/dermatology. Aside from a variety of reasons including that my mother is a dermatologist, derms definitely a serious field Id like to consider. Of course, Im aware about the competitiveness (USMLE of 240-250+, honors, letters of recc, and all the other criteria on the NRMP statistics) and I'm definitely ready for the challenge.
In the meantime, I think the best advice I have received from a several derms in their residencies was to get involved in derm research as early as possible and do a little resume building with posters/clinical case studies. They emphasized this point because after a solid usmle score, honors, the external factors such as research and letters of reccs from notable academic dermies become highly valued. So I hope I dont sound naive in the decision Id like to make but rather I really conversed with many people in the field of dermatology who provided me the scope of what Im getting myself involved in.
Now this isn't the only reason why I would like to take a year off. Part of me really wants a break from academics but at the same time, I want to do research thats conducive to applying for the residency Im interested in.
Basically, I wanted to ask you guys about what approach I could take to apply for such a fellowship. Would it be best to contact and email professors or are there certain programs out there that accomdate students? Would such an opportunity come via connections or should I email and forward my resume to as many derm faculty out there??
To be flat out honest, I am definitely interested but at the same time, I realize how important the end-products (pubs, posters, case studies) become highly valued when applying for residency so I would want to pursue this 1-year option only if its plausible that such tangible results are possible for a pre-1st year med student.
Thanks.
