Am I insane? Will I be laughed at?

[elenaP]

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What if my genuine reason for wanting to be a dermatologist is because I see no other path for myself?

What if my only reason for even pursuing post-secondary education is dermatology?

What if I were to tell you that my original post took almost an hour to write because I had so many reasons for wanting to be a dermatologist, none of which were "money and lifestyle", because I didn't even know these two things were part of the appeal of dermatology?

Up until reading posts on this site, I assumed wannabee dermatologists were generally laughed at my admissions people and other types of MD's for wanting to be doctors of something as superficial as skin. I thought they were second only to chiropractors on the low level of respect scale. Even with this preconceived notion, I still wanted to be a dermatologist. Even now after learning about the competitiveness and the relatively low chance of being accepted into a residence program, I still don't want to give up. I'm just fearfull of being looked at as a silly girl with naive notions.

Just out of curiosity, is anyone actually interested in reading what I was originally going to write as my motivation for pursuing dermatology?

 

[sdnetrocks]

Sure - let's hear about your original motivations...

 

[phospho]

i'm all ears... go for it... i'm really interested in what you have to say actually, because if derm was the only medical specialty, I would quit medical school. I can't see myself doing derm for the life in me, which is why I respect them so much.

 

[elenaP]

All right, they are all completely superficial and personal.
I've had troublesome skin for well over half my life and it's been an endless obsession of mine to "fix it". Early on I caught on that the beauty companies aren't really giving us the whole story and started to do my research. And off course, I wound up realizing that prescription treatments and seeing a dermatologist were likely my best options. I also developed a compulsive habit of writing down ingredients of products I bought and used, documenting my results and researching reliable sources for ingredient information.

I want to know everything, but I don't know everything because I'm not a dermatologist. And it absolutely drives me crazy, because I want all the answers (and I know that the answer to EVERYTHING is not known, but dermatologists certainly know a lot more than I do).

Initially, this was all a very selfish pursuit, just to make me prettier. But off course I wound up selling cosmetics for a living (only natural, make a career of your hobby, right?). This is when I went off the deep end and decided I wanted to dedicate my entire life to spreading the truth, saving people like me money and time.

I know that overall, being concerned with the way we look shouldn't be a top priority, but for some of us it's an inescapable pre-occupation. My obsession with having nice skin and hair has prevented me from starting smoking, has prompted me toward daily sunscreen use and has made me keenly aware and much more inclined toward other healthy habits. If more vain women like myself knew the real information that would help them achieve better skin, we would have a much healthier population overall.

I am one person, I am prohibitively idealistic and my over-enthusiasm for cosmetic concerns usually startles people who initially meet me. I deal with the chance of being found out and fired on a daily basis (after all, my job is to sell anti-wrinkle cream, but I keep suggesting lasers and chemicals peels instead) but I keep doing it.

The long hours of studying don't scare me, the years of school don't scare me, the ridiculous amount of money required doesn't scare me. What scares me is the idea that my wanting to go into dermatology purely for cosmetic reasons will result in muffled laughter on the part of admissions people at med school and residency programs. Should I put my head down, hit the books and sharpen my ability to lie? Or will the fact that I'm honest be reason enough for the "gatekeepers" to consider me?

 

[dermathalon]

/

 

[elenaP]

Thanks dermathalon, your reply was my logical conclusion too, but I didn't want to believe it untill it was confirmed by someone with more experience than me.

To be honest, the more I think about life overall, my friends in other programs, my instructors, my family, random acquaintances, everyone I know, thinks I should be a publicist or a journalist or something. They think this because I'm a "people person", I am passionate, I've always been better at the "social sciences and languages" (one day I'll tell the story of how I decided public education was a joke when I was in the 4th grade, knee slapper) and because my arrogance and ego apparently make me charismatic. I've had more than a dozen people tell me that PR or sales is certainly my thing. But I've met a lot of PR and sales people through work and the next generation at school. Their lack of honesty and ethics disgusts me on a constant basis. Even though social skills are things that come naturally to me, the foot-in-mouth condition that prompts me to say everything that crosses my mind is what makes me believe that the only career for me is a truth-telling and truth-finding one.

But then again, even though science is about the closest we will ever get to the truth, you unfortunately have to stretch, distort or mask the truth to be allowed through the gates in order to be able to study something so noble.

I have an obscene amount of respect for researchers and all who pursue science all their life. No purpose in the world seems more worthy than finding more information for why things are the way they are.

 

[CandidateofDerm]

Have you considered being an aesthetician (sp.?)? They deal only with beauty and don't have to study for 13 years while being a super achiever on a day to day basis.

I think younwill be miserable id u enter med school with the intention of only doing one VERY small piece of one specialty ... My opinion.

The problem is that is not just working hard but you have to be incredibly smart to go into derma at this time. Working hard is not enough. This is harsh but it is reality.

 

[sore eye asses]

you are not insane, but you will be laughed at. not because of your background, but because you look funny when you wear your silly little assless chaps all the time and peg your pants like it's 1991. I've been watching you. You don't need to peg your pants anymore. I mean, it's totally cool, and I peg mine too, but you will be laughed at for it. I know this because I am constantly laughed at, which is why I cry myself to sleep at night. This is the price we "peggars" pay.

like Journey surely implied: don't stop believin'......hold on to that feeeeeelin!!!! (of pegged pants)

 

[elenaP]

I have considered aesthetics, in fact I work with a lot of them which is what turned me off that idea. The sad thing is that they are seen as experts and see themselves as experts, yet they don't even have a basic understanding of the science behind why skin does what it does (never mind all the propaganda and unfounded "holistic" principles that aesthetics schools spread). My issue with most people is their holier than thou attitude and belief that they know everything. Anyone that knows anything actually knows that we can never know everything, no matter how hard we try. But off course, the types of women that teach at these schools are under the genuine impression that they are never wrong and that they know everything there is to know. This is the type of attitude that drives me insane. I'm more than happy to concede to someone that is smarter than me and knows more than me, but if the person I'm asked to concede to is just a glorified sales girl, the feeling of having them talk down to me is similar to poking holes in my eyeballs.

By the way, I was hoping for a random bit of humor from sore eye asses. Thank you for giving me a good chuckle.

 

[elenaP]

And on the subject of smarts and super-achieving, I have no fear. My ability to memorize and connect obscene amounts of information is legendary among people that know me. It's probably the only reason I stay at my current job, because even though it's draining and frustrating, at least everyone around me concedes that I know more about skin and cosmetic science than any one of them could ever dream to and they respect the fact that I spend all my free time reading pubmed and cosmetic science textbooks. None of them will ever care that much about something as silly as beauty, nor will they take the time to work at it. That kind of respect is really my main motivating factor, if my work and my knowledge is well regarded by the people I work with, I feel as if the whole workplace will fall apart without me and it makes me want to get out of bed in the morning. It negates every bad aspect.

This is why I'm perfectly willing (and I think smart enough, but if I'm not, I'll get smarter) to go through all the years of medical school, because having the most knowledge and respect is my main motivation when it comes to anything. The amount of knowledge a doctor has is far more than a beautician and unfortunately it's my unerring obsession to know more. My 11th grade chem teacher thought I should pursue research and I thought that was a great idea too, but it wouldn't be enough. I just wouldn't feel like I know enough until I'd gone through med school and a residence, there would still be gaping holes in my knowledge. Gaping holes that I could not deal with.

I even laugh at myself for being so obsessed with something so superficial (believe me, it's the defining dichotomy of my life) when I know that what the world really needs is more people that focus on people's value to society. But I can't help it, it's followed me since the day I was born.

 

[sore eye asses]

hah

you said "gaping holes"

now that I'm done with medschool, i can attest that there are still holes in my knowledge base.

and i'm sure it'll be the same when i finish residency.

maybe that's just because I have a mean case of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease...

 

[elenaP]

hah

you said "gaping holes"

now that I'm done with medschool, i can attest that there are still holes in my knowledge base.

and i'm sure it'll be the same when i finish residency.

maybe that's just because I have a mean case of Creutzfeldt–Jakob disease...

Again, I'll never refute the fact that no one knows everything. But really, let's be serious, you know a lot more after medical school than you do after aesthetics. If you choose to pursue more knowledge post-grad (hopefully) you will know even more. Even then there will be holes in your knowledge, but you will still know more than if you hadn't opted to do more school.

I can accept not knowing everything as long as I know a lot more than most.

 

[sore eye asses]

the more I cram in, the more trickles out through some orifice or another.

the more i learn about derm, the more i forget about cardiology.

i figure the more i learn about one specific niche of derm, the more i'll forget about gen derm.

i need to invent the knowledge cork.

my slogan will be "keeping old knowledge fresh since 1973" (since i will undoubtedly have to go back in time to the 70's to create such an awesome cork). you just need to buy one for every orifice to prevent knowledge seeping out. it's pretty cool and fashionable. there will be guys and gals models, of course. like the brass knuckle butthole cork for men (so it doesn't encroach on their manliness), and the muzzle for the female (for obvious reasons). i kid, i kid.

 

[CandidateofDerm]

I don't know. I think it is a dangerous game to attend medical school with dermatology being the only field you would be happy in. I have a lot of friends who have failed to match that I would consider to be incredibly smart and talented. It takes hard work, smarts, people skills, and a little bit of luck.

The other thing to consider is that there are a lot of programs that do not have very much focus on cosmetics. Will you be applying to these programs. For example, at UVA supposedly if you bring up cosmetics you will not be admitted.

Where are you in training? Have you done your college prereqs yet? Have you taken the mcat?

All I'm saying is don't pin your hopes for medicine on dermatology, especially an area of dermatology that is very controversial within dermatology training programs. I am afraid that probability states you will come away disappointed. Now, if you were willing to go into a career of internal medicine, obgyn, etc. if you were able to fulfill your dermatology fantasy and be happy, then I say by all means go ahead. Because then you are not putting all your eggs in the on eproverbial basket.

Obviously, this is my opinion. I can tell you that people have called me a genius throughout high school, college, and medical school, but when I am around other derm people I feel that I am flat out stupid daily.

Disclaimer: my opinions.

 

[Dral]

I don't think med school admissions committees will want to hear about your cosmetics desires. Most residency committees won't either. Cosmetics seems to be something you get into down the road near the end of residency or once you start practicing.

In an interview:
If one focuses on research..."Why not just get a PhD?"
If one focuses on caring for patients..."Why not just be a PA or NP?"
If you focus on cosmetics..."Why not just be an aesthetician?"

They try to cut you off at every turn.


Several fields such as dermatology, plastic surgery, and a little of ENT deal with plastics and cosmetics. There is a desire to avoid being pegged as a 'superficial doc' because you deal with those sorts of things.

I don't have much of a personal desire to perform cosmetics procedures, although I love to learn about them. However, I think most of these procedures can be medically beneficial from a psychiatric standpoint (and I feel psych often does not get the credit it deserves). We step on the fine line when we start discussing accessibility and such (Why should a CEO of a huge company get to improve their psyche through bi-yearly botox injections while the individual working two jobs to support their family not get that same opportunity?)

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck. Doing what you're passionate about is the best ticket to a happy life.

 

[sore eye asses]

i went to medschool just for derm.

nothing else was remotely interesting. in fact, medicine is dumb. i'm not a fan. too much whining and bureaucracy and self important c**** wandering about.

you can go to medschool for the sole purpose of doing derm. and you will probably be happy and successful with it. just don't tell anyone. ever!!! ever ever ever ever!!! people will throw rocks at you (and opinions too, mostly dumb ones).

You need to do what all the cool derm candidates are doing these days; have an epiphany toward the end of third year that derm is the specialty for you. You will explain to all interested parties that your MS3 clerkships were great experiences (translated = stupid horrible specialties) and that you learned so much, but it's skin that really does it for you.

in your case, you actually really like skin, which is cool. just don't tell anyone or you will die in the streets. it's proven.

 

[elenaP]

Thank you everyone for your input, you're most likely right. Candidate of derm, thank you especially for the harsh view. I may feel like I'm extra smart and extra driven, but there will always be someone who is more so and I'm glad I have a good grip on that. There are a few other fields, that as I learn about, I find interesting (immunology is one) but I sincerely doubt anything will ever pull me quite like my superficial little dream.

Personal anecdote that for me really illustrates why second best one day could become THE best, and I could settle for specializing in something else: My mom had the lofty dream of becoming a teacher when she was a kid. It's all she wanted to do, she got knockout star grades all the way through school and everyone around her had high hopes. When my mom was 15, her younger sister was diagnosed with leukemia and off course all the family savings and earnings got funneled into her treatment.

My aunt died within 2 years of diagnosis and my mom wound up realizing in her second last year of high school that her family could never afford to send her to college. Her dreams were dashed but she intended on graduating, working and saving so that she could eventually go back. She met my dad in her senior year and a year later she was pregnant with me, which was definitely not the plan. They got married soon after and she became a stay at home mom for several years until we had to move.

To this day, she never complains or gripes about not getting her childhood dream. She loves my dad, she loves my sister and I and she loves having a family even though it came sooner than she intended. In fact her childhood dream changed as she grew older and she realized that all she really wanted was the happiness and health of her family.

Now mind you, my mother is just about the most unselfish human being that I've ever known, and I know that aspiring to be like her is futile in my case. But I will say that she's taught me that priorities, interests, opinions and values can change (especially during your 20's!) and every day she reminds me that even if I don't get what I want, things will turn out ok and I'll find a new direction in life.

I think I have a fairly healthy perspective: I know what I want, I know I have what it takes, but I also know a lot of others have what it takes and I need to have a backup plan. I am formulating back up plans (and who knows, one of those may one day become the primary plan), but for now I know what I really want.

 

[elenaP]

In an interview:
If one focuses on research..."Why not just get a PhD?"
If one focuses on caring for patients..."Why not just be a PA or NP?"
If you focus on cosmetics..."Why not just be an aesthetician?"

By the way I asked these questions of myself before I decided to pursue dermatology.

A PhD would likely be my second choice, simply because of the ability to look for new information (or better verification of older information). What makes me prefer dermatology to research (by a huge margin) is that dermatology is more broad in its scope, whereas when you research a project you just focus on one thing. Although there are appealing elements to both, I would prefer to be treating a variety of conditions (even the gross ones, not just wrinkle eradication 😛) and informing people on a daily basis of the healthful habits that also have the nifty perk of making you look better. In an ideal world, I would be employed in a university hospital, seeing patients, while also helping teach new residents. On the side I'd love to be helping devise and supervise new research projects. I realize how incredibly lofty these goals are and that not everything happens just because I want it to and I'm willing to work for it. But even the comparatively modest goal of being a practicing dermatologist at a clinic still seems far more appealing to me than any other option.

As for being a PA or NP, the individual patient care seems appealing, but I still wouldn't feel like the utmost authority on a subject unless I'd completed the maximum amount of schooling that pertains to it. All the hand-holding and personalized, attentive care in the world makes no difference unless I feel like I can tell my patient that I am familiar with every aspect of their condition and can treat it better than anyone else. I know patients love a personal approach, but really, they're not coming to a doctor for therapy alone. They also want medical care and advice. This comes back to being an all or nothing person, if I don't feel like I've done everything within my power to amass as much knowledge as I can, I feel like I've failed and I don't deserve respect within my profession.

The aesthetics one, I've discussed. It was after I had aesthetic services done and worked with aestheticians that I decided I wanted to dedicate my life to teaching the layperson to poke holes in their image as skin authorities. Nothing makes me more sick to my stomach than someone who acts like they know everything, yet actually knows nothing.

 

[N-Surge]

Unless you go to Medical School for the sake of learning Medicine I am concerned you may end up miserable in the process. What I keep reading is a passion to learn, which is great. My advice is to learn Medicine for it's sake, keeping an open mind to all fields you will be subjected too. You may be surprised and find yourself going a route you are unable to see at this point in time. If in the end you reach for Dermatology, with a passion for the field as a whole, then go for it! However, in the process you will have been trained to be a doctor with knowledge and skills required of you to give your patients the best care possible. This is true even when giving botox and filler injections to fight off wrinkles!

And the learning doesn't stop here. Internship. Most likely you will go through an Internal Medicine internship, where you may on occasion have a patient who needs help with skin ulcers, xerosis, and the like. But the majority of your patients are most likely going to have something like DM, HTN, HLD, CHF, COPD, CKD, MI, GERD, UC, liver failure, and/or cancer. You will spend more time discussing with patients the importance of not smoking for their hearts and lungs sake and overall health sake as well as making sure they get proper PT/OT, RT w/ O2 therapy, making consult calls, setting up f/u, getting SW involved, low CHO diets, and anti-coagulation if indicated. Sliding scales and IVFs will be your friends you dream of when being awoken by auditory hallucinations of your pager going off every 5 minutes during your very first night of call (but it does get better, if you let it). By the time you start your Dermatology Residency you will probably be like, "Huh, so this is what I Matched into? Way cool!". The important thing is you will have been trained as a doctor with the base needed to now go on and train as a Dermatologist. 😀

Further learning can be gained through PhD training. I encourage this! 😀 You may only work on a few projects, or many depending on your PI. However, the sky is the limit in how and to what you decide to use these skills for. In other words, it isn't necessarily the particulars of the projects you work on that ends up being important, rather it is the skills gained in seeing those projects through completion (including competing for grants, writing peer scrutinized scientific papers, and writing a thesis, along with the know-how of different scientific techniques depending on the laboratory you join and others you become affiliated with). Check out the MD-PhD programs. See what's out there.

Regarding cosmetics, there's more to it than just Dermatology. Don't prematurely close yourself off to fields like Plastic Surgery. Those guys are also in the know regarding fighting wrinkles, perhaps more so than those of us in Dermatology.

You say it is an ideal world to be in academics. Go for it! I know there are a few of us out there who wear the same rose colored glasses, including myself.

 

[sore eye asses]

I will add one last thing that was related to me by a wise robotic unicorn:

Chase your dreams...you will fail!

 

[elenaP]

N-surge, thank you for the details. I do have enormous respect for medicine in general and I do find the internal stuff interesting enough that I'd enjoy learning it, maybe I will eventually see myself devoting a lifetime to another discipline. I will focus on keeping an open mind, the last thing I would want to do is waste the privilege of being in medical school and being able to learn from a variety of people. Believe me, I plan to savour every moment, and I know a lot of people change their mind throughout. It would be ignorant of me to say I'm sure I won't, I just might, and I don't think that would necessarily be a bad thing.

Sore eye asses.......your encouragement inspires me!

 

[phospho]

I'm probably echoing candidateforderm's comments (and others), but here it goes.

I was always the genius in everything. Any of my friends will flat out tell you that I am hands down the smartest person they've ever met. I goofed around through college, barely studied, and always had high grades. They'd be baffled when I get my grades. I wasn't into medicine though.

So, I got a corporate job right after undergrad. I got promoted 6 times within the 4 years I was there (also employee of the year two years in a row). I started making 12.75/hour when I started there, and when I left I was being paid salary, and was making almost 80K/year before taxes, and I was only 26! When I told my manager I wanted to quit, he was speechless. Absolutely speechless.

I quit the finance world. I started medical school (now done with first year), and I am blown away by how average I have become. In fact, I'm not even average. 90% of the time, I feel stupid. My class percentile is somewhere around 52%, and I have never studied this much in my life.

My point in all this: the outside world is a terrible way to gauge your mental aptitude/intelligence/stamina/determination/devotion or anything for that matter. I remember a classmate telling me one time when we first started that he used to be a shark surrounded by fish (out in the real world). When he started medical school, it was like he was thrown in a pool of sharks. All of a sudden, he was just like everyone else, if not less.

With that said, it's EXTREMELY hard to do very well in medical school to the point where you are actually competitive for dermatology. Also, to even be able to do that well in medical school, you need to master everything. With the amount of material they throw at us, you absolutely need to have at least some kind of an appreciation for it to be able to digest it, or you will sink right then and there. I have seen it happen first hand.

Don't get me wrong. You can absolutely start medical school with a specialty in mind. In fact, just the other day I met a fellow doing cardiology. We talked for a bit and he told me that the only reason he went to medical school was to do cardiology! If you were to ask me though, he's probably 5 out of 100 people who end up doing exactly what they wanted to do when they started medical school.

As for your reasons to wanting to do dermatology, they are not stupid. However, to be accepted to medical school, you need to focus on medicine first - just medicine, and why it's what you want to spend the rest of your life doing. You'll need to block those derm thoughts for a while, until you can tell people that you've experienced everything in 3rd year, and it's derm that fascinates you.

Whether it's dermatology or plastics you want to do, keep in mind that they are the hardest specialties to get into (after radonc ofcourse). Also keep in mind that there's a HUGE chance (i.e. statistically speaking) that you won't end up doing either. If you can see yourself doing other specialties, then medical school might be the right place for you. If you can't, then a little bit of introspection might be something worth considering. You're obviously a very intelligent person, and I am sure you will end up reaching your goals one way or another.

Okay, so this is officially the longest post I've ever written on SDN. Hope it helps though 🙂

 

[elenaP]

Phospho, I appreciate the lengthy response. Really, I appreciate everyone's, because there's nothing like getting the inside view.

I have already considered the very high possibility that I won't be the smartest person applying to, or in med school. I too am very used to everyone gushing and envying at how easily school comes to me, but I realize that med school will be full of people like me. That's my greatest fear, that as you said I won't be able to compete with the sharks.

To be honest, I'm not even a competitive person. If I want something, I hunker down, focus on what I need to do and ignore the outside world. I am fearful that my general habit of ignoring people around me is gonna bite me in the ass down the road, but then again if I take a look around and see any reason to be nervous, I psych myself out.

The only thing that makes me fail is a fear of failure, if I walk into a test with my ego touching the roof and knowing that I know the material, I tend to ace it. If I attend an interview and tell myself there's no way they can find someone better, I tend to get it. I think the best leg up I can give myself is to prepare thoroughly, try to anticipate what I'm getting into and then ignore any fear whatsoever.

I think the idea of a plan B is very smart and I am working on formulating one, but if I don't have a very clear and motivating plan A to work for, I won't work for it at all, knowing my history.

Anyway, thank you all, so much. You've answered a lot of questions and in a way, every comment that should discourage me from wanting derm, only makes me want it more. It's a terrible need to prove myself I guess.

 

[sore eye asses]

So, just to be clear, you want to be a dermatologist?

Not a scuba diver or an arm wrestling champion?

I just wanna make absolute sure for my diary entry tonight.

Thanks!!

 

[eddie13231]

So, just to be clear, you want to be a dermatologist?

Not a scuba diver or an arm wrestling champion?

I just wanna make absolute sure for my diary entry tonight.

Thanks!!

🙂

 

[zanzizic]

I'm a practicing clinical dermatologist. A little advice:

1. Stop being apologetic about choosing dermatology. It is a real medical specialty that treats real medical disorders. Just because some flaky people want to get into derm to make a quick buck, doesn't lessen the need for our specialty. You'll find those folks in any specialty: OB-GYNs and internal medicine docs have started doing botox like crazy.
2. Concentrate on being a good doctor first. You can keep your first love in the back of your mind, but go into every rotation like you want to be a psychiatrist, or a family doc, or whatever. You'll get better grades (you're gonna need them), and you'll learn more.
3. Making fun of dermatology is a game that is only played in medical school. In the real world, I see physicians all the time as colleagues and patients. They value my opinion and expertise, as I value theirs. I spend my time treating skin cancer with Mohs surgery and medical treatments. Is curing melanoma as useful as controlling hypertension, managing diabetes, or fixing a broken bone? You be the judge.

If you choose derm, you won't regret it a day in your life. There is a real reason why its one of the hardest to get into.

 

[KBorglum]

Elena:
There is no disgrace in practicing dermatology without being a dermatologist, and without dropping to the level of aesthetician. You can become a PA or NP or family physician, work for a dermatologist or dermatology group, and still dedicate all your working hours to dermatology. With the serious national shortage of dermatologists, many derms are hiring non-derms for support. Family practice residencies are going unfilled, and easier to get into, while derm residencies are oversubscribed. The quickest and easiest route to actual practice is a PA or NP license.
-Keith Borglum CHBC
Practice Management Faculty, AAD
Medical Practice Management Consultant, Appraiser and Broker
http://www.MedicalPracticeAppraisal.com

 

[Substance]

There is a real reason why its one of the hardest to get into.

Derm is bomb. Here are a few reasons:

1. The hours are great and the call is virtually nonexistent. You'll rarely if ever be up during the night. You can have a life!

2. The pay is killer and you can be your own boss. You can have a well-paid life at that!

3. You are the go-to guy when nobody else has a clue about what's going on. Sure, other clinicians make fun of dermatologists, but when they have no idea about a skin lesion(and few of them do) they're not so jokey when they consult you.

4. There are so many different conditions that you can go a lifetime without seeing all of them.

5. If a lesion is common it takes little time to diagnose and manage. If its rare and interesting, it takes time but that is ok because its rare and interesting. Contrast this with internal med, where an uninteresting elderly patient will still take forever to evaluate.

6. You can cut and sew but not have to be a surgeon to do it.

7. Patients generally care more about their appearance than their HTN, which means that derm patients are generally more compliant.

8. You can actually make a difference in how a patient feels about themselves in a real manner. Appearances, contrary to popular belief, are quantifiable, and beauty is not in the eye of the beholder. The uglier one is, the worse their life. This is actual fact. Cosmetics gets a bad reputation, but I'd be more apt to wager that cosmetics does more for society than BIPAPing a 100 year old, or super-tight inpatient glucose management.

The list goes on...

 

[halodoctor]

Phospho, I appreciate the lengthy response. Really, I appreciate everyone's, because there's nothing like getting the inside view.

I have already considered the very high possibility that I won't be the smartest person applying to, or in med school. I too am very used to everyone gushing and envying at how easily school comes to me, but I realize that med school will be full of people like me. That's my greatest fear, that as you said I won't be able to compete with the sharks.

To be honest, I'm not even a competitive person. If I want something, I hunker down, focus on what I need to do and ignore the outside world. I am fearful that my general habit of ignoring people around me is gonna bite me in the ass down the road, but then again if I take a look around and see any reason to be nervous, I psych myself out.

The only thing that makes me fail is a fear of failure, if I walk into a test with my ego touching the roof and knowing that I know the material, I tend to ace it. If I attend an interview and tell myself there's no way they can find someone better, I tend to get it. I think the best leg up I can give myself is to prepare thoroughly, try to anticipate what I'm getting into and then ignore any fear whatsoever.

I think the idea of a plan B is very smart and I am working on formulating one, but if I don't have a very clear and motivating plan A to work for, I won't work for it at all, knowing my history.

Anyway, thank you all, so much. You've answered a lot of questions and in a way, every comment that should discourage me from wanting derm, only makes me want it more. It's a terrible need to prove myself I guess.

you are going to be so disappointed when you get to derm and you have absolutely nothing else to do. wow. have you seen "40 year old virgin"?

stop putting the dermatology on a pedestal!

if you want to know everything about these products and your skin, then go read a book or get a phd. if you want to help people, then go into derm. you sound like you're completely absorbed in yourself. i won't lie, i don't like people like you so i won't say it's ok.

don't take it from me, can you really tolerate sitting in an office hearing all about other people's problems? please get a grip of reality and stay out of medicine, unless you completely misrepresented your true interests in all these past posts.

 

[Luv2Cut]

N-Surge makes many good points.

Personally, I think it is good that you express a passionate interest in derm. It is good and it is healthy to do so. At least you have some idea and direction you want to concentrate your efforts.

However, right now you should concentrate also on getting acceptance to medical school. This is a job in of itself. You should concentrate on learning and doing well in Chemistry, Physics and courses such as histology, embryology and biochemistry that can help you in medical school.

When you reach med school, then you should concentrate on doing WELL on everything you take in order to be competitive for derm. This is a given.

I like some of the things that N-Surge says. In short, concentrate on becoming a physician first then a dermatologist when the time comes. Who knows you may find something entirely different that you will fall in love with during your 3rd year rotations. This happens all the time. Example: Student falls in love with emergency medicine because of an experience they had in the E.D. They begin to study and learn, shadow etc etc as much as possible as an undergraduate learning everything they can about the specialty. They are then accepted into med school and see E.M. everywhere, no matter what they are studying they can trace it back to why its important to E.M. Then they start their 3rd year rotations and encounter General Surgery they had no idea they would love. It could be they fall in love with the day-to-day routine. Or maybe they had a charismatic surgeon or resident that took the time to teach them or showed an interested to them as a student. This happens all the time, and its the reason people switch specialties all the time.

So, in your preparation years I recommend that you keep your passion for dermatology alive. Keep learning and doing what you are doing. But also keep an open mind. You might end up doing something entirely different.

Luv2Cut

 

[sore eye asses]

it's true!!!

I wanted to be an obgyn ever since i had to deliver a baby in the produce aisle of a grocery store, and i just marveled at the miracle of life while i splashed and played in the afterbirth.

but then, a charismatic dermatologist took an interest in me as a 3rd year student, and, well, the rest is history.

i just love me some derm so much now! I just love it and love it and love it, and i squeeze it, and i hold it so tight! and sometimes when it's not looking, i will steal long loving glances at it, and will make kissy noises at it, because i love it so much. this is the love that can only be engendered in another by the charisma of a mentor who loves the day to day routine of their specialty, so much so, that it suffuses out of all their orifices at once and douses all those who were brave enough to stand within dousing distance.

ya know?

 

[sdnetrocks]

I agree with everything that's been said. However, one word of warning I'll give you is that while you're clearly a very thoughtful and intelligent person, between the lines of your posts I'm sensing a bit of a "much too much" kind of personality.

Should you decide to go the med school route, you will need to "court" dermatology residents and faculty - whether during your clinical rotations, or while doing some sort of research, and definitely during the interview. I would make sure that you don't come off as being annoying - because that will sink you much faster than any delinquency in your paper application. Just a thought.

 

[DermMatch]

sdnetrocks, interesting point you made. Because I found the OP annoying.