Any cons of derm? And other associated questions about derm.

[FootballFoot]

From everyone's reaction, derm seems to be the holy grail of medicine. Nice hours, high pay, pleasant pt interaction, both diagnostic and procedural work.

Are there any cons of being a dermatologist?

And how do most dermatologists get employed after residency? Do they have derm groups that people partner with? Do derms usually strike out solo and start their own business? How many people are employed by hospitals or contracted by them (or corporate medical groups)?

Is it hard to find a job in large cities such as LA/SF/Austin?

If a student doesn't match derm, are they put into a disadvantage when applying to other specialties such as EM, since all your research and CV is geared towards derm? Would those other PDs look upon you poorly even with big step scores?

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[sore eye asses]

From everyone's reaction, derm seems to be the holy grail of medicine. Nice hours, high pay, pleasant pt interaction, both diagnostic and procedural work.

Are there any cons of being a dermatologist?

And how do most dermatologists get employed after residency? Do they have derm groups that people partner with? Do derms usually strike out solo and start their own business? How many people are employed by hospitals or contracted by them (or corporate medical groups)?

Is it hard to find a job in large cities such as LA/SF/Austin?

If a student doesn't match derm, are they put into a disadvantage when applying to other specialties such as EM, since all your research and CV is geared towards derm? Would those other PDs look upon you poorly even with big step scores?

No, apply for jobs, sometimes, both, thousands, yes, yes, probably.

 

[Slack3r]

From everyone's reaction, derm seems to be the holy grail of medicine. Nice hours, high pay, pleasant pt interaction, both diagnostic and procedural work.

Are there any cons of being a dermatologist?

It's boring. Probably 70-80% of what you do in a typical private practice can probably be managed by a PA or NP, or is so low acuity it doesn't even really matter they're managing it inappropriately anyway. The personality of the field is extremely sterile and bland, likely related to its competitiveness. Oh, and it's boring.

 

[asmallchild]

It's boring. Probably 70-80% of what you do in a typical private practice can probably be managed by a PA or NP, or is so low acuity it doesn't even really matter they're managing it inappropriately anyway. The personality of the field is extremely sterile and bland, likely related to its competitiveness. Oh, and it's boring.

This thread and its replies are all going to be on a short leash. Every field has its ups and downs but coming specifically to the derm forum to erroneously trash dermatology is against the TOS.

From a professional viewpoint, it is both insulting and amusing to see a medical student or even a recently graduated medical student attempt to explain what "typical private practice" in dermatology is like.

There are few cons to dermatology. You'll find much of what other doctors complain about can also extend to dermatology. Still, we are routinely the most satisfied doctors year in and year out on physician surveys.

 

[username456789]

It's boring. Probably 70-80% of what you do in a typical private practice can probably be managed by a PA or NP, or is so low acuity it doesn't even really matter they're managing it inappropriately anyway. The personality of the field is extremely sterile and bland, likely related to its competitiveness. Oh, and it's boring.

Sorry you weren't able to match Derm. Envy is one of the seven deadly sins.

It'll hurt less if you stop torturing yourself by coming here.

 

[doctalaughs]

From everyone's reaction, derm seems to be the holy grail of medicine. Nice hours, high pay, pleasant pt interaction, both diagnostic and procedural work.

Are there any cons of being a dermatologist?

And how do most dermatologists get employed after residency? Do they have derm groups that people partner with? Do derms usually strike out solo and start their own business? How many people are employed by hospitals or contracted by them (or corporate medical groups)?

Is it hard to find a job in large cities such as LA/SF/Austin?

If a student doesn't match derm, are they put into a disadvantage when applying to other specialties such as EM, since all your research and CV is geared towards derm? Would those other PDs look upon you poorly even with big step scores?

Here are the cons of dermatology:

- if you love "acute care" medicine you won't do any - ie patient actively dying or in imminent danger of death.

- you will get a few idiots like the poster above who disparage your work, or pretend dermatologists don't treat anything important or make snide comments. This is more of an issue in med school then after.

Thats pretty much it for cons. I guess you could include high-maintenance patients, crazies and insurance/paperwork/billing woes but thats true of all field in medicine.

Pros are myriad though:

- despite what people outside the field claim, the practice of dermatology is not boring. Never met a dermatologist actually in practice who is bored. Over 2000 conditions you diagnose/treat, most of which other doctors have never heard of, which keeps you on your toes.

- treat a ton of skin cancer which is satisfying and patients are grateful (usually 40-50% of your practice involves this). Find usually 1-4 melanomas a month which could be considered "lifesaving" and is very satisfying.

- lots of procedures (usually quick/satisfying/curative) mixed with focused clinic visits.

- regular hours, great pay.

- don't have to deal with hospital admin usually.

- low bar to start solo or private practice (ie not huge capital costs, hard for large entities to stife competition or get a monopoly.

- option to build cash pay patients if you are into cosmetics or concierge, which is a nice option to have in this environment.


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[Slack3r]

Sorry you weren't able to match Derm. Envy is one of the seven deadly sins.

It'll hurt less if you stop torturing yourself by coming here.

Matched at my #2 actually (behind NYU, sadly).

Nothing I said is untrue, either. I suppose you could take issue with my characterization of the personality of the field, but damn if I haven't met an, on-the-whole, larger group of sycophants and neurotics, at least among the applicants.

And with the push for indepdent PA/NP practice, don't be surprised to see a lot more "dermatologic nurses" out there. Hell, my home program has 2 full time NPs that see their own patients independently as is.

 

[username456789]

Matched at my #2 actually (behind NYU, sadly).

Nothing sad about that. NYC is terrible in every way imaginable.

Although, if most of your derm experience has been with New Yorkers, i get why you might have a skewed view of the people in the field.

 

[qw098]

Nothing sad about that. NYC is terrible in every way imaginable.

Although, if most of your derm experience has been with New Yorkers, i get why you might have a skewed view of the people in the field.

Cornell is a nice derm program in nyc, all others in nyc are cringeworthy

 

[asmallchild]

Matched at my #2 actually (behind NYU, sadly).

Nothing I said is untrue, either. I suppose you could take issue with my characterization of the personality of the field, but damn if I haven't met an, on-the-whole, larger group of sycophants and neurotics, at least among the applicants.

And with the push for indepdent PA/NP practice, don't be surprised to see a lot more "dermatologic nurses" out there. Hell, my home program has 2 full time NPs that see their own patients independently as is.

In your other posts, you say you matched in a surgical subspecialty. Derm isn't typically characterized as one.

I will admit I felt similarly about my peers when applying. You'll find people typically mellow out once they've matched and can be enjoyable to spend time with as co-residents (for the most part).

The independent PA/NP practice doesn't concern me much. It is one of the few things the AAD has actually been proactive about squashing. In actual practice, your experience may vary; I practice in an affluent (OK, snooty) area and the patients give the DOs grief and ask to switch to my service. You can imagine the response when our group hired a NP

Surgery? They want the doc.
Skin checks/gen derm? They want the doc after they find out I do those as well.
Cosmetics? Again. Won't even let the DNP be in the same room as I perform the procedures.
Pediatrics? Request the doc.
etc etc etc

 

[qw098]

The independent PA/NP practice doesn't concern me much. It is one of the few things the AAD has actually been proactive about squashing.

Dermatology is filled with brilliant minds who fight for their rights. Thank you.

 

[werd]

back to the original topic, a con is there's a lot of paperwork in derm. we tend to see a high volume of patients, and between OV notes and the large volume of pathology reports, lab work, etc. that we generate there is a lot of charting and patient calls to be done. paperwork can be burdensome across all of medicine but some of the details of derm make it especially bad.
dermatologists find jobs after residency the same way as other specialties do... some are employed by hospitals, some join private practice, some start their own practice.
my understanding is that some big cities are saturated with dermatologists but in most other areas there is a shortage. i don't know in particular about the cities you mentioned above. i don't think that derm applicants who don't match and then "give up" on derm have trouble matching into other fields.

 

[smartparts]

In your other posts, you say you matched in a surgical subspecialty. Derm isn't typically characterized as one.

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[qw098]

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☑ TYRANNOSAURUS REKT

 

[juc9355]

Cornell is a nice derm program in nyc, all others in nyc are cringeworthy

how so??

 

[qw098]

how so??

Oh, just a totally bias opinion considering I am not a New York type of person and I've noticed the derm programs there have the New York type attitude. Cornell I found different. All great programs though. One man's junk another man's treasure.

 

[FootballFoot]

Thank you all.

Do you think that derm will still retain it's lifestyle status in the future? Will reimbursements get cut? Will residencies open and saturate the market?

I would assume there's a limit to how much cash-pay cosmetic you can do.

 

[asmallchild]

Thank you all.

Do you think that derm will still retain it's lifestyle status in the future? Will reimbursements get cut? Will residencies open and saturate the market?

I would assume there's a limit to how much cash-pay cosmetic you can do.

You are asking questions that no one has definitive answers for.

Will derm likely remain a lifestyle-friendly field? Probably, if you are going to compare it to a surgical field.

Will reimbursements get cut? Yes, no one is certain by how much.

Will residencies open and saturate the market? You could make a good argument that is already happening. It depends where you want to practice if you are talking about saturation.

You can do as much cosmetic as you like. You'll also have plenty of competition in that market.

None of these are good reasons to pursue the field or not pursue the field. I would shadow a dermatologist and see whether you like the actual day to day practice.

 

[Merely]

Wait you guys aren't going to include lay people thinking you're barely a doctor as a con? I mean obv med people know the importance but lay people think you don't know/do **** almost as bad as psych from my experience...

 

[asmallchild]

Wait you guys aren't going to include lay people thinking you're barely a doctor as a con? I mean obv med people know the importance but lay people think you don't know/do **** almost as bad as psych from my experience...

No I did not consider the perceptions of lay people as I decided what I wanted to do with the next 20-30 years of my professional career...

 

[username456789]

Wait you guys aren't going to include lay people thinking you're barely a doctor as a con? I mean obv med people know the importance but lay people think you don't know/do **** almost as bad as psych from my experience...

Oh cute, look who's back.

FYI to others, this is the little kid who periodically comes here and tries to bash dermatology. Nothing new, but it smacks of so much insecurity.

And to build on his insecurity, he usually fires back with "you're just embarrassed you chose dermatology."

Lather, rinse, repeat.

The jealousy is palpable.

 

[asmallchild]

username456789 has a better memory than me.

Closing. I think the OP got his/her question answered.

Summary = Minor cons, but there's a reason why derm ranks #1 in physician satisfaction every year.