Applying derm with psychiatry as a backup?

[averagedoc]

Hi everyone,

I will be applying for residency soon and am considering my options. I have always loved derm and have been working since before medical school to build my resume towards dermatology. I'm not going to go into a ton of info on stats but lets say I am an average or maybe a touch below average derm candidate. I do have some strong connections at a few programs so I'm hoping for those to give me a bit of an edge.

I am very afraid of not matching. I love derm with a passion but I'd prefer matching into another field I like almost just as much, rather than not matching. I very much enjoyed psych in medical school as well as during clinical rotations. I also love that the lifestyle is good, pay is good, and job availability looks strong for years to come. Long story short, I would be very happy matching psych as well.

My question is, I've heard about dual applying being taboo, but how taboo is it really? With derm and psych being such different fields, do you think I'd be able to pull off dual applying without programs finding out that I'm doing so? Especially if I interview at different programs for each field? If I'm directly asked about dual applying during interviews, should I lie about it? Just not sure how to go about this and am very nervous that if programs find out I'm dual applying, I won't be ranked by derm or psych programs and will go unmatched.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for your help!

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[Banco]

People dual apply in surgical subspecialties + gen surgery all the time. It's not taboo. But you need unique letters and statements for both fields.

Now it might be hard to hide a bunch of derm publications if you have them. So you'll have to show interest in both fields somehow.

 

[FlowRate]

I can only speak for the institutions where I trained. It is taboo in psychiatry to be dual-applying and may be taboo for derm to a degree (probably less so since it's such a competitive field so relatively more normal.) I'd recommend trying to minimize the number of hospitals/universities where you interview for both specialties, if possible. But not so much that it leaves you with no options.

If someone asks you if you're dual applying (I don't know if that's a match violation?) I'd recommend being transparent about it and having thought about a good answer.

I think it's unfortunate, to a degree, but the psych program I have the most knowledge of wants people who specifically want to be at their program and want to be psychiatrists. I think they miss out on some potential good residents by dropping the rank of people they felt weren't specifically enthusiastic about both but were otherwise rockstar candidates. That said, I have much less experience in residency recruitment than the APD/PD so maybe their approach is really solid.

 

[sloop]

Hi everyone,

I will be applying for residency soon and am considering my options. I have always loved derm and have been working since before medical school to build my resume towards dermatology. I'm not going to go into a ton of info on stats but lets say I am an average or maybe a touch below average derm candidate. I do have some strong connections at a few programs so I'm hoping for those to give me a bit of an edge.

I am very afraid of not matching. I love derm with a passion but I'd prefer matching into another field I like almost just as much, rather than not matching. I very much enjoyed psych in medical school as well as during clinical rotations. I also love that the lifestyle is good, pay is good, and job availability looks strong for years to come. Long story short, I would be very happy matching psych as well.

My question is, I've heard about dual applying being taboo, but how taboo is it really? With derm and psych being such different fields, do you think I'd be able to pull off dual applying without programs finding out that I'm doing so? Especially if I interview at different programs for each field? If I'm directly asked about dual applying during interviews, should I lie about it? Just not sure how to go about this and am very nervous that if programs find out I'm dual applying, I won't be ranked by derm or psych programs and will go unmatched.

Sorry for the long post and thanks for your help!

It will probably be obvious to us that you’re dual applying. If you have a bunch of research in derm and have done a bunch of electives in it, we’ll see that on your application.

I will not directly ask an applicant if they are dual-applying, but if you get asked I would not lie. Chances are that if someone’s asked you about it, it’s obvious from your application anyway.

Whether the fact you are dual-applying will hurt you in psychiatry probably depends on the program. There are definitely programs that would just be happy to have somebody with a great track record in medical school. At more competitive programs, however, many of the applicants have done very well in medical school and probably could have been competitive for any field. At those places, things like genuine interest in psychiatry and that program in particular become more relevant.

 

[Oedipa Maas]

I matched psych after having publications in a surgical subspeciality, though other aspects of my application spoke to psych and my research PI wrote a letter that specifically included my interest in psych. (I only applied to psych, it wasn't a backup for me). I genuinely am someone who is interested in most things and had something of a diverse application and did not shy away from that. As long as you can sell it as you having multiple and varied passions and not as ~wanting an easy lifestyle~, you should be fine.

 

[Mad Jack]

Generally when you see an application with both psych and derm on it in the psych department, it's going very low on the interview list, if at all. Reads like someone gunning for lifestyle, as that's about the only overlap between the two fields. You could apply to both fields but don't do so at the same institutions as, at least from the psych side, your odds of getting an interview approach zero.

 

[collegestud2013]

Wouldn't apply to both in the same ERAS cycle. While you may submit different personal statements and LORs to each program, you can only submit 1 ERAS application a year. If that application has a bunch of derm research on it and with a high Step scores (at least by Psych standards), most Psych programs will assume that you are double applying and that the more competitive specialty is your preferred specialty. Most programs want someone who is interested in the specialty as a first choice, and thus they'll assume that people who match into their program as a back-up specialty won't be very happy or motivated, and this can affect their ability to be a good resident in that specialty (regardless of how high their grades, scores, and how much research they have in med school). This would largely negative the point of applying to Psych.

Instead, I would just apply to derm the first time. If you don't match at least get into an IM or Surgery prelim year and reapply to Psych that year, or take a year off and apply to Psych the following cycle.

 

[FlowRate]

Instead, I would just apply to derm the first time. If you don't match at least get into an IM or Surgery prelim year and reapply to Psych that year, or take a year off and apply to Psych the following cycle.

I respectfully disagree. OP is a decent shot for derm and is probably a good shot at most psych programs, no need to waste a bunch of time only applying to one. We had plenty of people who did research in other fields but changed their minds later in the game. That's normal. It's just up to OP to sell the psych interest.

 

[Opomfrog]

it just seems like these two are opposites??