Asking for tips for international medical student interested in pathology residency and dermatopathology fellowship

[creative_shift]

Hello all and thanks for taking the time to read this:

I am currently a first year medical student attending medical school outside of the United States. A little background on me: I am an American citizen and I earned my bachelors degree from an American institution. I have also earned three separate masters degrees all at American institutions. The first was a masters in public health, the second was a masters in dermatological sciences, and the third was a masters of health administration. I have some research experience from my masters degree programs, but no publications.

Considering I’m only in my first year of medical school, I have not yet taken any of the board exams. Besides studying to do well on step 1 and step 2 ck, I wanted to ask what else I should be doing as an international medical student to increase my chances of matching into an American pathology residency and eventually a dermatopathology fellowship? Having gone abroad for medical school I am not picky about location. I just want a chance at my preferred specialty. Thanks for your time.

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[Napoleon1801]

Hello all and thanks for taking the time to read this:

I am currently a first year medical student attending medical school outside of the United States. A little background on me: I am an American citizen and I earned my bachelors degree from an American institution. I have also earned three separate masters degrees all at American institutions. The first was a masters in public health, the second was a masters in dermatological sciences, and the third was a masters of health administration. I have some research experience from my masters degree programs, but no publications.

Considering I’m only in my first year of medical school, I have not yet taken any of the board exams. Besides studying to do well on step 1 and step 2 ck, I wanted to ask what else I should be doing as an international medical student to increase my chances of matching into an American pathology residency and eventually a dermatopathology fellowship? Having gone abroad for medical school I am not picky about location. I just want a chance at my preferred specialty. Thanks for your time.

There's no particular secret. Just work hard, get good scores, and find an excellent mentor in your area of interest.

 

[KeratinPearls]

Hello all and thanks for taking the time to read this:

I am currently a first year medical student attending medical school outside of the United States. A little background on me: I am an American citizen and I earned my bachelors degree from an American institution. I have also earned three separate masters degrees all at American institutions. The first was a masters in public health, the second was a masters in dermatological sciences, and the third was a masters of health administration. I have some research experience from my masters degree programs, but no publications.

Considering I’m only in my first year of medical school, I have not yet taken any of the board exams. Besides studying to do well on step 1 and step 2 ck, I wanted to ask what else I should be doing as an international medical student to increase my chances of matching into an American pathology residency and eventually a dermatopathology fellowship? Having gone abroad for medical school I am not picky about location. I just want a chance at my preferred specialty. Thanks for your time.

Get into a pathology residency that has a dermpath fellowship. Not all path residencies have a dermpath fellowship.

Make sure the dermpath fellowship is within the Pathology dept. as some dermpath programs are in the Dermatology department.

I’m assuming Derm departments that have a dermpath fellowship favor dermatology residents but that’s not always true as I’ve seen path residents get into dermpath fellowship in the Derm dept.

Most important is to at least go to a residency with a dermpath fellowship so you can do research if needed Abd make connections during your residency.

I’ve seen people go into path residencies with no dermpath fellowship who couldn’t get a fellowship. It’s an uphill climb but not impossible. You don’t want chips stacked against you if you can control it.

 

[creative_shift]

Get into a pathology residency that has a dermpath fellowship. Not all path residencies have a dermpath fellowship.

Make sure the dermpath fellowship is within the Pathology dept. as some dermpath programs are in the Dermatology department.

I’m assuming Derm departments that have a dermpath fellowship favor dermatology residents but that’s not always true as I’ve seen path residents get into dermpath fellowship in the Derm dept.

Most important is to at least go to a residency with a dermpath fellowship so you can do research if needed Abd make connections during your residency.

I’ve seen people go into path residencies with no dermpath fellowship who couldn’t get a fellowship. It’s an uphill climb but not impossible. You don’t want chips stacked against you if you can control it.

Thank you so much for this reply! So it will be more important for me to focus on dermpath related research during residency rather than during med school? So for now I should just focus on getting into a pathology residency that has a dermpath program and take it from there?

 

[caffeinegirl]

Thank you so much for this reply! So it will be more important for me to focus on dermpath related research during residency rather than during med school? So for now I should just focus on getting into a pathology residency that has a dermpath program and take it from there?

That is correct - focus on getting into a pathology program with a dermpath fellowship first. Once you're in, work on getting dermpath projects and show your interest to the dermpath faculty. Super important that the dermpath program is in the pathology NOT dermatology department for this to work out.