Career focus and mentioning it in PS/at interviews

[JustSomePreMed]

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I'm from a rural area that is somewhat underserved (particularly when it comes to available Dermatologists), and would love to return to that area or serve as a Dermatologist in a comparable environment. I get the feeling that this may be frowned upon, as everyone seems to emphasize the importance of appearing to be academics-driven. An IM resident friend of mine was telling me about how mentioning anything other than "Academics" as your goal when interviewing for GI fellowships is a recipe for instant rejection, despite the fact that 90% will end up outside of academics in private practice.

What's the general consensus here for derm?

 

[reno911]

The advice you got was pretty spot on. I never really understood this myself, but it's true. When I was in academia, and I was interviewing/evaluating prospective residents, I placed almost no value on a candidate's career plans. But I can tell you that, for many of my colleagues, a stated interest in an academic career was a big deal.

To answer your question, I don't think you should lie about what you want to do, but at the same time, I wouldn't draw attention to or emphasize your plans.

I'm pretty sure you don't realize this, but what you're describing is basically the recipe for the easiest way to make a ton of money in dermatology (i.e., go into private practice in a rural/underserved area and clean up). Of course, this may not be what motivates you, but at least a few of the faculty members who interview you may wrongly attribute that motive to you.

 

[JustSomePreMed]

The advice you got was pretty spot on. I never really understood this myself, but it's true. When I was in academia, and I was interviewing/evaluating prospective residents, I placed almost no value on a candidate's career plans. But I can tell you that, for many of my colleagues, a stated interest in an academic career was a big deal.

To answer your question, I don't think you should lie about what you want to do, but at the same time, I wouldn't draw attention to or emphasize your plans.

I'm pretty sure you don't realize this, but what you're describing is basically the recipe for the easiest way to make a ton of money in dermatology (i.e., go into private practice in a rural/underserved area and clean up). Of course, this may not be what motivates you, but at least a few of the faculty members who interview you may wrongly attribute that motive to you.

Yikes, I really didn't realize all of this. I appreciate the heads up. I guess my dilemma is that a lot of people suggest mentioning your plans/future goals in your personal statement, which I'm in the process of working on right now. I don't have a super extensive research background (just some research done between M1/M2 with two pubs, and a case report or two hopefully on their way soon), so I feel like it'd be very difficult for me to say I was particularly interested in academics when I'm being compared against people with PhDs or years/decades of research under their belt. I obviously don't want to lie about my plans for practicing (and didn't realize there was such a stark difference in compensation), but I feel like I'm kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place.