Derm residency in 3 years? / Chances at derm from a "top" MD school

[FattyMcGee]

Just to preface this....I haven't yet started med school so I don't know that much - I'm headed to med school in 2006 (through a deferred acceptance). From what I can tell, a derm residency is three years but one is required to do a transitional year or a year of "something else" first. I have two questions that I was hoping someone a lot more knowledgable than me could answer: (1) Are there any derm residencies that require only three years of post graduate training total, or do all require one year of "something else?;" (2) What does one have to do for that one year prior to a derm residency? I know that a "transitional year" will suffice, but I'm curious as to what else is acceptable.

On a separate issue...(3) How tough is it to get into a derm residency from a "top" MD program? I'm headed to Yale in 2006, where it looks like about 10-15% of the graduates end up in derm. Are these the "top" 10-15% in terms of clinical grades or recommendations or is it just the ones who are interested in derm? I've heard that derm is quite hard to get into, and I'm just interested to see what my real chances are from a place like Yale. Once again, any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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[ny skindoc]

Just to preface this....I haven't yet started med school so I don't know that much - I'm headed to med school in 2006 (through a deferred acceptance). From what I can tell, a derm residency is three years but one is required to do a transitional year or a year of "something else" first. I have two questions that I was hoping someone a lot more knowledgable than me could answer: (1) Are there any derm residencies that require only three years of post graduate training total, or do all require one year of "something else?;" (2) What does one have to do for that one year prior to a derm residency? I know that a "transitional year" will suffice, but I'm curious as to what else is acceptable.

On a separate issue...(3) How tough is it to get into a derm residency from a "top" MD program? I'm headed to Yale in 2006, where it looks like about 10-15% of the graduates end up in derm. Are these the "top" 10-15% in terms of clinical grades or recommendations or is it just the ones who are interested in derm? I've heard that derm is quite hard to get into, and I'm just interested to see what my real chances are from a place like Yale. Once again, any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

All Derm residencies are four years total( although some combined programs ie IM/Derm may be longer). 3 years preceeded by 1 clinical year of either Medicine,Peds,Transitional OBGYN,FP. http://www.abderm.org/residency.html Going to Yale is a big plus in getting into Derm.I'm sure the top 10-15% are not all going into Derm but many of their successful derm applicants are in that group.No school is a guarantee match into Derm as there are many variables.But going to Yale med school is a good starting point.If you are sure this is what you want look into getting involved in research within their derm dept.

 

[clc17]

I agree that Yale is a great medical school to go to if you love derm. with one caveat. That is that Yale usually has at least 10-14 students applying. Sometimes if you are the only one applying from a small school that makes you stand out. It's less likely that one program will use 10 of their 30-40 interviews just on students from Yale, so you will definitely need to stand out. Most of the Yale applicants I interviewed with had spent significant time doing research and getting publications. This will definitely be a must if you want to stay at Yale for derm, but it'll also almost surely be a must to stand out from all theother Yale applicants when other programs are looking at your application.

Regardless, jump in feet first and see if you really like derm. If you do then continue with the research and apply. Have fun in med school, but do well. Good luck.