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- May 2, 2009
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I'm finishing up my first year of medical school and recently became interested in dermatology tangentially through a class project I did for an elective course. I've had personal skin problems in the past and I'm at super high risk for skin cancer, so I've spent a lot of time in dermatology offices throughout growing up and definitely had a much better relationship with my derm than I did with my family doc. Looking at how competitive the field is, I've gotten stressed about being interested in a specialty that's so hard to get into.
Some background: I've done some shadowing in the free clinic with derm patients. I'm also going to try and find some dermatology faculty to shadow this summer (hopefully) to get a better sense of whether or not it's a good fit for me. So far- I like the fact that is mainly outpatient, very academic, a field in need of better researchers (basic science and clinical), variety of patients (young, old, etc.). I like the fact that almost every patient comes in with a physical finding, many of the conditions relate either to immune mediated or infectious disease problems (both of which I'm interested in). I was also just ridiculously impressed by the physicians and their ability to diagnose problems so quickly with quick visual inspection. Ultimately, I'd like a career where I'm able to do some clinical research but see patients 80% of the time. Derm seems incredibly flexible, with the option to make the majority of your time in clinic even if you have some outside academic interests. I could see myself really enjoying the work and getting engrossed in it intellectually.
Anyway, this summer I'm doing research in a non-derm related basic science lab, but on a general project of which the principles are applicable to any field in medicine (derm included). I received two fellowships to fund the research (one a national fellowship that less than 10 medical students receive a year)...so it's definitely legit. I'll be presenting this research at a national conference in December. I'm also writing a review paper with my elective course director on a new antibody treatment for Stage IV melanoma. He's an oncologist (the other field I'm interested in), not a dermatologist.
What do I do next? My schedule is busy for next year and I like my current lab project and want to stick with it through next year...so I don't think taking on any significant derm research projects is in the cards. I'm not opposed to a 5th year, and I've been considering taking time off to do a clinical research fellowship in a derm lab for a year if that would be helpful. I've been having some trouble finding mentors even though we admittedly have a pretty large derm department (including peds derm).
Anyway....what is your best advice for exploring derm as a specialty and then, for positioning myself to be competitive for residency? As a derm/resident/fellow/etc. what advice would you give to someone at my point in my career?
Some background: I've done some shadowing in the free clinic with derm patients. I'm also going to try and find some dermatology faculty to shadow this summer (hopefully) to get a better sense of whether or not it's a good fit for me. So far- I like the fact that is mainly outpatient, very academic, a field in need of better researchers (basic science and clinical), variety of patients (young, old, etc.). I like the fact that almost every patient comes in with a physical finding, many of the conditions relate either to immune mediated or infectious disease problems (both of which I'm interested in). I was also just ridiculously impressed by the physicians and their ability to diagnose problems so quickly with quick visual inspection. Ultimately, I'd like a career where I'm able to do some clinical research but see patients 80% of the time. Derm seems incredibly flexible, with the option to make the majority of your time in clinic even if you have some outside academic interests. I could see myself really enjoying the work and getting engrossed in it intellectually.
Anyway, this summer I'm doing research in a non-derm related basic science lab, but on a general project of which the principles are applicable to any field in medicine (derm included). I received two fellowships to fund the research (one a national fellowship that less than 10 medical students receive a year)...so it's definitely legit. I'll be presenting this research at a national conference in December. I'm also writing a review paper with my elective course director on a new antibody treatment for Stage IV melanoma. He's an oncologist (the other field I'm interested in), not a dermatologist.
What do I do next? My schedule is busy for next year and I like my current lab project and want to stick with it through next year...so I don't think taking on any significant derm research projects is in the cards. I'm not opposed to a 5th year, and I've been considering taking time off to do a clinical research fellowship in a derm lab for a year if that would be helpful. I've been having some trouble finding mentors even though we admittedly have a pretty large derm department (including peds derm).
Anyway....what is your best advice for exploring derm as a specialty and then, for positioning myself to be competitive for residency? As a derm/resident/fellow/etc. what advice would you give to someone at my point in my career?
