Feeling down

[DrAwsome]

Hey all,

I didn't match into derm and I feel pretty devastated. It has been a dream of mine to get into derm for a long time, and I have done everything that was in my power to get in. Did well in med school, master's, research, great letters, people in my derm department told me to apply, etc. etc. It seems that everyone else who applied got in. It feels crushing. I thought I would at least match at my own school but no such luck. I am at a loss as to what I can do to improve my app and move forward. I don't even know what I would do if I wanted to go into a different specialty.

Congrats to those who did match though.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[doc84]

Please attempt once more and apply during your prelim year while working on more publications. You can also do a research fellowship and try again. Dont give up yet.

 

[DrAwsome]

Please attempt once more and apply during your prelim year while working on more publications. You can also do a research fellowship and try again. Dont give up yet.

I don't know, I mean in order to do that, I would have to find someone to work with. I would be willing to do a fellowship but I don't know where to find them, even though I've searched, and I have known people who don't get in after the fellowship. What happens then? Is medical career over? I fear what would happen to the possibility of switching to something else if the fellowship fails.

 

[cosmos540]

sorry to hear. sounds like you had a solid application too. how many interviews did u have?

if i were u, i would talk to my home program's chair/PD and be sincere/polite and ask what they think was the weak link. i can't emphasize enough the importance of having a good relationship with your home program. if you can identify your weak link & remediate it, you'll have a good chance next yr.

or you can take a year off and do a fellowship if you are into research. there are a few programs that are well known to match ppl after their fellowships

 

[oracle07]

Many re-applicants get in each year. Some who complete their intern years get lucky and find an open PGY2 position. That would be the route I'd consider after research fellowship because you'll already have a year of medicine under your belt... and if you so choose, you could just stay in medicine if you didn't match again. Allergy/Rheum are good fields that work a lot with derm cases.

Facing the possibility of not matching is something everyone goes through at least once. The reality of not matching happens very often in derm... I've seen people go through it 4 times and match on their 5th try. More commonly, I've seen people match on their 2nd try. Persistence tends to pay off -- the question is if you're willing to be that persistent, or if you could be happy with another route. It's ultimately a personal decision.

 

[SkinNerd]

Dr. Awesome:

I'm so sorry you didn't match. It sucks so much - I remember vividly how much it does. I know this sounds like crap, but try not to take it personally... every year there are a LOT of great applicants who didn't match.

There are several fellowships I've heard of that will take their fellows into a derm residency - I even interviewed for one of them 2 years ago. Ended up taking a different type of fellowship, but I just matched into my top choice. It can be done! The fellowships I've heard of that do that are: UAB, UT-Houston (there are several fellowships there), Wake Forest. There are fellowships at Northwestern, Indiana, UC-Irvine, UCSD, UTSW, OHSU, the list goes on and on.

Check out the website www.derminterest.org and go to the 'Forum' link. There is a category called 'Fellowship Opportunities' where these kinds of fellowships are posted. The other way I found out about fellowships was through my derm advisor. The residency program directors seem to have some sort of email list that they're all on, and he just emailed all of them to ask what fellowships they knew about, and forwarded the information to me. So I started applying right away during match week, and had something lined up before I even graduated med school.

Keep in mind that most clinical research fellowships will want you to get a license, so you'll need to have done your intern year and passed step 3 before you start. Hopefully you've matched or scrambled into a TY or prelim medicine spot. If basic science is more your forte, you might be able to do a lab-based fellowship right away this summer and reapply this year for derm and ty's/prelims.

Just don't give up if derm is really what you love. But it may take some time to stop being angry/sad and feel ready to reapply.

 

[N-Surge]

I know of someone who did a 5th year, staying back to do basic research while rotating through the derm clinics at her school. This paid off big time!

Just a thought... If your school has some derm research going on that you can jump into, while staying in as a med student so you may still be able to see patients as a med student, you might want to consider this. Could be risky. But again, someone did it and it paid off.

 

[tennisballs]

Doc Awesome, I feel your pain. I had double-digit interviews and did not match either.

But hey, we're just free agents waiting to get bought out. Our stock is high.

Just curious, if one defers med school graduation, does one pay a whole extra year of med school tuition?

 

[DermMatch]

Very important to do a frank post-mortem with your program director. Also, start publishing dermatology articles -- case reports, reviews -- like mad.

 

[ChocolateKiss]

If you were a competitive applicant who just slipped through the cracks, I'd apply again during your prelim year rather than doing a fellowship. I know of several reapplicants this year who applied through ERAS then got offers on the interview trail for derm positions beginning in July 2010 instead of 2011. If you didn't match during your prelim year, you could always go the fellowship route.