How to proceed from the beginning?

[CorgiDoctor]

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Hi all -

I'll be starting medical school in August and was hoping I could get some advice. A dermatologist saved my life by noticing a freckle that was actually cancer a few years ago. She was truly inspiring and influential, and I've been hoping to become a dermatologist ever since.

I've read enough to know that I need to work my ass off and get great grades so that I can be prepared for Step 1. But I was wondering if I need to be doing other stuff from the first day in order to make myself competitive for Derm? My school is mid-tier and does not have a home Derm program - is this going to make it significantly more difficult for me to do Dermatology related research? Should I plan on looking outside of my school for summer research opportunities, or would I be better off doing something within my own school's internal medicine department?

Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm an older student and I feel behind the curve sometimes when I hear people talking about what they are going to do from the first day of school in order to match into their chosen specialties.

 

[asmallchild]

Hi all -

I'll be starting medical school in August and was hoping I could get some advice. A dermatologist saved my life by noticing a freckle that was actually cancer a few years ago. She was truly inspiring and influential, and I've been hoping to become a dermatologist ever since.

I've read enough to know that I need to work my ass off and get great grades so that I can be prepared for Step 1. But I was wondering if I need to be doing other stuff from the first day in order to make myself competitive for Derm? My school is mid-tier and does not have a home Derm program - is this going to make it significantly more difficult for me to do Dermatology related research? Should I plan on looking outside of my school for summer research opportunities, or would I be better off doing something within my own school's internal medicine department?

Any advice would be much appreciated. I'm an older student and I feel behind the curve sometimes when I hear people talking about what they are going to do from the first day of school in order to match into their chosen specialties.

That's it. The first year is all about building a knowledge base that you can apply towards Step 1. Once you feel you can handle that, then you can look into pursuing research during the summer between MS1 and MS2 and as a MS2. But all the research in the world won't help you if your Step 1 is not competitive (many cutoffs START at 240)

 

[CorgiDoctor]

Thanks very much for the input - am I at a significant disadvantage going to a school without a derm program?

 

[Dral]

Disadvantage? Sort of. Significant? Not really.

You just need to work harder to make connection earlier. I'd try to see if you could work or shadow in an away Derm dept between first and second year.