Matching into Mohs fellowship with 9 months to go as PGY3

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FlourWaterSaltYeast

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Hi all,

Thanks for the advice from everyone on this forum over the years. I'm a PGY3 resident at a mid-tier dermatology program. I recently became interested in Mohs. Unfortunately, I don't have any research and haven't done much other than study during residency. Does anyone have any recommendations on matching into a Mohs fellowship with just 9 months to go until the next cycle? I'm willing to do a lot - use vacation as aways, apply to every program, do research, etc. I'm a single guy with no immediate family or geographical anchors and willing to go anywhere--I'd take a year off and do another fellowship if it meant I could eventually match Mohs (though not sure on how ACGME funding would work for PGY6?). Unfortunately my program has no research going on right now. If anyone has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated. All the best.

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Hi all,

Thanks for the advice from everyone on this forum over the years. I'm a PGY3 resident at a mid-tier dermatology program. I recently became interested in Mohs. Unfortunately, I don't have any research and haven't done much other than study during residency. Does anyone have any recommendations on matching into a Mohs fellowship with just 9 months to go until the next cycle? I'm willing to do a lot - use vacation as aways, apply to every program, do research, etc. I'm a single guy with no immediate family or geographical anchors and willing to go anywhere--I'd take a year off and do another fellowship if it meant I could eventually match Mohs (though not sure on how ACGME funding would work for PGY6?). Unfortunately my program has no research going on right now. If anyone has any advice, it would be greatly appreciated. All the best.

I'm not sure how competitive the landscape has gotten, I'm pretty sure I decided on doing a Mohs fellowship at the very start of my PGY4 year. I used vacation as aways, I applied broadly (I don't think there is a need to apply to every program unless again, the competitiveness of Mohs has grown significantly), and I did some small research projects with my home program's surgeon.

I think how good a resident you are and what kind of surgeon LORs you get matter more than research. The more well known the surgeon at your home program, the better. I would start by asking him/her what their advice would be on applying.
 
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Does your program have a Mohs fellowship? If not, is there someone on staff that is fellowship trained? If not, that makes things more difficult. Please PM me and we can talk in-depth
 
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If you don't get a spot this year, it doesn't make sense to do another fellowship if it is just to bide time. Work as an attending during that time. If nothing else, an academic place will likely give you a year long attending spot (and hopefully you can get cozy with their mohs program there).
 
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I'm not sure how competitive the landscape has gotten, I'm pretty sure I decided on doing a Mohs fellowship at the very start of my PGY4 year. I used vacation as aways, I applied broadly (I don't think there is a need to apply to every program unless again, the competitiveness of Mohs has grown significantly), and I did some small research projects with my home program's surgeon.

I think how good a resident you are and what kind of surgeon LORs you get matter more than research. The more well known the surgeon at your home program, the better. I would start by asking him/her what their advice would be on applying.

These are good suggestions but in this pandemic visiting programs is not an option. Most places take internally. The landscape is extremely competitive more than in the past.
 
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These are good suggestions but in this pandemic visiting programs is not an option. Most places take internally. The landscape is extremely competitive more than in the past.

In that case, I think a research year at the fellowship one is interested in makes more sense rather than doing another fellowship to bide time.

Or as Dral mentioned, working as an attending at an academic place that has a Mohs fellowship one is interested in would also give the OP the opportunity to become an "internal" applicant with a legup on the competition.

Even when I was applying for Mohs fellowship (in what sounds like a significantly less competitive environment), there were programs that were rumored to only take their research fellow. I found the idea ridiculous and would rather practice general derm instead but if someone is that gungho on pursuing a Mohs or laser fellowship, it is pretty easy to figure out which ones almost "require" a year in research before they accept the applicant on as their fellow. Become the research fellow and soon enough, you'll likely be the Mohs / laser fellow.

I know the advice has been echoed here multiple times too. It is important to have a good reason as to why you are pursuing a Mohs fellowship. It is easy to look at the Mohs surgeon who does 10 Mohs cases/day, 4-5 days/week with no gen derm responsibilities and look on in envy. How common are those jobs? More specifically, how common are those jobs in the area/location you want to work? Are any of those jobs available to new attendings fresh out of fellowship or do those jobs all belong to grizzled veterans who have clawed their way to those positions through persistence? How would you feel about the opportunity cost of giving up a year (or more) of an attending's salary only to enter the job market and realize that kind of full-time Mohs gig might not be available to new graduates anymore?

Important things to consider before applying for fellowship (especially important before committing to a research year before a fellowship year)
 
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