Which departments welcome visiting MS1/2s?

[dermacat]

Which Dermatology departments welcome visiting medical students in their clinical years (MS1 or MS2s)?

I'm looking for a short-term (1-2 week) program at a school or a hospital that will allow me to start gaining exposure in Derm (and possibly begin developing connections in the field). Because I am a dual degree MD/MBA student, my summers are 100% occupied. This leaves me at a disadvantage while other students are off doing research in their fields of interest and serving in underdeveloped parts of the world. The only break that I have to do any kind of travel would be during winter break, which is only 2 weeks. So my struggle is 2-fold: finding a short program during winter break, that also welcomes preclinical students to "rotate"/observe.

Please let me know if you know or have heard of such opportunities, thank you!

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[PatsyStone]

Which Dermatology departments welcome visiting medical students in their clinical years (MS1 or MS2s)?

I'm looking for a short-term (1-2 week) program at a school or a hospital that will allow me to start gaining exposure in Derm (and possibly begin developing connections in the field). Because I am a dual degree MD/MBA student, my summers are 100% occupied. This leaves me at a disadvantage while other students are off doing research in their fields of interest and serving in underdeveloped parts of the world. The only break that I have to do any kind of travel would be during winter break, which is only 2 weeks. So my struggle is 2-fold: finding a short program during winter break, that also welcomes preclinical students to "rotate"/observe.

Please let me know if you know or have heard of such opportunities, thank you!

Do you not have a home department?

 

[dermacat]

We do have a home department, but I wanted to gain exposure to other institutions as well since I will already be doing a Derm rotation here my 4th year

 

[dermie1985]

We do have a home department, but I wanted to gain exposure to other institutions as well since I will already be doing a Derm rotation here my 4th year

I would shadow at your home department so you start to get to know you home department well. They will be the most important in helping you match (either at your home program or elsewhere). Plus, you can identify mentors who you might be able to do research with, work on case reports, etc. Just because you're doing MBA coursework in the summer doesn't mean you don't have time to work on research during your MS1/MS2 years and even during that summer.

Any sort of 1-2 week "rotation" as a pre-clinical at another institution (despite probably not existing? outside of setting one up with a personal email to a faculty member) is going to be low-yield anyway. Sounds like a waste of time to me. No one will take you seriously, and shadowing is frankly just boring.

Just plan on doing an away as a 4th year if you want exposure to other programs. I'm sure your school permits you time to do this. If you really want to meet people early from other programs, I'd suggest trying to do a research project that's feasible with your other commitments and considering applying for a presentation at the AAD, SID, etc. Outside of that, I don't think there's anything you should be doing until you're a clinical student from a "exposure to outside derm departments" perpsective.

 

[dermacat]

Thank you dermie1985. I saw on another post you mentioned that nothing in September and onwards of 4th year will significantly impact one's likelihood of matching to Derm. My school has a strict 3rd year schedule and there is no hope of doing my home Derm rotation until July at the earliest. This leaves me to wonder, what do you recommend I schedule during August? Would 1 home and 1 away before September be enough?

 

[PatsyStone]

Thank you dermie1985. I saw on another post you mentioned that nothing in September and onwards of 4th year will significantly impact one's likelihood of matching to Derm. My school has a strict 3rd year schedule and there is no hope of doing my home Derm rotation until July at the earliest. This leaves me to wonder, what do you recommend I schedule during August? Would 1 home and 1 away before September be enough?

Well it sounds like you don't have much of a choice . . .

This process is stressful, but don't worry: one away will suffice. Some programs actually discourage their students from doing always, so don't feel like your situation is the end of the world. The bigger issues is that with only one away, you need to figure out who you're going to get derm letters from. You can have up to four, and ideally, they should all be from dermatologists

 

[dermie1985]

Thank you dermie1985. I saw on another post you mentioned that nothing in September and onwards of 4th year will significantly impact one's likelihood of matching to Derm. My school has a strict 3rd year schedule and there is no hope of doing my home Derm rotation until July at the earliest. This leaves me to wonder, what do you recommend I schedule during August? Would 1 home and 1 away before September be enough?

July/August is perfectly fine. Even September is OK if the program is going to be good about getting you a rec letter quickly. You can do additional aways after that, but it will only affect your chances at that program given you won't be getting a "letter" out of it. 1 home + 1-2 aways seem the norm. I didn't do any away because it's not something most people from my home program do.... but in retrospect, if there is a place or city you really wanna be in, I'd just go ahead and do it.