Why is derm so appealing?

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drdude90

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I understand that derm is one of the most competitive residencies available to attain....but why?

From the patient's perspective, it just seems like a sub-specialization of internal. Same outpatient environment, working hours, general lifestyle. But for some reason, you step 1 scores have to be on average 40 points higher than internal.

And to top it all off, they don't even make that much money compared to many other specialties!
 
drdude90 said:
I understand that derm is one of the most competitive residencies available to attain....but why?

From the patient's perspective, it just seems like a sub-specialization of internal. Same outpatient environment, working hours, general lifestyle. But for some reason, you step 1 scores have to be on average 40 points higher than internal.

And to top it all off, they don't even make that much money compared to many other specialties!
Click to expand...

1) One of the easiest residencies.

2) The hours are amazing, as are the perks. Start at 9, finish early, no floor work, educated patients, no call, no insurance to deal with (you can have an all cash business), easy to move if you want to, flexible contracts, the power to easily work on/endorse lucrative OTC products, and the best markets for your services are the most desirable locations. Keep in mind this is not after 6 gueling years of IM residency and fellowship, just one quick and easy residency.

3) Yes, the really do make much, much more than medicine, especially per hour. And they are arguably the best paying specialty by the hour. Very few specialties give you the ability to earn 300K+/year for 20 hours a week. The other specialties that pay that much per hour just don't let you work that few hours.

4) Finally, a lot of the competition is just a matter of the incredibly limited supply rather than the high demand. If you reduced any residency to just 300 spots nation wide it would look hypercompetitive, because there would always be at least 500+ people who wanted to do it.
 
drdude90 said:
I understand that derm is one of the most competitive residencies available to attain....but why?

From the patient's perspective, it just seems like a sub-specialization of internal. Same outpatient environment, working hours, general lifestyle. But for some reason, you step 1 scores have to be on average 40 points higher than internal.

And to top it all off, they don't even make that much money compared to many other specialties!
Click to expand...

One of the best things about derm is that in many cases, you are able to 'cure' a patient of their complaint in a matter of seconds/minutes.
 
[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTTVkh6NX50[/YOUTUBE]
 
How is dermatology an internal medicine subspecialty?
 
moneyshowe.gif
 
What I don't understand is how ophtho is still so competitive. The compensation for ophthalmologists is much lower than it used to be, but the step 1 scores are still insane.
 
This thread is now about amusing gifs that make it rain:

thsmall_184283.gif
 
the blend of thinking with lots of procedures (biopsy, cryo, excisions, injections, KOH, tzank, laser, botox, fillers, sclero, etc) keep the day fun and make it more lucrative than many outpatient specialties.

as mentioned above, derm used to be a medicine subspecialty... it's still pretty tied to internal medicine, but it's probably best as its own field rather than a medicine fellowship. in my opinion a medicine base is very helpful, but 1 year of IM is enough.
 
Derm is the Holy Grail for female physicians planning on getting married, having kids, and being involved in the family. It's basically dentist hours with double the pay, infinitely more prestige and status, and even less stress than a dentist (if that's even possible). For guys, it's not really alpha to go into Derm. You never get respect from other docs and surgeons so that wears a little on Derm's advantages.

But for you females out there who plan on doing the whole wife and mom thing....you better be fighting and clawing to get that Derm residency.
 
flatearth22 said:
Derm is the Holy Grail for female physicians planning on getting married, having kids, and being involved in the family. It's basically dentist hours with double the pay, infinitely more prestige and status, and even less stress than a dentist (if that's even possible). For guys, it's not really alpha to go into Derm. You never get respect from other docs and surgeons so that wears a little on Derm's advantages.

But for you females out there who plan on doing the whole wife and mom thing....you better be fighting and clawing to get that Derm residency.
Click to expand...
Oh yeah, totally. 🙄
 
gettheleadout said:
Oh yeah, totally. 🙄
Click to expand...

Real Men are supposed to roll their sleeves up and grind out Real Work. Not work from 9-4 for 4 days a week with no call treating teenage acne and giving botox to divorced, materialistic, cougar baby boomers. A male dermatologist will never be as Alpha and will never get as much respect as a male Neurosurgeon or Cardiologist.
 
flatearth22 said:
Real Men are supposed to roll their sleeves up and grind out Real Work. Not work from 9-4 for 4 days a week with no call treating teenage acne and giving botox to divorced, materialistic, cougar baby boomers. A male dermatologist will never be as Alpha and will never get as much respect as a male Neurosurgeon or Cardiologist.
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Confident men don't need to derive status or confidence from minor differences in occupation.

Derm means getting to do what you want.
 
RookTookIt said:
What I don't understand is how ophtho is still so competitive. The compensation for ophthalmologists is much lower than it used to be, but the step 1 scores are still insane.
Click to expand...

Because ophthamology is neurosurgery with better hours
 
This is just ONE dermatologist I talked to but all of this stuff about great hours and no calls at home is complete BS from a retired MD dermatologist I spoke to. He seriously got angry at me for saying that I thought dermatologist had great hours and it was the best place to go into medicine.

Take into account that he was a dermatologist from a generation ago though...

He said he was not compensated well and it was like Chinese water torture just waiting for someone to call him about a skin problem. Whether it was his daughters band recital or 2 am in the morning.
 
flatearth22 said:
Real Men are supposed to roll their sleeves up and grind out Real Work. Not work from 9-4 for 4 days a week with no call treating teenage acne and giving botox to divorced, materialistic, cougar baby boomers. A male dermatologist will never be as Alpha and will never get as much respect as a male Neurosurgeon or Cardiologist.
Click to expand...
Yea!! Real men should just apply for ortho, if you dont get in, then drop out of med school and find a construction job!!! that how men gotta be!!
 
tn4596 said:
Yea!! Real men should just apply for ortho, if you dont get in, then drop out of med school and find a construction job!!! that how men gotta be!!
Click to expand...

Real men cause women within their vicinity to spontaneously give birth.
 
flatearth22 said:
Derm is the Holy Grail for female physicians planning on getting married, having kids, and being involved in the family. It's basically dentist hours with double the pay, infinitely more prestige and status, and even less stress than a dentist (if that's even possible). For guys, it's not really alpha to go into Derm. You never get respect from other docs and surgeons so that wears a little on Derm's advantages.

But for you females out there who plan on doing the whole wife and mom thing....you better be fighting and clawing to get that Derm residency.
Click to expand...

I can never tell when you're trolling, and when you're serious.
 
The only reason I'm applying to medschool is so I can meet the future derm ladies. Then I'll drop out and spend my days at the country club once we're married 😉

ingenious right?
 
You're all missing the most alpha characteristic of male dermatologists: the chance to pick up underage girls, while having their parents pay in cash for the visit.

/winning
 
MSU2009 said:
You're all missing the most alpha characteristic of male dermatologists: the chance to pick up underage girls, while having their parents pay in cash for the visit.

/winning
Click to expand...

Now that's gunning.
 
iceman132 said:
This is just ONE dermatologist I talked to but all of this stuff about great hours and no calls at home is complete BS from a retired MD dermatologist I spoke to. He seriously got angry at me for saying that I thought dermatologist had great hours and it was the best place to go into medicine.

Take into account that he was a dermatologist from a generation ago though...

He said he was not compensated well and it was like Chinese water torture just waiting for someone to call him about a skin problem. Whether it was his daughters band recital or 2 am in the morning.
Click to expand...

Everyone thinks their job is so much more difficult than every other job. I used to work in a very insignificant job and all of my older co-workers seemed to think their job was so much more difficult and demanding than it really was.

Regardless, derm is pretty sexy in terms of appeal. The hours alone + no call is almost irresistible to anyone who wants to raise a family and be very active in it.
 
vin5cent0 said:
Everyone thinks their job is so much more difficult than every other job. I used to work in a very insignificant job and all of my older co-workers seemed to think their job was so much more difficult and demanding than it really was.

Regardless, derm is pretty sexy in terms of appeal. The hours alone + no call is almost irresistible to anyone who wants to raise a family and be very active in it.
Click to expand...


He admitted that a neurosurgeon might scoff at his problems, but what he is saying is directly contradicting this "appeal."

Maybe times have changed, but he says that doctors/ patients would call at all times of the day or night. I'm not really sure about the hours but if someones skin was messed up he wasn't going to sit there on his butt.
 
iceman132 said:
He admitted that a neurosurgeon might scoff at his problems, but what he is saying is directly contradicting this "appeal."

Maybe times have changed, but he says that doctors/ patients would call at all times of the day or night. I'm not really sure about the hours but if someones skin was messed up he wasn't going to sit there on his butt.
Click to expand...

Skin problems are rarely acute enough to require a derm. If it's a rash/blemish/whatever from medicines and/or a disease, chances are the IM, rheum, ID, ... will look at it first.
 
iceman132 said:
He admitted that a neurosurgeon might scoff at his problems, but what he is saying is directly contradicting this "appeal."

Maybe times have changed, but he says that doctors/ patients would call at all times of the day or night. I'm not really sure about the hours but if someones skin was messed up he wasn't going to sit there on his butt.
Click to expand...

How many skin emergencies have you ever heard of? lol

Think your guy was exaggerating. Nearly any emergency I can think of involving your skin would probably be dealt with by an emergency dept.
 
Paine said:
Skin problems are rarely acute enough to require a derm. If it's a rash/blemish/whatever from medicines and/or a disease, chances are the IM, rheum, ID, ... will look at it first.
Click to expand...

I think the problem for him was two fold.

Incompetent doctors (He gave me a story about a family doctor calling him at a family function who couldn't even figure out the disease was poison ivy)

Patients who get see any bump and immediately call him. There were also certain skin issues that were life threatening which he needed to attend to immediately.

Was it bad all the time? No, but he said it was torture just waiting for the next medical emergency to pop up.

He also did not get compensated for his work properly from what he told me.
 
vin5cent0 said:
How many skin emergencies have you ever heard of? lol

Think your guy was exaggerating. Nearly any emergency I can think of involving your skin would probably be dealt with by an emergency dept.
Click to expand...

He could possibly be exaggerating/ making sure I wouldn't take medical school lightly. I'm simply going by what he said.

The guy also had a solo practice which may have made things a lot more difficult.
 
Missorleans said:
thanks for that 👎
Click to expand...

Nice. Missorleans does not want to be pigeonholed. I can respect that.

GooseWing said:
The only reason I'm applying to medschool is so I can meet the future derm ladies. Then I'll drop out and spend my days at the country club once we're married 😉

ingenious right?
Click to expand...

You are a gentleman and a scholar.

MSU2009 said:
You're all missing the most alpha characteristic of male dermatologists: the chance to pick up underage girls, while having their parents pay in cash for the visit.

/winning
Click to expand...

That really is the dream.

chris_hansen.gif
 
iceman132 said:
This is just ONE dermatologist I talked to but all of this stuff about great hours and no calls at home is complete BS from a retired MD dermatologist I spoke to. He seriously got angry at me for saying that I thought dermatologist had great hours and it was the best place to go into medicine.

Take into account that he was a dermatologist from a generation ago though...

He said he was not compensated well and it was like Chinese water torture just waiting for someone to call him about a skin problem. Whether it was his daughters band recital or 2 am in the morning.
Click to expand...

We had a physician panel a few months ago, and one of the people that came was a dermatologist. She reported that she was virtually never on call (it was like 1 day a month), and that there were virtually no skin emergencies, so she wasn't usually needed on call anyway. The other physicians there were surgeons, IM, OB/GYN, etc... and they all gave her grief about her schedule. She took it in stride.
 
I always laughed at derm, but there are some good points brought up in here.

Lol from an episode of Hung: "He's a doctor, he saves lives!" "He's a dermatologist....."
 
mvenus929 said:
We had a physician panel a few months ago, and one of the people that came was a dermatologist. She reported that she was virtually never on call (it was like 1 day a month), and that there were virtually no skin emergencies, so she wasn't usually needed on call anyway. The other physicians there were surgeons, IM, OB/GYN, etc... and they all gave her grief about her schedule. She took it in stride.
Click to expand...

Interesting, for some reason the person that told me that being a dermatologist was "easier" or "better" was also talking about a woman dermatologist.

I'm thinking it is a generational thing with this man having many issues with being a dermatologist in a solo practice.

However it isn't outside the realm of possibility to think that women don't take as much responsibility and focus on their families. This is pure speculation but anyone who doesn't see a difference in men and women is just talking out of their butt or ignorant.
 
1. Good hours
2. Good paycheck
3. How many other dermatologists are in the area?
 
I met a Dermatologist that is a regular at the Passions Nightclub at Hard Rock.
 
Decision tree:

1.)Do you value lifestyle and great pay?
IF YES, go to #2. If NO, go to A.
2.) Are you brain damaged or have a psychiatric/personality disorder that otherwise renders you incapable of making prudent life decisions?
If YES go to #3. If NO, go to B.
3.) Do you have 250+ Step 1 AND have AOA status AND went to a top 25 school AND can tolerate a shallow, dentist-like career?
If YES, go to #4. If NO, go to A.
4.) Are you male or female?
If male, go into plastic surgery. If female, go into derm.

A.) You are consigned to either terrible hours or sh##ty pay or perhaps both. Find the largest butt plug you can get your hands on for prophylactic preconditioning. Your life blows.
B.) Do you have at least as much intelligence and persistence as someone who can match into Family Medicine?
If YES, become an Orthodontist and rake in the $$$$$$$ for so little effort. You skipped the BS of med school and got directly what you wanted without busting your @ss. If NO, go to A.
 
Heisenbergg said:
Decision tree:

1.)Do you value lifestyle and great pay?
IF YES, go to #2. If NO, go to A.
2.) Are you brain damaged or have a psychiatric/personality disorder that otherwise renders you incapable of making prudent life decisions?
If YES go to #3. If NO, go to B.
3.) Do you have 250+ Step 1 AND have AOA status AND went to a top 25 school AND can tolerate a shallow, dentist-like career?
If YES, go to #4. If NO, go to A.
4.) Are you male or female?
If male, go into plastic surgery. If female, go into derm.

A.) You are consigned to either terrible hours or sh##ty pay or perhaps both. Find the largest butt plug you can get your hands on for prophylactic preconditioning. Your life blows.
B.) Do you have at least as much intelligence and persistence as someone who can match into Family Medicine?
If YES, become an Orthodontist and rake in the $$$$$$$ for so little effort. You skipped the BS of med school and got directly what you wanted without busting your @ss. If NO, go to A.
Click to expand...

I felt like I was doing a "Choose your Adventure" story haha.
 
flatearth22 said:
For guys, it's not really alpha to go into Derm. You never get respect from other docs and surgeons so that wears a little on Derm's advantages.
Click to expand...
Stupid. You do realize that dermatologists deal with removing cancers. And who cares about what other people think? Did you just say "alpha"? I think you spend to much time on /fit/.

iceman132 said:
This is just ONE dermatologist I talked to but all of this stuff about great hours and no calls at home is complete BS from a retired MD dermatologist I spoke to. He seriously got angry at me for saying that I thought dermatologist had great hours and it was the best place to go into medicine.

Take into account that he was a dermatologist from a generation ago though...

He said he was not compensated well and it was like Chinese water torture just waiting for someone to call him about a skin problem. Whether it was his daughters band recital or 2 am in the morning.
Click to expand...
Where did he live? In the middle of nowhere Wyoming? I'm pretty sure dermatologists here in southern California or other such places that are obsessed with looks and crawling with trophy wives/girlfriends wouldn't be starving for cash strapped clients/"patients". Also, people from earlier generations, I think, were never exposed to the extreme effects that photoshop has had on how "perfect" people supposedly do and should look.
 
PLUS derm often deals with cosmetic procedures.

Cosmetic procedures = cash cow with no hassle with health insurance and no worries about universal health care
 
Dr Love said:
PLUS derm often deals with cosmetic procedures.

Cosmetic procedures = cash cow with no hassle with health insurance and no worries about universal health care
Click to expand...

I thought health insurance doesn't cover most cosmetic procedures?
 
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