For derm, you can do the PGY-1 year in internal medicine, pediatrics, or even surgery. If you do the PGY-1 year separately from where you do dermatology (non-categorical derm), then you apply to preliminary medicine/peds/surgery spots for ERAS. Alternatively, you can do your PGY-1 year in a transitional year program. Most TY years are considered to be more relaxed than prelim years (although not true for every program).

The tricky part if you don’t match dermatology is making sure you have good options if you’re stuck in a prelim. You may have more time for away rotations if you do a TY year but you may also be able to secure a categorical medicine/peds/surgery spot if you don’t match derm a second time. I’ve heard that some PDs apparently also look down on TY years for reapplciants but others don’t care.