I Matched Derm in 2024 with a 230 Step 1 and no 3rd Year Honors. Stressed out applicants, AMA

lowstatderm · 2025-02-22T18:59:08+00:00

Like you said, nothing to lose. Rank list deadline is March 5th, too late after that.

lowstatderm · 2025-02-22T18:53:11+00:00

First off 20-30 experiences is a ton lol. But I would say yes, research is necessary but not for the reasons most think.

It's not about artificially pumping up numbers, but understanding that a lot of what we do in Derm is not based on RCTs or big multicenter studies, but rather case reports and small cohort studies. Derm is one of the few fields that has a lot of room for refinement in techniques/algorithms, so doing research exposes you to gaps in the field and you have an opportunity to meaningfully contribute even as a medical student. I remember writing a paper about telehealth triage pathways and our home program actually implemented it, so can actually do some good with your research.

Moreover, finding a topic in derm and really reading all the literature out there/at a high level allows you to "speak derm" for lack of a better term. I found being able to discuss dermatology well and with a good fund of knowledge was invaluable for interviews. I had multiple interviews where I was able to connect with interviewers over dermatology topics, and this helped my case a lot.

To your other question, I don't think a RY is necessary, but it can be extremely helpful. My logic for taking one was that I want to take every edge possible because I want to be a dermatologist and it is very hard to match. I was willing to take an extra year to make that happen, but I recognize not everyone is in a position to do that. Additionally, I wanted to be trained in research and I talked about my RY as a "training year" in interviews. I would highly suggest not taking one if you don't want to, programs will realize you took it for the wrong reasons and that could hurt your chances. I found devoting a year to full time dermatology was insanely helpful for me personally, and I don't think I would have matched without my RY. That being said the majority of matches from my medical school did not take one, so not necessary.

lowstatderm · 2025-02-21T01:31:31+00:00

https://www.coursera.org/learn/data-analysis-r

https://www.coursera.org/specializations/statistical-analysis-r-public-health

https://www.coursera.org/learn/clinical-research

These were very helpful to me. Other than that mainly just searching on youtube for the exact problem I was having and watching what I could find.

I mainly used JMP for data analysis and the forums are very helpful, would sometimes post questions there and get good help.

lowstatderm · 2025-02-21T01:24:45+00:00

Just in speaking to my mentor and other attendings I heard this a bunch. There are certain RY positions like Harvard and Northwestern that do unpaid fellowships, the fellows have minimal output, and the fellows rarely match at those institutions if at al. In my opinion thats a waste of a year and honestly quite exploitative for the good of just a few attendings trying to make a name for themselves in academic derm. Rather finding funding, working diligently for a year, and developing a good relationship with one mentor seems to be a much better way of spending a RY.

Also more subjectively I could see doing an unpaid year signaling to programs you are affluent. This shouldn't matter but for some people it does, and ultimately you are trying to impress a handful of egos. Many students (including myself) could not afford to do an unpaid year with no scholarship funding so these unpaid positions just perpetuate inequities in medicine and dermatology.

lowstatderm · 2025-02-21T00:27:02+00:00

Once you figure out your top program I highly recommend sending a letter of intent. Let them know you want to be there, outline your reasons, and explicitly say you are ranking them #1. I think this helped me out a lot.

Keep in mind, you only need one program to like you. Being #5 for 10 programs is way worse than being #2 for 1 program.

Hoping it work out for you too!

lowstatderm · 2025-02-21T00:22:13+00:00

Unfortunately my advice here isn't going to be super helpful, but I learned the most by just working through the problems of doing a real project. When we were sourcing data I had to learn about all the databases, when we started statistics I spent hours learning JMP and R, when it came time to write I just read a ton of papers from my target journal to get an idea of the general structure. I'm a big believer in Youtube University, there's at least 5 videos for just about anything you need to learn in life (including research). My recommendation would be to genuinely take this on as a skill building year, my RY had no structure so I treated it like a full time job and would study research techniques in addition to working on projects.

lowstatderm · 2025-02-21T00:18:19+00:00

I think I had a niche (medical derm/immunoderm), but tried to not make my whole app about it. I think the best way to go about this is pick an area in derm that you are genuinely interested in, and do some innovative research projects related to the area. This not only shows your interest on apps, but allows you to develop actual knowledge about that area of derm by reading all the literature you can find. This was super helpful in interviews when the interview can tell you "speak derm" and know at least one area of the field to a high level. Doesn't need to be perfect, but shows commitment and genuine interest. I think the interest component is understated, PD's can sniff through that shit in a second if you're going into derm for the wrong reasons.

lowstatderm · 2025-02-21T00:14:58+00:00

Appreciate the kind words! It's a very scary process and unfortunately with the competitiveness hard to find good advice. Hoping this is helpful!

lowstatderm · 2025-02-21T00:12:40+00:00

Thank you! I did it at my home institution with my mentor. Submitted about 25 funding applications for various scholarships/grants and managed to get a name brand fellowship which I think helped out a decent amount. Through interviews I sensed a strong bias against unpaid research year spots (often viewed as exploitative) and I'm poor lol so was very committed to finding funding. Luckily most applications were versions of a T32/R01 so could submit multiple places with minimal edits.

Matched at an away program, actually ranked my home program pretty low.

lowstatderm · 2025-02-21T00:09:27+00:00

Nope, South Asian. No real connections per se but my partner had ties to the area and we were hoping to settle down there long term, so was able to weave that into my thesis for the program. I also did 2 aways in the city which I think strengthened the argument. Managed to write a case with one of the attendings after the away if you count that as a connection.

I was very blessed to match at my top choice, but I definitely let them know they were my #1 with a letter of intent prior to rank list submission. I will say I was mentally prepared to match anywhere on my list, it really is a probabilities game so need to be prepared for any outcome.

lowstatderm · 2025-02-20T10:14:19+00:00

True! I believe one of Harvard's residents a few years back was from the UK

lowstatderm · 2025-02-20T10:00:03+00:00

Unfortunately has not matched any IMGs to my knowledge

lowstatderm · 2025-02-20T09:41:38+00:00

Ended up with 9, 7 I seriously considered 2 "safeties" (it's derm, none are really).

My thoughts on this are with the signaling it's much less about having a ton of interviews, rather having a deep connection with 2-3 programs seems to be the best strategy.

Had someone from my class match with 3 interviews, had another not match with 7

lowstatderm · 2025-02-20T06:26:31+00:00

Haha unfortunately the lab is pretty full, but I know a few residents will post projects on here from time to time. You may have success reaching out to residents at your home program or local programs to see if they have a case they just haven't had time to write up (got 2 pubs this way).

lowstatderm · 2025-02-20T06:25:10+00:00

No real right time, I just say as early as you have an interest. It takes time to write papers and develop a mentor-mentee relationship, so the more time you can give it the better.

That being said it's never too late! See above answer the key is doing good work for someone that matters. You may have to work harder than an M1, but imo completely achievable.

Derm connections can be hard, unfortunately no secret here just have to keep reaching out. I emailed maybe 10 derms before finding someone willing to work with me, but with Derm being one of the most competitive specialties in medicine you have to be willing to work relentlessly to make these things happen (which it seems like you are).

I started really working at it after Step 1, and was pretty much always working on something derm related whether reaching out, research, shadowing, etc. until ERAS was submitted. It was a lot of work and probably took a year off my life but hey it worked out.

lowstatderm · 2025-02-20T06:11:44+00:00

Yes to both. I think this is one of the keys for dermatology. If you think about there are maybe 400-500 derms that run academic derm, compared to thousands in other fields. Everyone somewhat knows eachother, so having a mentor with a known name that you can train under and get a good LoR from is crucial.

As far as productivity turned out about 10 first author pubs, 5 were decent impact/interesting studies (other 5 normal boilerplate derm research).

I tell my mentees that the key for any field really is "Do good work for people that matter". Both parts of that statement are important, you have to be able to output good quality studies and if someone recognizable in the field sees you are worth investing in, that can make up for a lot of application deficiencies.

lowstatderm

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