dermatology residency

I am not yet to the point of residency (not really even close), but I was reading through one of the threads here and I have a question I thought you all could answer. I read somewhere that it would suck to be getting out of med school at this time and be looking for a residency in dermatology, is this correct? I am assuming this might be because of limited residency programs VS the large number of people going into dermatology at this time. Do any of you have any thoughts? Also, do you think this high demand for dermatology increasing in the future, will only make the problem worse? I am very interested in this field of medicine, so I am trying to gain as much info as possible. Thanks.

Derm is indeed very competitive for a variety of reasons. One is the reason you pointed out - there are very few residency spots available, especially compared to the number trying to match in it. Derm is one of five specialties (the others being plastic surgery, general surgery, orthopaedic surgery and radiation oncology) that do not have enough spots accomodate all US seniors who prefer the specialty. Only about 65% of US grads match at their first choice derm program (the only lower rate is plastics). See NRMP match outcomes for more stats.


Another reason for the competiveness of derm is that it is a lifestyle specialty - great hours, lots of demand, great pay, no call . . .


I don’t have any great advice for you now, but I definitely don’t see the competitiveness going down.



Thank you Emergency. That link was very interesting and the info you provided was exactly what I was looking for. I guess nomatter what I am going to go for it, cause it’s what I want to do with my life. Thank you for the input.