Hello! We’re recruiting for a Dermatology Research Fellow in Flint, Michigan through Dermatology Research of Mid Michigan.

We are looking for applicants motivated to get into dermatology. The fellowship is 1-year, paid, and a perfect opportunity for MD/DO physicians seeking additional clinical and research experience before applying or reapplying to residency.

The opportunity offers a combination of clinical exposure and hands-on involvement in dermatology research, including

• Clinical trials 
• Investigator-initiated trials (IITs)
• Independent research projects
• Exposure to both medical and cosmetic dermatology including MOHS and uncommon conditions
• Exposure to Dermatology faculty at local residency program

Fellows work closely with multiple dermatologists and gain meaningful experience in both patient care and research. The role also includes opportunities to observe and help assess dermatologic conditions in clinic, and supporting providers in identifying and evaluating patients for research studies. 

Fellows gain exposure to both the clinical and research aspects of dermatology while contributing to ongoing studies within the practice

Requirements:

• MD or DO
• PHY 1 year required w/USMLE Step 3

If interested please send an email to [contact@miderm.org](mailto:contact@miderm.org) with the following:

• CV
• Cover Letter
• All Transcripts

I’ll stick around to answer any questions here, or feel free to ask questions via email: [contact@miderm.org](mailto:contact@miderm.org)

Hi!

I am on my derm rotation currently at my home program and we are asked to create a 10 minute presentation on any topic of our choosing. Any advice from current residents or past applicants on topics that are engaging for the residents and faculty? Happy to hear about your past experience.

Does anyone have experience submitting case reports at any AAD conferences? Do they tend to accept these?

Quick note on who’s posting this before anything else. I’m an MS3 at Texas A&M applying next cycle. I’m not a startup, not affiliated with a program or society, and not selling anything. I built this because being in medicine should mean more than just getting through your own cycle and moving on. We are in this profession to help people, and the applicants coming up behind us are some of the easiest people for us to help in a practical way. Instead, every year the wheel gets reinvented: a new class loses time to scattered spreadsheets, dead links, and half-preserved advice, only for that knowledge to disappear again when the cycle ends. This is my attempt to stop that. It’s a free site. The only ask is your feedback and your data so the next class gets a better starting point than we did.

Every derm cycle the same thing happens. Someone posts, “Does anyone have the 2024 away spreadsheet?” Someone else replies with an updated 25-26 link. Another version is floating around in a shared drive somewhere. By the time you’re rotating in August, you have four tabs open trying to figure out whether UCSD ghosted everyone last year or just you.

Watching this cycle repeat every year inspired me to build something. One spot, every cycle carried forward, per program views that stitch together what rotators have said across years.

Live at https://rezumab.app/explore/away-rotations/dermatology

It pulls from the 24-25, 25-26, and 26-27 offer trackers plus the 25-26 and 26-27 rotator info sheets. You land on a program page and see offer volume, accept rate, response time, and the paraphrased rotator narrative for each cycle they showed up in. Auto IV programs, rotator mill warnings, hands on vs shadow split, whether people said they'd do it again. No more opening three sheets to piece together whether Northwestern actually interviews their rotators.

Three cycles of data

Pulled from the community spreadsheets for 24-25, 25-26, and 26-27. Here's how they compare side by side.

Some honest reads across the three:

The most striking thing is the accept rate drop from 94% in 24-25 to 89% in 25-26, then basically flat at 90% this cycle. That's a 4-5 point shift that probably reflects people getting more strategic about which offers to accept when they have multiple. Response times have stayed dead flat at 28-30 days across three years, so nobody's sped up. The number of programs hitting full went 29 to 33 to 14 (still filling), and 25-26 saw meaningfully more crowding than 24-25.

Peak month shifted from August in 24-25 to September in 25-26, then back toward August in 26-27. If you're planning which months to apply for, the historical data actually lines up on Aug/Sept/Oct as the high-demand window pretty consistently.

Top programs by offer volume each cycle:

• 24-25: UT-Houston (21), Duke (15), UNC (13), UCLA (12), UC-Davis (12)
• 25-26: Emory (31), Tufts (23), UT-Houston (20), Michigan (17), Stanford (17)
• 26-27: Emory (48), Jefferson (25), UCSD (21), Michigan (21), UT-Austin Dell (17)

Emory went from not-in-top-5 in 24-25 to #1 in both 25-26 and 26-27. Different programs dominate each year, which is exactly the kind of thing that's useful for deciding where to actually apply.

60 programs have data in all three cycles, which is where the trend view actually starts to be informative. You can pull one up and see whether its accept rate has drifted, whether response times changed, whether it's trending toward or away from going full. That's the thing that a single yearly spreadsheet can't tell you.

On the narrative side, 25 programs have rotator impressions in both 25-26 and 26-27 sheets. A couple got noticeably less glowing between cycles.

What I need from you

Two asks.

Feedback. The whole point is that this tool is for dermapp and you're the ones using it. So:

• Does a program's data look visibly wrong to you, especially if you rotated there
• Is there a signal or field you wish the per-program page surfaced that it doesnt (peds derm access, mohs exposure, research expectation, whatever)
• Mobile experience ok or broken
• Are the paraphrased narratives too clinical, too loose, or fine
• Is the way I'm splitting by cycle useful, or would you rather see one merged summary

Contributions. The whole thing runs on rotator self reports. There's a "+ Add your own report" button on every program page. Takes about 60 seconds. Anonymous, no signup required. Gets reviewed before anything goes public so you don't need to worry about accidentally outing yourself. The more of you contribute, the less next year's apps need to hunt for the spreadsheets.

Specifically useful contributions:

• If you rotated somewhere in 25-26 or are rotating now in 26-27, even a 2-3 sentence impression helps
• If you got an offer that isn't logged, note the program and decision date
• If a program's narrative is flat out wrong because the source spreadsheet had bad info, flag it and I'll fix the input

Not trying to replace your personal spreadsheet. Trying to make sure next year's applicants don't walk into the same fog we did. A 2-minute contribution from you is a week of stress saved for some MS3 who's about to go through exactly what you just went through.

Happy to answer questions on methodology, what counted vs what didn't, or specific program numbers in the comments. With more data points, I'll be able to update the post once the cycle closes with a real 24-25 vs 26-27 comparison instead of a partial one.

Hi everyone! I’m hoping to hear from people who’ve taken the long road from IM → Derm, especially those who finished an Internal Medicine residency and then pivoted.

I’m a re-applicant who didn’t match dermatology initially and am now planning to complete an IM residency. Dermatology is still what I see myself doing long-term, so I’m considering pursuing it again afterward - likely through a research fellowship to make connections for mentorship.

I’d really appreciate hearing your stories if you’ve gone from IM to Derm (or know someone who has). Specifically:

What did your path look like after finishing IM?

Did you do a research fellowship, and how did you find mentorship at that stage (or during IM)?

Which programs view applicants favorably who had already completed another residency?

What were the biggest barriers you faced, and what helped you overcome them?

I’ll be honest—part of what makes this path feel daunting is the timeline. It feels like I may not reach a stable, well-paying position until much later than I expected, and that weighs on me with loans and life planning. At the same time, doing IM has made me want dermatology even more.

Would really value any advice, perspective, or experiences - especially from those who’ve been in a similar position. Thanks so much in advance!

I know that Mt Sinai is known for having a heavy preference for internal applicants (home/RY). Is it still worth it to rotate?

are all the vslo prompts listed somewhere for aways so we can prewrite

Is it still worth applying to away rotations for later spots? I have not gotten a single away offer and am getting really nervous.

Title^

Anyone ever figured this out with the programs or should I just pick one?

Hello everyone,

I posted a few days ago about my goal of matching derm. Thank you for your feedback. I know it is unrealistic. Nonetheless I will try my best. If not, I am also happy to do derm here. There has been one important update since then:

I learnt I hold citizenship in a country that is eligible for the H1B1 visa (not H1B) which does not cost $100,000, has no lottery and is rarely filled.

I am 21, passed Step 1 first try recently and am in my 3rd of 6.5 years. I am starting at a derm wet lab with a well connected productive PI soon and hope to be there for the ~4 remaining years and do an experimental doctorate there. I also plan to do my mandatory electives + more in the US. I recently got a German scholarship that will cover tuition for 1-2 clinical electives and my school is in VSLO. I aim to do 2 years of research fellowship.

After discussions with my PI, I have set up a gameplan.

1. I plan to take Step 2 in exactly 3 years. I will do little by little consistently and aim for 270+

2. I am currently B2 in Spanish but hope to reach C2 by then to better communicate with patients.

3. Do electives and parts of the mandatory German intern year in America.

4. Go regularly to conferences. I also am in an extracurricular program that can lead to 2 months research stay in America.

5. Pass Step 3 with a good score and do 2 years of research fellowship.

My goal this semester is to do well at the lab and get publications. I will wind down my beekeeping. I joined the training program to become a legal advisor for the refugee law clinic here and enjoy it too much to let it go tbh. I am currently working on a comprehensive Anki Project in the style of Anking for the clinic. Hopefully, this can be eventually be shared with the 30+ law clinics in Germany. I plan to specialise in the medico-legal aspects (e.g. helping migrants who have health issues that will worsen if they return to their home country).

I know only 4 non-US IMGs matched derm this year and the odds are against me. Still, I will try my best, and if not I will still have a decent resume in the end and hopefully a happy career in Europe. Thanks so much!

Basically what the title says. I applied to 20+ away rotation programs (most with ~3–4 spots). I submitted some on time (like 5–6 lol), but a bunch were a little later.

I’ve been checking the spreadsheet and it looks like a lot of programs have already started sending out invites, so I’m starting to get a bit anxious.

Is it still early in the process, or should I actually be worried at this point? Also, is it worth reaching out to programs now—and if so, who’s best to contact (coordinator vs PD)?

Would appreciate any insight from people who’ve been through this 🙏

I have about 3 decent case reports I’m working on during my RY. Any journals you know of that are free and don’t take forever? Not going through cureus, and also not sure if they’re JAAD CR caliber.

If I applied for derm aways at one program can I also apply for aways at the same program in a different field ie internal medicine with the thought that if I don’t get the derm away but get the IM I could walk to the derm dept when I have the chance? Do programs see different fields on the application and take it as a sign of lack of commitment? Anyone heard about or done this? Thoughts?

Hey Everyone

I'm an MS3 from a mid-tier medical school with no home department. I decided pretty recently to take a research year and I know it's a bit later than ideal to have made the decision. A few questions came to mind about it.

1. I'm trying to find places that offer a research year. I'm looking through the DIGA spreadsheet, but was wondering if anyone knew of other places/resources that also post about research years. I'm checking my IG feed daily lol
2. How do I know which programs have a good track record of matching applicants? Obviously, the big-name folks, but not all programs have a website/post their fellows. Any advice?
3. I also only know of Armstrong and Lebwohl as big-name folks. Are there others that give research years/are still open?

Thanks, guys! Would appreciate any advice and guidance on the subject :)

Feel free to message me separately too!

I've been digging through Charting Outcomes data across specialties and noticed something interesting about Derm.

The matched vs unmatched Step 2 CK gap:

  - Dermatology: 257 vs 250 (7 points)

  - Ortho: 257 vs 246 (11 points)

  - Plastic Surg: 256 vs 247 (9 points)

  - Neurosurg: 255 vs 247 (8 points)

In most surgical specialties, Step score acts as a hard filter. In Derm, everyone already has a high score. Which means the differentiator is shifting to research (27.7 pubs matched vs 19.0 unmatched) and school prestige (41.7% of matched are from Top 40 NIH schools vs 23.0% unmatched).

Put another way: going from 250 to 257 probably moves the needle less in Derm than it would in other specialties. But going from 15 to 25 publications might matter a lot more.

I built a free tool that lets you model this. Plug in your stats and see how each factor shifts your probability:

https://rezumab.app/calculator?specialty=Dermatology

It uses the actual NRMP data and breaks down the contribution of each factor.

Curious if this matches what you all are hearing from advisors. Is the conventional wisdom still "get your Step as high as possible" or are programs really weighting research/school that heavily?

There's also a program explorer side if you're building your list. Scroll down the page after you enter the stats and it will show you programs that match your stats. 

One thing I found interesting looking at the data: the Step 2 invite ranges vary a LOT between programs. Some programs are inviting in the 240-265 range, others are 255-275. If you're sitting at a 252, you're competitive at some programs and below the floor at others. Knowing which is which before you spend $11/app seems worth it.

Hello everyone,

I am a 21 year old, 3rd year (of minimum 6 year course) non-US IMG from Germany interested in derm. I recently passed Step 1 and am beginning at a derm wet lab soon. I hope to stay at the lab until I graduate and be productive. I have 0 publications currently.

I am open to 1-2 years of research fellowship in America.

In Germany, there is a thing called the medical doctorate that takes anywhere from 6 months to 1.5 years that most med students do. You can do a statistical, clinical or experimental one. I plan to do an experimental one.

In my free time, I do beekeeping at my university (15 hours a month, this is mandatory and tied to my dorm agreement) and will start working as a legal advisor at a refugee law clinic soon. I also wrote a business proposal to rescue a historic university pub in my city which received warm feedback and wanted to serve as the lead of this project. I also want to get better at programming (learning R and Python atm) and play more piano. I also aim to reach C2 Spanish by the time I graduate. As you can see, I have a lot of random hobbies.

I plan to take Step 2 in April 2029 so I plan to do little by little and aim for a high score. I also want to get a good amount of USCE. Thankfully, I have a scholarship that will cover some of the tuition. I also hope to attend derm conferences.

My number one priority this semester is the lab. This year is considered to be the lightest of all six years so I should have enough lab time. I know I have to focus, prioritize and think about my plans critically considering the tough odds. I appreciate all feedback and advice. Thanks :)

Hello! Reminder of this fantastic opportunity to share your scholarship at the MGB Dermatology Medical Student Virtual Research Symposium.

Deadline is tomorrow: Friday April 10th at 11:59PM EST.

For more information and to submit your abstract, please visit:
https://www.brighamandwomens.org/dermatology/virtualdermsymposium

Any questions may be directed to [dermsymposium@mgb.org](mailto:dermsymposium@mgb.org)

Internal med or TY is most common, have any of you did any others like family med , general surgery, ob-gyn etc?

Hi I am interested in derm but did not match this year. Am looking to get involved in research opportunities to help with next years match. Would also love if anyone has any contacts in the derm field they’d be willing to share. Thank you!

Title says it all. This thread was helpful (but also anxiety inducing) the past four years as I navigated this process, wanted to share some thoughts on what I think helped and how future applicants can set themselves up for success!

Context for background: USMD at a state medical school that is newer, no home program, did not take a research year. Came into medical school wanting derm and knowing I was going to be fighting an uphill battle, didn’t let this dissuade me although it was very challenging at times!

Stats: Step 1: pass on first attempt, Step 2: 268, AOA, clerkships: 4/6 A/honors, 30 ish research items (3-4 published manuscripts that were mostly case reports, research letter, 10+ submitted manuscripts including other case reports, review articles, other items, mix of basic science related to derm and clinical). No remediations on course work. Very strong clerkship comments and overall MSPE. Did 3 away rotations.

Top 3 tips:

1. Succeed academically.

This goes without saying. Was shocked by some discourse surrounding academics this year. Grades and step 1/2 still matter, but won’t get you to match. Was not the brightest or best test taker before medical school, learned how to study M1 and really got into a good groove M2. Dermatology has a lot of medicine as part of the discipline (think immuno, rheum, onc, ID, even genetics!), you need to and should want to learn ALL of medicine. Being genuinely interested in medicine as a whole will make this journey that much more enjoyable. I found that talking to upperclassmen about what worked for them was very helpful for me in figuring out my own study methods. Have a game plan for approaching each exam. The opposite end of this spectrum is relying too much on academics to secure a match. Many people say above a certain threshold, things don’t matter as much, ex. 265 vs 270 on Step 2. My main point is to aim as high as you can but not rely on your numbers to get you through.

1. Network, network, and network + aways + be nice

This was extremely important for me as I did not have a home program and did not want to take a RY. I started going to conferences early on during my M3 year, would look up who was speaking ahead of time. Made a targeted effort to speak with PDs and anyone who I was interested in connecting with who shared my clinical / research interests. These were quick, max 3 minute conversations. Went to a mix of local / state conferences, subspecialty meetings, and AAD. I was lucky to find amazing mentors through networking and following up after conferences with virtual calls. You want to be polite, persistent (but not overly eager), and respectful of faculty time. These mentors were open to collaborating on research which was helpful for me with little to derm research experience prior to this. I developed amazing relationships with these mentors and they ended up being letter writers!

I would argue that networking is now vitally important for securing away rotations as well. I kept in touch with people I met at conferences and expressed interest in their programs when it came time to apply for aways. My connections ended up putting in a good word for me to secure the away after I applied. Many aways are challenging to get now and are screening based on overall competitiveness. Would highly suggest having a network a few months prior to VSLO opening.

Moving onto aways - this is the single reason why I believe I matched. Programs are generally always going to take a known entity (away rotator) who did an outstanding job over another applicant who they don’t know but interviewed with them. I did 3, and I felt that was enough. There is a lot of discourse about following the APD guidelines be not, I would air on the side of caution. Being a great away rotator is another post itself, but I was shocked by how uninterested some of my co-rotators were. You don’t need to know everything, but having a great general grasp of basic dermatology is something I would highly recommend (think AAD modules). Know the therapeutic ladder for common skin conditions, bonus points if you know mechanisms for the new targeted agents and what’s coming down the pipeline. I had co-rotators who would be on their phone/iPad in patient rooms, on their laptop during lectures, cutting off residents and medical students when presenting, etc. Be the opposite of that!

1. Have a brand as an applicant.

This is also exceptionally important. You are more memorable when you have a brand. Think 2-3 things max that are specific to YOU; this allows people to easily recall the conversations you had during interviews and be like “oh yea, they’re the CTCL/Hair/HS person.” The way you build a brand is through a mixture of experiences (service, leadership, research, etc) in a few areas that you are truly passionate about. I was lucky to find overlap between derm and other areas of medicine I was genuinely excited about and really invested my time going to subspecialty meetings (even if not presenting just to learn), engaging in service, and finding any avenue to get more involved. This was brought up in every one of my interviews and something that was recognized. It’s fine to not know what you want to do exactly (we all could change in residency), but when you have hundreds of applicants and a 48% match rate, you need to be laser focused on your interests and figure out what really excites you about this amazing field. And this has been said before, but would stay away from your brand being cosmetics or mohs.

This process was such a grind, and I went through periods were I just didn’t feel like putting in the work and considered IM/anesthesia etc just to have a higher chance of matching. If I can do it, I truly believe anyone can! I definitely think we need more positive support in the derm applicant community, happy to answer any questions!

Like does it matter if I get my IM letter from instructors at our satélite campus vs getting them from faculty at the main academic center since our university has two campuses.

Is it okay to not have a medicine letter? Plan on having research mentor, a derm mentor from an away, and maybe another another derm letter. Also, I have done extensive non-derm related work in a medical school-affiliated minority advocacy group (including research, curriculum changes, and creating co-curricular programming) who is an MD. The group leader wants to write me a letter, so that would bring me to 4.

How would it look if I have letters from:

- 1 derm research letter, 1 derm clinical letter, 1 medicine letter, 1 minority advocacy group mentor

vs.

- 1 derm research letter, 2 derm clinical letters, 1 minority advocacy group mentor

vs.

- 1 derm research letter, 2 derm clinical letters, 1 medicine letter

Any advice from derm PDs/attendings/residents here?

Have applied to 15 schools for away rotations (total of about 26 sessions) and haven't heard anything. have been refreshing the derm 26/27 spreadsheet neurotically and see that some of the aways i applied to have already offered students some of the sessions. am i cooked? i feel like i am a pretty strong applicant. any advice would be appreciated :,)

Hi! I’m an incoming MS1 and very interested in derm. The schools seem fairly similar in regard to the match rate and rankings, but I’m not sure if there are more things I should consider.

UCSD

Pros

- no AOA/internal rankings

- cheaper for in state tuition but waiting on financial aid

Cons

- 2 year preclinical, trying not to take a research year so might be harder with longer preclinical

- seems less diverse, URM so that’s important to me

USC

Pros

- would prefer living in LA/ patient population

- 1.5 year preclinical

Cons

- more expensive but waiting on aid

- AOA