i have this rash...just kidding

[tae1703]

i didnt see a sticky on this so i was wondering what are the pros and cons of dermatology. im starting MI in august and im researching some fields which is about all i can do until rotations.

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[IzzyMD09]

you dont have to wait till rotations
be proactive
chances are you wont see crap in rotations anyways
you only do scutwork ...well in the states anyways
not so much here in the middle of multiculturodiversiopia

where all the bedouin have brucella all the russians have SJS-TEN and all the everyone else has every other type of psoriasis you can possibly imagine

find someone in every field, follow them around
skip some class first year go on rounds....youll learn more anyways

make friends with some residents

i personally think an earlier decision is a wise one, cause youll work hard for it and chances are if you change your mind you will be left better off in the end anyways

good luck

 

[crys20]

I started to like derm this past year as an MSI because my clinical skills preceptor was the most lovely dermatologist - met her, worked with her, researched more about derm and fell in love with the idea. The thing is, derm as as hard as it gets, pretty much, in terms of ease to get into. You really do need to do AWESOME in med school to stand a chance. Through the doc I mentioned above, I was able to take on derm-related research as a first year, to get my name on some derm publications - a prerequisite basically to match. I was also able to meet the derm faculty at my home program. Last weekend, I went to a social function for all the derm staff at the doc's home, and got to speak to our program director here which was great. The next week, I went to grand rounds, he recognized me and talked to me again - yay! I think connections are alot of it. I know alot of what we read on SDN is just anecdotal, or hear say or whatever but I'll share the take home message he said, verbatim talking to some of us med students who were at the party I was at - "235+ board scores, AOA, and 1-3 publications and you have a great chance at matching" - Yes, people do it with not all that, but that's now what I'm aiming for. Also, he said "50% of people match at their home program or one they did an away rotation at"

I don't think that prob helped much but good luck starting med It's great - and one last word of advice - just in case it starts out rough, don't worry!I'm at a school on blocks - 1 class at a time for like 2 mo then over - and I prob finished 96/100 in the first one...Then 1/100 in 2 out of the next 3. If you decide you really want derm or something competitive like it, make it happen. Good luck!

 

[crys20]

I just realized my ranting had nothing to do with pros and cons.

IMO...

Pros: variety of patients while still having expert knowledge in a field (i.e. oncology, cosmetics, babies, kids, adults, surgical procedures plus a vast knowledge of medicine since so many medical conditions have skin manifestations), derm people are so nice but still lovely folks IMO, and of course the infamous great lifestyle and great pay-to-hours ratio

Cons: lay people are sometimes confused as to why you would want to be a dermatologist, is that even a doctor, etc. Other docs in fields like cards and surgery have made sarcastic comments about how hard derms work (although the ones I know DO work hard, just nothing like a surgeon or cardiologist ), you might find skin things to be yucky, one derm i know says 30-40% of his practice is acne so that might be unfavorable to u