I didn't know dermatology is that competitive! How come? Just asking? Because it can lead to Plastic Surgery?

Did you get your general surgery program of your choice? Congrats if you did! :)

Derm is competitive because of:

1) Great lifestyle. There aren't a whole lot of dermatological emergencies that require you to be on call.

2) Lots of money. Most dermatologists are doing a lot of different procedures - like botox - which aren't covered by insurance companies so the market dictates the cost not the insurance companies.

3) There are very few residency spots, so supply is very low. This is what amps up the competitiveness, while the first two things I mention are what have driven up demand.



I personally don't understand it entirely. While I certainly want a good lifestyle and good money, I also want to be interested in the medicine I'm doing...one look at a clinical derm book was enough to sour me on the whole field - just disgusting picture after disgusting picture. I guess some people are able to put aside that aspect in order to focus on the money.

The most competitive programs are those that have high pay, low work hours and the fewest spots in the country. Dermatology is a very small residency with less than 1000 spots open per year in the country. You have to be top of your class to do dermatology...not because it is that difficult! People like that there are no dermatology emergencies to get you out of bed at night. Plastic Surgery is also a small residency program (smaller than dermatology) but you can also become a plastic surgeon after completing general surgery or ENT or Oral Surgery (DDS-MDs.) Dermatologists cannot do plastic surgery, but can perform injections and biopsies.

I did get my top general surgery choice, though, I dropped out of surgery for a much more competitive field, Radiology, after two years of back breaking work. General surgery, even after the 80 hr work week limit started, requires residents to work extremely long hours (up to 120hrs some weeks of my residency) and does not guarantee as high a salary as fields that demand much less time.

I agree with you on that, but I think the students that become interested in derm are interested because of the competitive nature of the field and then convince themselves that derm is why they went into medicine in the first place. In practice, they see mostly acne and skin cancer with the occasional atopic dermatitis and psoriasis to mix things up. The rest of the time they just biopsy it anyway. The sad thing is that the most difficult field, Internal Medicine, often does not get the best and brightest.

I heard that Radiology is a competitive field. Don't residents have to go through extra training couses, like rotating through other subspecialties in order to comply with the American Board of Radiology?

Radiology is a excellent field. Many radiologists are retiring and there will be a need for more with more technology that comes on line--i.e. MRI/MRA and ultrasound with bubble contrasts, etc.

Thanks for you all taking the time out to explain the dermatology resident process...

Surgery is a sorely needed area, too the Cardiothoracic at my institution is BEGGING for fellows and are having trouble finding ones. But you already need to have your general surgery boards for that million hours per week and a super high malpractice insurance. But you do get paid a lot of money...

Thanks for the longer explanations, GC doctors! My best friend from HS is a M3 right now and is considering surgery pretty heavily, so I like to know all about this stuff. :)

Yes...radiology is a competitive program, but I didn't go through the match for my spot. I got a spot after a resident decided not to come back after doing his internship in family medicine. Radiology is a 5 year program. The first year you do a rotating internship or general internship in medicine or family medicine. You can also do surgery for your internship (therefore, my two years of surgery counted for my internship.) The remaining four years are spent learning just radiology including all of the radiological subspecialties. The only extra courses we take are to study for our boards which are very intense. Unlike other specialties, we have a three part board examination which includes a Physics exam, Written exam and Oral exam. Many people take courses to study for Physics and oral exams. AFIP is a radiology/pathology course at Walter Reed in DC that most residents in the country attend (now a 4 week course, but was 6 weeks when I went) to prepare for the written boards.

One of my best friends is a third-year and she just told me she's deciding on OB/GYN! I am sooooo proud of her as a student and as my friend. She worked so hard for this and I can't wait to call her doctor!

Haven't posted in a while and I want to say...three more days until my last shelf EVER and I'll be a 4th year! Bring on the residency apps!:eek:

Congrats! I have 9 days (and three more nights of call !yikes!) until my last shelf. We had a big meeting yesterday about Dean's letters, ERAS and the Match...sounds so much more intense than the AMCAS! At least this time I know that I'll be going somewhere for sure at this time next year. That 93% match rate is very comforting.

Good luck to both of you! My best friend is taking her last shelf the same day I take the bar exam so we can celebrate together. :)

5 weeks into 4th year! How's everyone else doing?

It's been pretty awesome so far. I'm currently in Arizona for a PICU month (yeah I know it's crazy to go to the desert in August) and I'm absolutely loving it. I really think that peds critical care is what I'm going to do with my life. The only caveat is that I've had a really, really great attending this week and I want to make sure that's not overly influencing my decision...but I don't it will be. I'm really focusing on the actual medicine part and the things we're actually doing and that's what I'm really enjoying...

Good for you with peds cc! I know you will make a wonderful physician in that area...

I am in hematology, medical genetics, specifically doing studies with Anemias and I absolutely hate it... The mouse models are loopy and the work is monotonous, and I have ennui...I should be excited because it is Sickle Cell Anemia, but I am not...

Take care of yourself.

Hi! 4th year is going well so far. I've been pretty busy this month with my OB sub-I, and I love it! I've seen so many really cool things, and delivered one infant, so my total now is 4. Not that high, but I'll be doing this for THE REST OF MY LIFE!! haha. Next month I'm headed to Montana for a month on a reservation, which should be a pretty great experience. Hope all is well out there in school! ERAS apps open up September 1st, apply early and often! :)

MS IV
 

I am.... and nearly done!! I am applying to internal medicine. Haven't been on GC in a looooong time.....

Good to see you back...it's tough having to deal with all this free time isn't it?

I'm studying for step II now... I will be happy when this is done and all my sub-I's are over.

I'm studying for Step 2 right now as well - CK on the 6th and CS on the 17th in LA. My year is pretty easy from here on out though - Student Run clinic this month, Peds ID in December, Vacation for January, Australia in Feb, Peds Pulm in March and Peds Private clinic in April.

How are interviews coming?

First interview down! I have like 9 to go or something... got my first rejection today too. Not sure what the rest of the year looks like yet... I have some last-minute scheduling to do!

I have CK on Nov 18th, and I haven't scheduled CS yet (lol).

Hope CK went well. CS was a complete joke.

I've had 3 interviews so far (out of 13 scheduled). I'm sure I'll get tired of it soon, but after taking my first two away from my home program, I'm very excited to see all these different places.

The hardest part of CS was handing over my credit card to pay the $1000 tab.

How is everyone doing?! One more interview, CS, EM, my medicine sub-I, radiholiday and I'm DOOOOONNNNEEE! It basically boils down to three months, two if you count radiology :D.

Anyone else care to update? and Happy New Year!

On vacation this month: 5 more interviews (on the 7th, 9th, and then 14th, 15th and 16th of this month). Out of the 7 programs I've seen, definitely have 4 that I really love. I could go to any of them and be really happy. 2 out of my remaining 5 I'm excited for. No matter what, I think Match Day is going to be a happy day.

I go to Australia for a rotation on the 23rd, return back to the States on 2/26, then peds pulm in March. April is currently a vacation month at the moment, but it's possible I'll switch it to a private suburban peds clinic, just to get a little more practice in before I have some responsibility. It'll still be a really easy, appropriate for last month of 4th year kind of rotation.

I'm definitely coasting through!

Finished with interviews and the boards. One more mandatory rotation (critical care), a teaching elective, child psych, and peds development, and I'm free!

Submitted and certified my rank list earlier this week! Lots of time left I realize, and I keep toying with the idea of minor changes but I'm really going to try to just let it be. No place was the perfect blend of program, city, and atmosphere, but I have 6 places that I'd be really happy to go to (plus my ultimate safety choice at my home program), so I know Match Day will be a happy day!

Big Red, did you do early match?

This is it, fellow student-docs, Match day approaches! I'm on radi-holiday now, so I'm cruising, then it's time for lots of vacay. How is everyone holding up?

No...I'm going into pediatrics. But I left for Australia (which was amazing) on the 23rd of January, so I made sure to get my list in before then in case there was problems accessing the site while I was Down Under and couldn't certify my list. As it was, there was no problem and I even tweaked my final list after enjoying the 100+ degree heat there while it was snowing back home...

I can't recall a time when I've been as anxious. I think the fact that it's been this build up to one specific time and date as opposed to so many other things that you don't know when you'll get the news. I'm not worried about matching (although I'll be a little peeved if I end up at my 7th choice), but I do just want to know where I'm going so that I can start moving on with the rest of my life.

I'm on Peds Pulm this month which has been really good, and then I'm doing Peds private clinic next month with a group of guys who will understand that it's my last month of medical school and not expect much out of me in terms of showing up...though I do hope to pick up a few more pearls to help ease the transition...I figure if I can at least be competent in continuity clinic, I can hang my hat on that and grow from there.

One step at a time, so today's little 4 word email helped me chill quite a bit. Especially in this economy it's nice to be able to say "I have a job, just sitting and waiting for me on July 1st!


Good luck to everyone else the rest of the week. If scrambling try hard. And if not, Be thankful you didn't have go through that.


Any interesting match day celebrations among you and your classmates?

I'll be sure to post the Nebraska and Creighton match lists (names removed) but with greek affiliations if known.

While I'm not in medical school, I know match day was today (both parents are doctors in a teaching hospital). And I'm very interested in how fellow GCers did!

If you're not selected the 1st time for med school, how does it work if you want to try again?

Seconding the interest! Let us know how it went!

I matched in Pediatrics at the University of Arkansas/Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock...very, very happy.

Here's the rundown of Greeks in my med school class and where they're headed (Cities used to protect the innocent)

Phi Psi - Surgery, La Crosse WI
Farmhouse - Surgery, Dallas TX
Sig Ep - Internal medicine, Sacramento CA
Lambda Chi - Urology, Omaha NE
Theta Chi - Int Med, Madison WI
Beta - Int Med, Salt Lake City
Beta - Int med, San Diego CA
ADPhi - Radiology, Omaha NE
Lambda Chi - Emergency, Chicago IL
DG - OB/Gyn, Omaha NE
Phi Tau - Int Med, Omaha NE
Theta - Family med, Wichita KS
Sig Ep - Anesthesia, Rochester MN
Beta - Anesthesia, Milwaukee WI
Tri Delt - med/peds, Milwaukee WI
Tri Delt - int med, Portland OR
Theta - int med, Richmond VA
DU - int med, Portland OR
DZ - int med, Omaha NE
Pike - pysch, Columbus OH
DZ - OB/Gyn, Omaha NE
AZD - Anesthesia, Omaha NE
Theta Chi - Surgery, Oklahoma City OK
Gamma Phi - peds, Columbus OH
Phi Tau - neurosurg, Iowa City, IA
Sig Ep - Ortho, Washington DC


There are a couple of people who I know are greek but I can't think of their affiliation right now...

Congratulations!

I matched at my home institution for Psychiatry - my #1 choice! :D

There are several Greeks in my class - off the top of my head, there's a Tri Delta going into OB/GYN, an AXO in surgery, a Theta in Family Med, a Chi O in peds, and a Sig Ep in med/peds.

Congrats all!

I matched in OB/GYN at Lehigh Valley in Allentown, PA-my #1!

As far as other greeks that I know:

Tri Delta-Medicine at Yale, Radiology at Maryland, OB/GYN at Cedars Sinai, EM @ USC (Cali)

Pike- EM at USC

I am hopeful that there will be an update by our people who will be taking on new challenges. I am so in awe and proud of you. Please let us know how things are going for you. Check in often...as much as you can.

It's graduation week!

Had a class bonfire on Sunday where we all burned our short white coats...

Hooding ceremony is Thursday, with commencement on Friday.

I have to say, that after so many years of school, it's odd that it comes down to this last week in which there's no stress or concern. I don't miss having finals at the end of the semester but it was definitely weird this year (both semesters) to not go through that stress.

Crashing your thread to share that when my husband was a resident he had his car stolen. Inside the car was... his lab coat. This was only 3 weeks until his residency was over, so they did not replace it. Therefore, he had to wear his hideous short med-student lab coat instead.

BTW- his residency procedure book that had 3 years worth of sign-offs was in the pocket of that lab coat. He was more concerned about losing that than his car. As you all start your residencies, guard that little book with your life!

Congrats and good luck to you all. It is a long road, but an honorable one.

Now most programs use computerized records rather than procedure books. My husband had to transfer 3 years worth onto the computer when he was graduating.

Congratulations to all the graduating doctors! Welcome to the hell on earth that is residency!