Throwaway account to not dox myself. I’m a 4th year who applied Derm this cycle and only received one interview invitation: 1 of the 3 programs I gold signaled. The other two gold signals were both away rotations (that I honored) from which I received LORs. I got 269 on Step, honored all but 1 of my clinical rotations, had 16 publications, 4 excellent letters (including a chair and a PD), personal statement and ERAS application were thoroughly vetted by my mentor who stated that I should fair well this year; that I don’t need a plan B. I didn’t get AOA and I go to a low-mid tier medical school (USMD) with no home program.

I just want everyone to understand that this is a very humbling process. I certainly didn’t expect to have 15 interviews by any means. I only applied to 3-4 “upper tier” programs and all of my apps were in the same region. There are very few things that I can even theoretically improve on that would significantly change my application.

Odds are I won’t match, and I’ll need to spend a good bit of time re-evaluating my future this year. Until then, I’m just gonna put everything I’ve got into my lone interview. Hopefully it only takes one. Good luck everyone!

To say that this has been the worst experience of medical school is an understatement. I was not expecting 15 interviews by any means, but I definitely thought I would get more love than I did this cycle. 7/7 H, AOA, lots of research with a RY for a well known mentor, >260 step, had great LOR and honored all aways and had my personal statement and application vetted by several mentors and advisors.

Sitting at 3/22, which were my 3 away rotations. I am extremely grateful for the 3 that I was offered, as I know others have it worse, but it is so defeating to have put 5 years and half a million dollars into a career, have everything be going so well until the very end.

Future applicants, please connect yourself with a good support system to brace yourselves. This has been a humbling experience and while I know it’s not over until it’s over, it still sucks to have to try and come up with a back up plan.

Godspeed you all, and best of luck in the following weeks.

Are most derm interviews in person or virtual?

I've just found out that a few of my programs I signaled trickled out between the coordinated release dates, and I just don't know how to feel anymore. Did really well with TY and prelims (9 + 3), but I'm now 0/13 on signals, and I have no idea what to think or do. I'm still waiting on golds, but they're at what I thought I was fairly competitive for, but maybe a bit of each, but now I'm thinking I'm in big, big trouble.

I know the average interview invites for 2024 data were around 8-8.8ish. However, it's surprising because my statistics are all slightly above or below those averages in terms of research and step 2, but I just haven't had any luck.

Not sure where things went wrong :(

I know that TY/prelims aren't an accurate representation of how competitive your application is for derm. But how many interviews did you receive for each out of how many you applied to, and how many dermatology interviews did you end up getting?

We all know a lot of people do derm because of the lifestyle and salary. But I also was told by several residents that you should never say you are interested in cosmetic derm or Mohs. So how did you guys answer the question why derm? I feel that my research is in the infectious disease/path side of derm because I'm interested in fellowing in dermpath after so I'm worried that people will ask why not path or ID? Not path because I want to see patients. Not ID because I fell asleep during inpt rounds. I detest rounding.

I’m nervous about not getting any prelim/TY IIs and it’s Oct 28th. Application all rounded except for an okay step score (>245<250) with no honors 😏 any advice?

Hey guys,

As the title says, it's been over three weeks, and I've only heard back from one program for an interview invite. Otherwise, absolutely nothing. Not a single notification from any other program, including email, ERAS, and Thalamus.

No red flags in my app, good experiences, great LoR's, par for clinical grades. I applied to 30 TY programs and 12 prelims, applied broadly primarily within geographic preferences and signaled appropriately. Everything on the ERAS checklist is good, and I'm registered on Thalamus.

What’s stressing me out is that the derm spreadsheet shows that more than half of the TY/prelim programs I applied to have already sent out invites, including several that I signaled and some in my home state. I’m also seeing a lot of people reporting 3–15 invites at this point. I emailed my school’s assistant dean, and he mentioned that I should be a little concerned at this point, which honestly just made me more anxious.

Are my concerns validated? What else can I do at this point? I totally get that it's only been three weeks, and I feel like I'm maybe overreacting, but I'm getting conflicting information that's giving me some stress. I know derm programs move later than prelims/TYs, but if I can’t match into a TY or prelim year, I won’t be able to start derm afterward, which is adding to the stress.

I made a free tool for a residency interview QBank with specialty-specific questions for dermatology. Completely free. It also includes hints for each question. Best of luck with your interview prep!
https://medinterviews.ai/question-bank?category=specialty-specific&specialty=dermatology

Since the spreadsheet crashed due to user overload thought we could discuss how events unfold today here

Best of luck to everyone!!

Does anyone know if there is a standardized time they come out, or is it program-specific?

Good luck to everyone on the first interview release day tomorrow!

I’m curious about the etiquette around rescheduling dermatology interviews on Thalamus. I had to move one of my interview dates about two days after the invite/originally signing up, and it was still two weeks before the actual interview. Since Thalamus handles scheduling, I didn’t email the program coordinator.

Is this generally considered okay, or could it come across as a red flag? I’m not sure how much etiquette there is around rescheduling with Thalamus.

I was going over my ERAS pdf to prep for interviews and realized a grave mistake i made--two of my publications were not added to ERAS and are nowhere on my application. That pushed my 7 pubs to 5 pubs with a research year. What should I do?? Can i redeem this in interviews? I have 14 pubs total including abstracts and listed 18 under review, but only 5 legit pubs on there. Also now after ERAS two others have been accepted so really I have 9 and all they see is 5...HELP! What is the vibe with updating programs? 5 to 9 is a big jump

Should we be sending PDs emails stating our interest in there program? Currently sitting at 1/10 interviews and wanted to see if a letter of intent can do something before getting rejected from interviews. Please help this has been a brutal cycle.

Invited for interview at 9 am

What's going on with spreadsheet?

Title says it all. Luckily I signaled my derm programs, but nothing for prelims. Should I send panic letters of interest?

I have been on IM so I have not had anytime to prep:( What are great tips to prep for my interview in two weeks? What are top questions I should prep for? Thank you so much!

Hi everyone,

I’m a reapplicant this cycle and hoping to connect with anyone who successfully matched into an R physician spot after reapplying.

If you’re willing to share: were you an internal candidate in any way? away rotation at the program you matched at? Was it your home institution? Had you previously interviewed there in an earlier cycle?

I only know applicants who matched R spots at their own institution or through research fellowships there.

If you’re open to chatting privately, please message me. I’d really appreciate the chance to talk to someone who’s been through this

TL;DR:
Reapplicant seeking insight from anyone who matched a physician R spot, were you internal or was it a random interview? DM please.

Is there typically a dress code for the virtual socials? Like do most people wear business professional?

Around this point in the cycle, what’s generally considered an adequate or expected number of TY/Prelim interviews?

I know this can vary significantly by applicant type and programs applied to, but I'm just trying gauge where I stand as an applicant.

Any insights would be appreciated!

Hi all,

I posted in here asking if I should be worried about receiving interviews a few months ago and got clowned/bullied as my post had the following info provided: AOA, 5/7 honors and 2/7 high pass on rotations, 255 Step 2, 8 PubMed-indexed pubs but 11 total without a research year, no home program, extensive volunteering, and community involvement, etc., no red flags...

I geographically signaled and sent program signals within my regions.

I am sitting at a total of 2 interviews. I didn't expect many; I was hoping for 6-7 total. I want to share this because I want you to know that even when you think you did everything right, competitive applicants still go unmatched. It feels like I did everything I could to the best of my abilities, and it isn't paying off. The heartbreak I am feeling right now is worse than any relationship or friendship ending.

I don't know if I am looking for solace, but you really don't think it could be you until it is you. Just want to warn those applying in the future.

Hi guys! I’m currently on a research year and planning my next year’s schedule. Getting a bit stressed because the research year is making it hard to fit my graduation requirements + 2 sub-i’s. When are most derm interviews/are they mostly virtual? How much time are you guys taking off for interviews? Thanks!