How Does Residency Work?

I’m currently in high school, but I have plans to be a dermatologist after a the next 9 years of school haha. I know this is one of the most competitive fields, so when I do go to med school eventually and have to apply for residency, can I apply for multiple specialties or even no specialty at all along with dermatology to increase chances in case I get shut out of dermatology? I just don’t wanna do all that work and then be so limited in the end. Thanks.

Try to get into a College first, you think too much.

@artloversplus I did get into a college I’m just asking when you go to med school do you have to lock into a specialty or are you allowed keep options open

You don’t lock in any specialty
You apply for a specialty just like you apply for a school

@artloversplus thank you

@a20171

Medical school gives you a general education in all facets of medicine. You won’t pick a specialty until sometime in your 3rd year or later–after you have your USMLE scores and have completed your basic clinical rotations in M3. Most med students change their mind about their eventual specialty three or four time during med school.

You can apply to a second specialty if you want, but it’s not easy to do. You’ll need recommendations, research, a personal statement and application tailored for each specialty. (Also many programs simply will not interview you if they know you’re applying in another specialty.)

And sure, you can always simply not do a residency, but you won’t be able to practice medicine. To qualify for a medical license in the US, you must have completed at least one year of residency.

However, in practical terms, without a board specialty certification (which requires a completed residency) there are very few places that will hire you.

@WayOutWestMom thank you so much!! I know it’s early but I just wanted a better understanding of the process thanks again

@a20171

Getting a residency is a very weird process. It’s not at all like getting into college, or even getting into med school. The Match process is overseen by a single entity (NRMP) and involves both applicants and programs each submitting a ranked list of preferences that are then sorted by a computer algorithm and the results are released to everyone nationally at the same time on the same day… Applicants get a single “match” or residency placement–take it or leave it with no do overs or second chances. You could match at your first choice—or your very last choice. If you ranked programs in 2 different specialties, you won’t even know which specialty you matched into until you open the envelope.

National Match Day is this Friday–and soon-to-graduate med students will be handed a sealed white envelope in front of the classmates/friends/parents/spouses/significant others that contains the name of the location where they will spend the next 3-7 years of their lives. It’s a very fraught and emotionally stressful day.

And if you’re thinking about two specialties, you have to attend interviews and it may involve interviews at 10+ programs per specialty, so start saving as the cost of interviewing is expensive even if one specialty.

Plus derm requires a preliminary or transition year of IM first before the derm residency starts–so you’d be interviewing for 3 different types of programs or 30-60 interviews over a short 3 month period. Expensive and exhausting.

If you were competitive enough that you actually had a decent chance at derm, you would almost certainly be able to get into internal or family medicine somewhere assuming you applied to both.

Ironically, a classmate of mine did research in orthopedics and had the scores and grades to do orthopedics but actually wanted to do general surgery (a common backup choice for orthopedics applicants). Nearly every program grilled him about the idea that he must be applying to general surgery as a 2nd choice and orthopedics was his true 1st choice. He was obviously mostly applying to top tier surgery programs. If you’re ok with practicing at a rural community hospital they’d still be begging to take someone with borderline derm credentials as it’s better than an international graduate.