It’s not easy to determine 10 easiest dermatology residencies to get into, but we’ll give it a try. In fact, we’ll do much more than that. Dermatology is generally considered as one of the most competitive residencies overall. Why is this the case – you can find out on our list of 10 most competitive residency programs in US. For starters, there are precious few open dermatology residency spots across the states and around 1.5 graduate applies per one open position overall. You can check this info on the eighth page of this here 2104 NRMP report. Furthermore, even US seniors have to fight for only 0.95 open positions while trying to get a dermatology match which leaves independent and international applicants with their work cut out for them. Finally, it’s no secret that dermatology physicians earn much more than most of their colleagues from other specialties, and this too can be an important motivational factor when choosing one’s career path. Lack of night shifts speaks in dermatology’s favor too, and the list goes on.
Maksim Toome/Shutterstock.com
In order to understand our methodology, you first have to know that there are no bad dermatology programs. Of course, some people might end up in a residency that doesn’t really suit their habits out of necessity, which tends to affect their satisfaction level in the end, but these are ultimately subjective opinions. You might think that it’s easier to get into a larger residency program, but you should think again. There are some rather obscure programs accepting no more than three candidates while some renowned programs offer as much as 20 total positions (give or take). The thing is, however – applicants with lower scores will likely have better chance to get into smaller, isolated and not so reputable residencies, even if there are only a few spots available. Best candidates tend to apply to the most renowned programs and even 20 open spots would soon get filled. That’s why we didn’t take the size of a respective program into consideration.
As for the methodology itself, we have gathered the data from Doximity. Note that you’ll have to register in order to gain the full access to Doximity’s info, and in order to do that, you have to be a healthcare practitioner (whether resident or fully pledged senior physician). Program’s reputation is the main factor in deciding which of dermatology residencies are easiest to get into, but it’s not the only one. Research output is important as well, and so is a percentage of board certified dermatologists that have emerged from the respective residency program. If a program offers excellent research conditions, which is evident by its respective program level H-index, this usually means that this residency will most likely attract a higher caliber of candidates – in turn making it hard to get into. Same correlation can be found in the percentage of board certified dermatologists which testifies in previous statement’s favor. If most of the residents do become board certified dermatologists, this speaks volumes of respective dermatology residency’s reputation and setup, and vice versa. Luckily, all this data have been gathered from a number of surveys. Continue reading our list of 10 easiest dermatology residencies to get into and find out which of the 119 dermatology residencies across the country offer best odds for getting a match with average or below average grades.
