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It’s residency application season and so #MedStudentTwitter may be feeling excited, anxious, disappointed...all the feels. It is a challenging experience to navigate, made more difficult given the circumstances of 2020 (is it over yet?)
I wanted to give you some perspective, and ideally some hope. This is my own personal experience. Of Markus, a single dermatologist on Twitter. And I was you 11 years ago.
I didn’t have a lot of guidance on matching in derm. I was told to apply broadly because derm is competitive. Folks were uncertain if I was a strong applicant because I had no derm research or publications. But I knew it was the field that brought me the most joy, so....
I applied. And I looked for the programs that I thought would be a good fit for me, and I had my dream program, and a few that I thought might be a good “backup” (oh the privileged naïveté!). As we all know applying to residency is expensive. I limited where I applied.
When invites came out, my “backup” program gave me a hard pass. I was devastated. If this program wouldn’t interview me, who would? Those were tough days. And I had to remind myself (often) that this was not the end. More was to come.
Other responses came after this first one. I got some interviews and felt a little bit better. Then I got an interview from my dream program. Yay! It felt great. There were other rejections as well that felt less awesome.
And I tried to make heads or tails of why some programs thought I was worth meeting while others were firm NO, and ultimately I had to realize that it was less about me and more about the hundreds of talented applicants that apply each year
Everyone can’t be interviewed everywhere, and a rejection can’t be how we determine our self-worth. Being on the other side of things now, I see how many considerations go into invites and matching, and the most important thing is to not take it personally (though it’s hard!)
So what happened in my journey? I’ll keep it brief. I interviewed at my dream program and realized that (for me) it was a less than dreamy fit.
And weeks after invites had been sent out, I got an invite from Penn dermatology and @MishaRosenbach for a single specific day that they could offer me an interview. I have never confirmed this but I suspect I was given this because someone else declined theirs
I was on my way out East for another interview anyway and it worked out well so I figured “ok!” I didn’t have anything to lose, even if I didn’t really want to live in Philadelphia (note: I had not been obsessed with derm since infancy and had no idea how amazing Penn was/is)
Well, my interview day was magical. I can’t explain it, but at the end of the day I thought to myself “this is where I want to be”. And it had nothing to do with the big names there and everything to do with the learning opportunities and community.
It was a feeling in my gut.
(Aside: it may seem counterintuitive for an APD to be talking up another program but I love Penn derm with all my heart. And please consider @DermatologyUW also because I think we are amazing and I will do whatever I can to ensure you are supported and happy)
Anyway, I ended up matching at Penn. It was a dream come true.
But remember, it was a dream I didn’t even know I had when I embarked on the process. And it was probably dumb luck, in that I benefited from another applicant’s scheduling issue or something
But remember, it was a dream I didn’t even know I had when I embarked on the process. And it was probably dumb luck, in that I benefited from another applicant’s scheduling issue or something
The hardest part about the match is that it invites thousands of probably Type A people to give up control and ask a computer algorithm to tell them where they will be for the next 3- 4 years. I’m not sure this is ideal, but it’s the system.
and as much as you can, I would recommend going with the flow. As you begin the journey, center it with this knowledge: you are accomplished. You worked hard. You DESERVE to be a dermatologist.
But the path will take you in unexpected directions, both during the process and maybe where you end up training. During the journey, keep your eyes open. Imagine yourself in places that you may not have considered. Don’t let the rejections/interview flubs make you doubt yourself
The ending might not be the one you planned, but if you keep your mind and heart open, it will likely be the one you need. Good luck, have fun and welcome to Dermatology! 
