is it still possible to match well in derm without having to do a research year??? seems like everyone does one nowadays << Depends what you consider "match well." < Top programs, nearly all people took research years. <it is definitely definitely possible to do. Please don't feel this pressure to do a research year < you can definitely match top 5/top 10 without a RY. some top-top programs (like UPenn) seem to have favored RY/PhD candidates heavily but that doesn't mean you can't go somewhere good without one<every single UCSF match is a RY or PhD. same with Harvard...