Hosp of the Univ of PA (Dermatology/3 yr)

Anybody know if multiple batches of invites went out for them in prior years or just one?

I bet only 1 day WTFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF< damn wanted this so bad Are dates confirmed 1/9 and 1/16?

yes <are people wanting the 9th ? No one has heard back re their date yet right (i will lose my mind if I can't go)

have not heard back yet

Just heard back <eek im scared. what time did you reply, I think I emailed in five min.

responded in ~3min< are you ninth or sixteenth? <anyone not hear back yet...? <just heard back for 1/9. responded in 3 min<still haven't heard back for the ninth and responded in four wahhh

also 1/9

pretty sure we all asked for 1/9 lol 1/16 is a shitshow< just got the 9th

same! 1/9

why would 1/16 be a shitshow??? Penn and Harvard ???

just that week has a lot going on on both coasts and midwest

Congrats! San Diego is so incredible x 1

Got skunked by the top 10, but got my top choice! << same here! x3

any rotators get an invite?

yes i did

wooooot San Diegoooooooo

Doubled my derm invite total today!

congrats!! x2

Yeah I feel like we would see the same people at a lot of the top programs. It feels so strange to be invited to Harvard but not Penn - does anyone else feel the same?<invites from Harvard, UCSF, NYU...but not penn. I do not understand

Minus UCSF, same. So weird! I wonder why, especially in your case with 3 of the other top 5!<<im not sure tbh. I expected Penn more than UCSF considering i have no ties to the west coast. My only rationale is that my step isnt the absolute highest for these top places, and idk if penn considers step score more than some of the other top programs.

You know what, I too have a sneaking suspiscion Penn values high step scores more than any of the other top 5. I'm around a 255 so maybe they really want that 260+? I really wanted this one :(<<yea im in the low 250 range as well. oh well cant win em all.

True. And sounds like it's Penn's loss in your case :)<<best of luck to you in your interviews kind stranger, and congrats on your well deserved merits!

haha thank you!! :') you too!!

I was fortuante to top 5 IVs with step >260 soI think they just have a really good applicant pool and we missed out because they look for different things?

Congrats on the impressive score and interviews!! Yeah, could be! I think the person who commented in 14D explains well some one the inherent and unavoidable randomness in the process. <- do you guys remember what your responses to the penn supplmemt was at the beginning of the cycle? my step scores weren't as high as yours and i got penn but my response was interest in epidemiology

Congrats!! And that's strange about the tracks, do you think that mattered? And I just selected the 3 year track and combined clinical and research training. Maybe Dr. Gefland was the person who reviewed your app lol <- step 1 was mid 240s

i doubt a 250ish step 1 score would be the disqualifying factor in an otherwise outstanding candidate?

No it's not that it's disqualifying, it's that there's SO MANY qualified applicants with a 250ish step score, you just can't interview them all. <i guess my point is i feel like they would look at some other aspect to try to differentiate applicants rather than just a few points on a standardized test (at least that's the hope lol)

Yes one'd hope lol

On the bright side, I appreciated that the subject started with, “unable to offer interview” x6

There is no bright side. Nothing is bright anymore.

lol, I didn't get an invitation or a rejection so i don't know if I have sheer joy or more disappointment headed my way. ::shrug::

<< That sounds terrible. Anybody with experience at Harvard or UCSF? Even Upenn but that would hard for my SO << I have had several friends at Harvard who swear by their expeirences there << wherever you go, def pick clinical research over basic science research (more pubs). also don't just go for the fancy names, look into places that would actually match you after spending a research year there (not to say that you're not good enough for harvard/ucsf/penn, but also top programs historically don't give a crap if you spent time with them)

I don't know if I agree about a place that takes their fellows. It's not a bad strategy but also a mentor who fights for you can go really far!

Are there any specific people or groups that are worth reaching out to? How did you guys find where to go? << I have heard of people having success with Kroshinsky at Harvard, Koo at UCSF, Rosenbach at Penn, and Mostaghimi at Brigham

I did research with Mostaghimi. He wasn't around most of the time and I didn't find the experience that fulfilling tbh << Not sure why comment was deleted. Seems like someone has an agenda. I worked with Mostaghimi and thought he was really dedicated to me and his other students. If you are thinking about working with him he will put you in touch with people who have actually worked with him and you can get a sense of what their experience was like. Don't believe everything you read on these boards.

I found my research year by talking to just about every upperclassman who had done one in the 1-3 years before me. Really variable year to year and I agree that big name places can be a let down. There's just no way Harvard cares when they have so many research fellows. heck, they a least a few of their own med students didn't match last year so don't expect an interview.

<< Can't speak for insitution at large but both at Harvard and other institutions the specific individual that you work with is the most important part. Look at the people who have worked with these attendings in the past, they've genreally done well. Do your homework, find a person and talk to peple who have worked with them before

Upenn!! The oldest program in the nation, huge department under one umbrella (unlike Harvard), Philly is on the affordable side of NE cities and theres a reason its #1 on doximity, because residents love it there!

< Penn resident spotted< nah but I did an away :)

lol an "away" << ?? i know someone that did an away at UPenn.

LOL sure. "away" haha << do you really think that residens have the time or the interest to post here? Lol you are way over your heads

NYU would be a dream. Cant beat NYC, diverse population and exposure to private derm in the most competitive market << I hope you don't match with that kind of thought << OP- What kind of thought? Thankfully you dont decide my future lol

< that's why Columbia's my dream. :)

<Really excited about the Columbia interview! Any info about this program in terms of resident happiness, perception of the program, etc.?

guess I'm ranking Penn #1 then ;)

in terms of what? clinical vs research vs ... they are very different programs

In terms of whatever matters to you.

Clinically: UCSF, Penn>Harvard>Stanford>NYU

< really? I feel like clinically NYU would be the strongest by far because you're spending 2/3 of your entire residency at the VA+county/public hospital = lots of autonomy. << LOL that person has no idea what they're talking about. Clinically, it's UCSF > NYU > Harvard > Stanford > Penn. Overall reputation is Harvard > Stanford > Penn > UCSF > NYU << lol at these absurd rankings, true delusion

I've heard it's UCSF > Harvard > Stanford > NYU > Penn

Its almost as if the top 5 is interchangable and it really comes down to personal preferences and biases

haha so true x3

Look at last year’s rank sheet. Penn was most popular #1 rank then Stanford out of the top 5.

because everyone definitely writes their ranking and is definitely honest about it too

lol'ed at that gullible person

< there is literally no benefit to faking what you are ranking 1 because that only would dissuade people from also listing that one, which ends up in them possibly ranking where you actually want to go as 1. Also, it's anonymous. It's not each person's specific rank, but a tally of how many people are rankin each program a certain number on their list so there is very little benefit to lying. There is usually a 1/5 yield, so it's actually a good amount of people of the interviewees.

< https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16WyBDd4BhLhqR5F5BWMLRAKtq_Na3d9DHyokLtUg0rA/edit#gid=596104293

idk, i knew i wasnt going to haaavad so when i got the r i moved on. wake forest though, making me look in a fucking attachment to figure out if i was rejected? LMAO SALTY AF about that

<that rutgers "non-acceptance" was pretty annoying

< Home state programs and undergrad school (to be fair my undergrad is a top 5, but I still wanted it haha)

USC

Penn...got an interview from literally every single top 20+ program except for them, and they were my initial top choice.

strong flex

lmao

"Who is going to do Derm, then Peds to make significantly less money?" Someone who isn't in this for money maybe >> then the field needs to stop matching so many ppl who are in it for the money. the i want to do academic derm but promptly join private practice cosmetics right after finishing. to each their own, but it's silly to complain about residents' career choices when you're the gatekeeper to the field and picked them >> also peds EM you can do after both EM and peds so there's precedent that some subspecialties can have multiple pathways << Don't be dumb, Ped and Peds ER actually overlap, Peds and Peds derm are worlds apart. << the person who said some programs are now training peds in derm...what programs are those? i'm just curious bc i have not heard that and just wondering if i'm behind on some changes.

There are 2 on the east coast I am aware of and they are doing it out of desperation. Billing is the same regardless if boarded in Peds Derm or not.

<great advice! also I want to add that if your home program is not advocating for you by making calls to your number one, they should be! Ask your mentors to advocate for you because everyone else is! Shame on mentors who don't!!!

<- TBH none of my mentors offered to and didnt make calls when i asked them to either. Its not as common as you would think unfortunately. x3 <Its a sad situation. Mentors should want to advocate and step up for their mentees

Wish this was the case... my mentors were lazy af, had me write my own LoR, didn't really give any tips or advice, i didn't even feel comfortable talkin to them regarding my progress during the application and interviews, they seems more preoccupied with their lives acting like they are gods gift to this world... x2

In re: to peds derm advice.. I was told to be cautious in advertising this heavily because some faculty are immediately turned off by this. The reality is that most people who say they want to do peds derm never actually do. x2

if you decide to state your interest in peds derm, then you better have really strong evidence of a genuine interest in peds derm on your CV (Camp Discovery, multiple research projects, LORs from peds derms)

Peds residents are not prepared to be peds dermatologists with a 1-year peds derm fellowship... unless you want to make peds derm fellowship 3 years like other peds fellowships. I would also say...dont try and "fake" interest in pediatric dermatology. You'd be serving yourself better by applying with your true career goals in mind. Furthermore, may programs do not have peds derm fellowship or robust peds derm attendings, so knowing you have an "interest" in this subject may indicate that you'd prefer training at other programs with more robust peds derm training.

Peds actually get a decent amount of derm training. Obviously nothing close to derm-trained, but that means that they already start off with basic information. They know some about/have heard of medical aspect of some genodermatoses. Also, if they are now only doing peds derm, fellowship could only be 2 years since they would still be more focused than general derm, though I suppose you can see mostly anything in kids.

I also want to reiterate this as someone who is interested in peds derm. heard that there's enough ppl who lie about their interest that now programs are skeptical. i was told this by my home program. i was like wtf. you can't win. you have a genuine interest and now you're gonna get grilled to see if it's genuine bc other bad apples ruined it.x2 it's just like the research requirement for derm. you gotta have research but if you have too much now you're branded a research person and more clinical programs or the non harvard /UCSF /penn places think you're not gonna want to go there. you cannot win so just be real and do the best you can x2

see comment two boxes left. you're right - it sucks that you're damned if you, damned if you don't in derm. but there are other ways to prove genuine interest on your CV << Oh yeah, I did Camp Discovery, had 2 peds derm LoR, and did rotations at places with peds derm....but I was just saying it's pretty absurd to have to worry that in addition to everything else

< I really feel like having 10 at this point is an outlier more so than the norm. 10 is a very respectable number to have total in the end of the season, and there are some states that have barely come out yet (e.g. west coast) << yes that is true. according to stats page id say 4-5 is the average number based on respondents <that sounds more realistic, and I bet even that might be a little high if you factor response bias

<I'd been told before that going into thanksgiving with ~4 is a good position, but I am doubting that based on this sheet <don't << ? what do you mean, those of us with <4 are doing worse, or 4 is the good cutoff before thanksgiving because 50% of programs have released their interviews? <sorry, what I meant was that having 4 going into Thanksgiving is a good position and to not doubt that based on the sheet

they're def participating

<< WTF! That is scaring me. Hope it is an error somehow. It says it on ERAS as well. This is my dreammmmm program

< It has to be an error, there is no WAY Penn is not accepting residents for a year. I wouldn't worry! And jw, why is Penn your dream program? For some reason I always feel like UCSF is everyone's #1? <why is UCSF everyones #1?

Penn is mine because of Research and location

if you look at their website it seems as if though they are still accepting. would be weird if they didnt since they included deadlines and everything https://dermatology.upenn.edu/residents/residency-track-application/

Met an internal last week, pretty sure they are participating

Penn student here. As far as I know, everything is normal, Penn is participating and nothing has changed. Not sure WTF is going on witht the ERAS thing but I've talked to involved faculty even in the last couple days and it's all good.

THANKS!

<< Anyone know when the Penn internal day is?

Penn's website says by 11/25

<Hopkins and penn - both of these places so far out of my reach it doesn't affect me << Try not to feel this way. I was on 0 for a long time and got 2 interviews at top 10 programs. My app is so regular that I assumed it was a mistake. The point is, you never know and no program is a reach.

<haha, Mt. Sinai practically sends after Christmas, but I like the wishful thinking!

12/6 in 2017, but yes, probs too early.