Mass General Brigham-MA

Should I send an Elle woods audition tape to harvard??

Are Stanford and Harvard the only 2 that are blinding step scores? I thought a few programs mentioned that during their open house. >> i have trust issues i just assume they will look at scores even if they say otherwise< for Stanford, I know as a fact they are blinding to step 1 but strongly considering step 2 < Stanford does not require step 2 for consideration, neither does harvard, both just require passing step 1 scores < so you're saying there's a chance

MS3 here, why do so many derm applicants doing a RY at Harvard, do all these people get interviews with Harvard. If you did a RY there, what was the benefit of there vs anywhere else? Did you interview there? < Nampat

Approximately how many interview per available slot do programs tend to offer? <I think I've heard it's about 10-15/spot? Not sure though < also heard approx. that, but most programs interview ~40-50 students regardless of spots (ie, I don't think Harvard interviews ~80 students, but could be wrong!)

Is it a red flag to be at a lower tier school, do a RY at harvard, and not have letters from your home program and get letters from harvard instead?

Hi everyone. M3 here and thinking about aways. Is it worth doing aways at the top programs? < The advice I received is to focus more on doing aways at programs that may be interested in taking you, and that you would be happy training at. It may not be your first choice, but a good fit nonetheless. Top programs are unlikely to interview you based on away rotation performance alone. The rest of your application should be among the top derm applicants as well. << Agreed on this. Depending on the tier of your particular medical school, don't do audition Derm rotations at top-tier Derm places like Harvard, UCSF, Penn, NYU, Stanford, etc. thinking that you're somehow just going to so "wow" derm attendings w/your med student derm knowledge & hard work that you'll either get an interview or that you'll get a stellar letter to be able to use to get interviews at other places (keep in mind that these places have their own home med students going for Derm whom they have worked with for years). That's just not how it works, unfortunately, even w/stratospheric board scores. Wouldn't matter even if you read & memorized all of Andrews. Choose the location and institution of your audition derm elective carefully (talk w/your home derm program faculty mentors, w/previous graduating Derm alumni from your institution, etc.). It can sometimes mean the difference between matching vs. not matching. < what if you have strong connections at top programs and then do an away there, ie stanford/upenn mentor for 2 years and then do an away? << If you have strong connections (I'm assuming you did research w/that Stanford/UPenn Derm mentor for 2 years and were relatively productive) then yes, it could very much help. This is where showing your academic record and CV to that Stanford/UPenn mentor would help.

MS3 here debating if I should do a Research year , does anyone know if there is data that it increases chances of matching significantly?? <- MS3 here, i think im gonna do one. I go to a rando school and i feel like i would be having hella hubris to think that i would stand up against like the harvard/stanford babies < i dont think it helps necessarily <<<< I think it depends on several factors: 1) the tier of your medical school & whether you have a home derm residency program, 2) what your academic medical school record looks like up until this point: where you stand in terms of your class rank or segment of the class you fall into after the end of MS-3, 3) Whether you're AOA, although not being AOA alone isn't a dealbreaker, 4) Number of Honors clerkship grades (w/special attention paid to IM and Surgery), 5) Your USMLE Step 1 score, 6) What you've published in Dermatology so far in 3 years, etc. If you have a home Derm residency program, it would help to have your academic Derm faculty mentor take an honest look at your application and CV in full and give it to you straight on your chances of matching w/o a research year, also keeping in mind your own comfortability. And that's just to decide whether to do a research year or not. The next step is then deciding where exactly to do your research year and with who, but that's a totally separate conversation.

Reposting from below: Looks like Stanford and Harvard aren't using signaling. Anyone know if this is a change from last year?. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ak4kbMCuKmQfFHxp7Yc64qCEqLV-K1wUxz9iab6pLr8/edit#gid=599838173

Can we put together a list of derm conferences? I've got: AAD, SID, EADV, BWH Derm Med Student Symposium, SISD >> skin of color society meeting, san diego meeting, ISAD, PeDRA, SPD

Significant other is in Boston--looking for RY there. Who are best people at Harvard/BU/Tufts to work with?

The shield of anonymity certainly gives folks the confidence to make certain comments including blaming URMs for taking “your spots”. Herein, perpetuating the cycle of entitlement. The scary thing is that some of you will be future mentors, PDs and department chairs. With these ill-advised sentiments you harbor, I can only imagine what you will do when in a position of power. Everyone has a unique set of challenges faced through the application process; it is up to the discretion of programs to decide what they value. Finally, it is an insult to assume that URMs have mediocre grades/stats/pubs. Assumption is the lowest form of knowledge. I am Black, scored >250 on both steps with numerous publications. I did not match at the top 5 institutions but at no point have I felt entitled because I am Black and have good stats. I am very content and happy for my colleagues that also matched. Take time to reflect, recognize and address your biases.

i don't get why people are mad. just wait one cycle and things will go back to normal. look at emory. we actually had a bet they won't match a black resident this time given how many they did last time lol they said too many negros lol

why is this sheet still so chaotic lmfao i just came to peep that match list> why do people see this discourse as a bad thing? It's better to let people get this stuff out, challenge each other, and learn from each other than hold these thoughts in?? People are thinking this stuff, I'd rather know it than not

top programs taking like half their own students lol what's the point anymore, we're in castes from the moment we commit to a med school. annoying as shit + 1000000 < do you ever realize it's a fucking job we're applying for and sometimes fit matters lol < "harvard fit" = "goes to harvard" ???????????? < no im talking about if you literally work with mentors at these institutions and work well with them and function as a sub-intern then maybe that's important??? it's literally important in every other field like IM and usrgery how well you fit into their team, we're just fucked in derm bc it's so arbitrarily small. how you carry yourself over a research fellowship or rotation is far more indicative of your future compatibility as AN EMPLOYEE than having a highly rehearsed interview day

Really striking how few white people were matched at the top programs this year (not a complaint, but it's VERY noticable...). I'm glad that programs are buying into SOC but worry about it being superficial/not nuanced tbh, just looking at the top programs that are especially virtue signal-y. < I strongly agree with this, and it's noticable that the same 5-10 URMs were at all the top interviews. < where was this take when harvard was taking mostly white people? was boston mostly white then? until last year, harvard embarassingly had the same black resident hosting diversity events with her horrendous internet but still had to be her as no one else to take her place. Do you think if we go back a few years to past spreadsheets, we will see this be a problem? even if harvard takes all black students for the next ten years, i would still not balance out. go somewhere else.