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How tough is it to match derm in California, outside of UCSF/Stanford?
UC San Francisco-CA
UCSFSan Francisco, CA
← All programs444 posts
- Website
- www.dermatology.ucsf.edu/
- NRMP
- 1062080R0 / 1062080A0
- ACGME
- 0800521019
Applicant sentiment — from 150 anonymous posts, 2016–2027
5.5 / 10
What anonymous posters said
Anonymous posters frequently discussed the interview process, including timing of invite calls, rejections, and Step 2 score requirements before rank lists. Several commenters described the program as highly regarded for clinical training and subspecialty exposure, though opinions on workload and culture varied, with some calling it demanding and others disputing negative characterizations. Multiple posts noted few internal candidates remain for residency and suggested California ties may be helpful in admissions.
AI-generated summary of opinions expressed in anonymous, unverified posts. It describes what posters wrote, not verified facts about this program. Based on these 150 posts · Updated Aug 2026 · Contest or respond to this entry · Takedown & right of reply
Match termssan franciscosan francisco dermuc san franciscoucsf
Fame & Shame
2025–2026 Derm
4 entries❌1. Elitist (to no one's surprise), and many faculty give preferential treatment to rotating medical students from more prestigious schools. As much as they emphasize being socially attuned and progressive, at the end of the day, they're just another ivory tower institution masquerading as a social justice warrior.
❌1. You don't actually HAVE to be a former pediatrician to apply for this and be considered. Wish I knew this earlier, I would have applied.
❌2. Interviewer made disparaging comments about where I went to school
💬1. It does say on their website "preferred but not required;" I wonder if they've taken applicants w/o previous peds residency. > guess we will find out soon > this is the first year of the track and it seemed like everybody was an MS4 during the interview +1
By match cycle
Related programs
Also discussed alongside
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Looking at the match list, it appears that top tier schools matched really well. I wonder if there were students at stanford, UCSF, harvard etc that didn't match this cycle. just curious if that is a big "IT" factor (where you go to med school)
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anyone else see that person on twitter with an insanely stacked derm app who randomly matched ENT instead < WTF, i guess some people can walk on water < were they from UCSF? < nah it was some Midwest school
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Do people without a RY or additional degree (PhD, MPH, whatever) have any chance at the top programs anymore? Harvard, Penn, and UCSF all didn't take a single person who didnt... < theres no chance honestly with the amount of people doing RY year, it almost hurts you if you dont.
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Is it still helpful to take a RY if it's not connected with an academic program? < is it paid? , my guess is probably not a good idea < Definitely not. The whole point of a RY isn't even the publications it's literally ALL about connecting with a department in the hopes that they'll like you enough to rank you highly. I know finances are difficult but also wouldn't suggest you let the pay distract you from this-- in the end it's a whole year of your life that you might be giving up if the RY doesn't pan out<most people dont match at the research institution they do the research year at...in fact the most powerhouse institutions that have the most number of people they match year in and year out to derm and most publications etc dont even give much consideration to their research fellows for ranking them (harvard, northwestern, ucsf, upenn etc) unlike USC and others. at these places they still try to match you well but youre just a hamster on a wheel and shouldnt get your hopes up of getting ranked at all there. they wont even remember you if you matched or not the following year there will be more people to try to match, more people they are recruiting to their RY and so on. i wouldnt take it personally their research-matching machine depends on people continuing to match so its easier to imagine yourself as insignificant and not likely to get ranked there to set expectations low. dont let this fear of being afraid of crashing like all the waves before you get to your head at the same time - remember that you're not just a wave - youre part of the ocean << OP here, appreciate these responses and yes it's paid and has a good track record of matching ppl and the PI is well known but this is primarily about working in a private clinic and also doing research (may speak with previous fellows to get a better idea) < Yeah maybe institutions don't always match their own fellows but every RY mentor has connections in multiple places... doing research in a private clinic doesn't really help you build connections at academic institutions. But it's your life you do you!
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Is it worth paying AOA dues after you match? Does it have any implications for fellowship? < I'm not paying <you definitely dont need AOA to match UCSF for mohs if you are worried about that
No, it's not. Once you've matched into Derm, outside of bragging rights and CV padding, no one cares about AOA and even if you're an "inactive" member, your AOA status doesn't disappear.
Mar 21
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What are the top 10 derm programs? Is there a clear consensus on this?
Penn UCSF Harvard NYU Stanford Yale Mount Sinai Northwestern UTSW etc.
Mar 21
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It matters for people who want to go into academics/do research... << LOL, no it doesn't. Academia is in need of dermatologists. Beggars can't be choosers.
Mar 21
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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...
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UCSF: "wE rEaLlY cArE bOuT divErsiTy n IncLusIon" *picks 6/7 of their residency class from top 10 programs*
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HOW MANY INTERNALS FOR UCSF
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Reposting because deleters: I compiled the percentages of residents from top programs who also came from top medical schools. Data is from residency websites on 10/23: Residents from T20 med schools: Stanford: 24/31 (77%) NYU: 18/25 (72%) UCSF: 14/22 (64%) Penn 13/21 (62%) Harvard: 17/32 (53%) Residents from T10 med schools: NYU: 15/25 (64%) Stanford: 19/31 (61%) Penn: 10/21 (48%) Harvard: 14/32 (44%) UCSF: 9/22 (41%)
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I compiled the percentages of residents from top programs who came from top medical schools. Data is from residency websites on 10/23: Residents from T10 med schools: NYU: 15/25 (64%) Stanford: 19/31 (61%) Penn: 10/21 (48%) Harvard: 14/32 (44%) UCSF: 9/22 (41%) Residents from T20 med schools: Stanford: 24/31 (77%)
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Serious question- why do people care so much about interviews from Harvard, Stanford and UCSF? I guess I understand big names like Harvard and Stanford. But what is the fuss about UCSF? Is the clinical training actually better?
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anyone get ucsf + upenn?
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Anyone got interviews at Harvard Stanford ucsf and UPenn? < I got 3/4 of these
Some posts are shown because their comments mention this program.
its becoming more typical from what ive heard from faculty. phd doesnt carry all that weight as it used to for derm regular track or 2 matching more about what you can do. its the rare applicant but there are some studs out there that can go toe to toe with phd applicants for 2 without the phd usually research year people