Information for Students Applying to Dermatology

Please check back here regularly for updates to the application process as well as guidelines and answers to common questions. A statement (pdf) with additional information has been released by the Association of Professors of Dermatology Residency Program Directors Section.

Changes to application content

The changes previously included in the AAMC Supplemental ERAS Application have now been fully integrated into the MyERAS application. Importantly, applicants will be limited to 10 activities/experiences and will again be asked to provide additional context for a limited number of meaningful experiences.

Please be honest in your responses, as this will help us and you gauge whether our program can fully appreciate your contributions and prior experiences, and support your goals and unique learning style.

Program signaling and review process

Program signaling is an option for an applicant to signal interest in our program through the MyERAS application. We will be using program signaling again this year during our application review process. Because of the increased number of signals this year (3 gold, 25 silver), home and away rotation programs are not excluded as they were last year. Regardless of whether you are a Washington University medical student or if you have completed an in-person away rotation with us, if our program is one of your top 28 programs, please signal us. Similar to last year, we will use signals in making determinations about our interview invite list, but will not use them for ranking. Program signal information will not be included in the initial application review by faculty but will be used by program leadership before finalizing our interview invite list.

Historically, we performed holistic review on all applications. However, that may not continue to be a feasible approach given the sheer volume of applications we receive. In the last two cycles, applicants who signaled our program were more likely to receive an interview invite. During the upcoming cycle, all applicants who signal our program will receive an in-depth holistic review of their application. Whether we are able to review the remaining non-signal applications will depend on the number of applications and signals received. For this reason, if you are not planning to signal our program, please consider whether it is worth applying as we cannot guarantee your application will be reviewed.

Of note, we do not use USMLE scores as part of our review process, and place limited value on grades and class ranking given the highly variable nature of these across institutions. Our review process focuses on an applicant’s goals, engagement in activities, and attributes gleaned from the various aspects of the application.

Pre- and post-interview communication

We follow the guidelines laid out by the Association of Professors of Dermatology and will not consider other informal mechanisms of showing interest including emails from you or an advocate, letters of intent, or thank you notes. Please do not send this type of communication either pre- or post-interview. If you have specific questions about the program, these can be directed to either Ms. Megan Ritterbusch, our program coordinator, or Dr. Rosman. For general inquiries about the program, please refer to this website and our social media accounts. We will communicate with you via email regarding interview information and status of your application. For the standard track, we will not provide additional information about your position on our rank list or likelihood of matching with us.

Interviews

All interviews will be virtual. We understand that applicants have strong and varying opinions about in-person and virtual interviews. While we want to give applicants the opportunity to get to know our program, residents, faculty, and city in person, we are cognizant of the financial costs of in-person interviews, the impact of travel on our environment, and the potential to lead to inequity and lack of sustainability in the process, and have decided to continue with virtual interviews indefinitely.

Please continue to check here for additional updates. All updates will also be shared on our Twitter and Instagram accounts.