Research in Derm

[24thGrade]

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Hi,

I'm a new MSTP student. Long time lurker.

I'm kind of curious if there is anyone here in an MD-PhD program who is planning to or has matriculated to a Derm program and actually continued with research.

From what I've gathered, the students from my program who have gone on to Derm programs did it for the money and haven't bothered with research since then. The vast majority here (as at most programs) end up in prestigious internal medicine programs.

I'm realizing now that I think I really want to be involved in psoriasis research and am trying to prepare myself best for the match with this in mind. After reading tons on here it seems the consensus is that the PhD doesn't mean much to many specialties unless the research is in that particular field.

Unfortunately there really isn't anyone here specifically focused on psoriasis *doh*. There is some derm research, but it is mostly relating to burns and radiation damage which I'm not super interested in (or it may just be due to me having no exposure to it). I'm doing my first rotation in a biochem drug discovery lab (very interested in therapeutic development).

I'm hoping to get some insight about what I can do with my research to be competitive for such a residency (are there even true derm research residencies?) Specifically, would doing research in non-derm autoimmune diseases be frowned upon even if many of the same principles would apply to autoimmune skin diseases? Or should I at least give the straight derm research a try? Would it be at all appropriate to contact programs and straight up ask them what type or research they value?

I realize I may be coming off sounding a bit overly anal since I'm only a first year. I really just don't want to end up in the scenario I've seen too many people complaining about on here when they realize that their research has had minimal influence on their matching ability.

I would really appreciate any advice or perspective on this. Thank you.

 

[xanthines]

Derm research by actual dermatologists seems to be a rarity in my experience, as well. You could try asking some of the Derm researchers at your school or possibly the Derm forum here...

I actually had one dermatologist belittle me for having expressed any interest in derm research at all! "There's nothing left to figure out. Go into psych instead!" I agree that psych is pretty under-researched, but whaaa!?

-X

 

[Build]

I went to see a dermatologist at my medical center and was mildly interested to see the resident was an MD/PhD. We chatted for a bit about my research interests then I was like "so are you still doing the research thing?". There was an awkward pause then he kind of mumbled something about probably not... That is your n=1 definitive answer for you!

 

[Neuronix]

There are several derm labs at my school. One of the assistant directors is an MD/PhD in Derm who runs a research lab. There is a "3+2" pathway within derm. It is possible if you want it.

My own anecdotes:
1) I've met plenty of MD/PhDs in medicine, peds, and path who have no desire to continue doing research.

2) I've met plenty of physicians in those departments who scoff at the idea of doing research or being a physician-scientist.

To the op: if you want I'll move this thread to the derm forum so you can get their opinion. There are almost no MD/PhDs who post here who are beyond residency, and even residents are very scarce.

 

[24thGrade]

Thank you for the responses. Neuronix if you wouldn't mind moving this to the Derm subforum that would be great.