Dermatology
Diseases of skin, hair, and nails. Visual diagnosis at its peak.
Dermatologists handle inflammatory skin disease, skin cancers (Mohs surgery, biopsies, excisions), pigmented lesions, and complex medical dermatology. Pattern recognition is central. Practice mixes outpatient clinic, procedures, and dermatopathology if you have an interest. Cosmetic work is optional and lucrative.
Lifestyle & practice
Among the best lifestyles in medicine. Hours are predominantly clinic-based, predictable, with very little call. Median compensation runs $400k to $500k+ with private practice and cosmetic add-ons reaching higher. Among the most competitive matches every year.
Common fellowship paths
- Residency length
- 4 years (1 prelim + 3)
- Median comp
- $450k to $550k
- Match rate (MD seniors)
- ~80%, very score-sensitive
High-signal external links curated for residents and applicants.
- American Academy of Dermatology ↗
Specialty society. Guidelines, ITE prep, advocacy.
- VisualDx ↗
Image-driven diagnosis platform widely used in derm clinic.
- DermNet NZ ↗
Free reference for skin conditions with images.
- Dermatology forum (SDN) ↗
Long-running medical career forum with active specialty subforums.
Positions
576
All applicants
916
Seats / app
0.63
From NRMP Charting Outcomes 2024 (most recent biennial publication). Source PDFs: MD Seniors / DO Seniors / IMG. NRMP publishes Charting Outcomes every other year, so this should refresh in early 2026 with the 2025 cycle data.
| Pool | Step 1 | Step 2 | Pubs | Research | AOA % | n |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MD_seniors | 245 | 257 | 27.7 | 6.4 | 41.1 | 314 |
| DO_seniors | 222 | 250 | 15.4 | 4.5 | — | 34 |
| US_IMG | 239 | 256 | 28.5 | 2.3 | — | 0 |
| Non_US_IMG | 234 | 245 | 7.2 | 5.1 | — | 0 |
Per-applicant-type match rates and mean Step scores published by NRMP every two years. Each row is one applicant pool in one cycle. Step scores reflect what matched applicants in that cycle achieved, not what programs require today.
| Year | Type | Match rate | Matched (n) | Step 1 | Step 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | MD_Senior | 71.4% | 314 | 245 | 257 |
| 2024 | DO_Senior | 47.9% | 34 | 222 | 250 |
| 2024 | IMG | 47.6% | 10 | — | 256 |
| 2022 | MD_Senior | 72.7% | 348 | 248 | 257 |
| 2022 | IMG | 33.3% | 6 | 251 | 252 |
| 2020 | MD_Senior | 84.9% | 361 | 248 | 256 |
| 2020 | DO_Senior | 73.6% | 39 | 245 | 253 |
| 2018 | MD_Senior | 82.5% | 340 | 249 | 256 |
| 2018 | IMG | 44.4% | 12 | 238 | 246 |
| Pool | Share |
|---|---|
| MD_seniors | 69.3% |
| DO_seniors | 10.4% |
| US_IMG | 11.0% |
| Non_US_IMG | 9.2% |