Late switch to Derm, competitive without a research year?
Current M4 and recently decided the specialty I was initially interested in is not a good fit for me after doing a sub-I, now considering dermatology (had some interest earlier in med school, but was dissuaded by all the hoop-jumping required).
With no aways or even a home program rotation yet, I’m concerned if matching without a research year is realistic. Stats below:
5/6 honors (HP IM), T30 med school, 273 Step 2.
Non-trad prior military for 4 years before school with strong leadership experience. Decent volunteering. Miminal research during med school which is my main concern.
Have 1 non-derm abstract/poster during med school and 2 research experiences from undergrad which resulted in 1 second author basic science pub.
Plan on reaching out to my schools dermatology department and might be able to schedule a rotation before ERAS is due, but with no derm research, aways, or demonstrated longitudinal interest in the field I wonder if it’s even worth trying this cycle? Very against the whole premise of a research year and would love to avoid adding another year to my training, but I’ll take one if I have to.
Appreciate any advice.