By: Elizabeth W.
Who are dermatologists?
Dermatologists are individuals who treat skin, hair, and nail conditions. They treat people of all ages and can identify and treat more than 3,000 skin conditions, making their specialty very unique in both the medical and surgical aspects.
What are some of the sub-specialties?
Some specialties within dermatology include:
Cosmetic Dermatology
Dermatopathology
Immunodermatology
Mohs Surgery
Pediatric Dermatology
Cosmetic dermatologists are trained to perform procedures such as botox, fillers, and laser surgery, and they are known as leaders within the field of dermatology.
Dermatopathologists are dermatologists who are trained to identify conditions like skin cancer. They receive biopsies from dermatologists and use microscopes to study the tissues in the biopsies and look for any abnormalities.
Immune Dermatologists are dermatologists who specialize in treating immune-mediated skin diseases and they often run their own immunopathology labs.
Mohs Surgery is a specialty that requires knowledge from both pathology and surgery. Dermatologists in this specialty receive extensive training in both during residency. In Mohs surgery, they focus on the excision of skin cancers using a tissue-sparing technique.
Pediatric Dermatology is a specialty where dermatologists are trained in treating childrens’ skin, hair, and nail conditions.
What is the path to becoming a dermatologist?
The first steps to becoming a dermatologist include attending college, taking the MCAT, and getting into a medical school. After that, you need to take a test called the USMLE in medical school and then pursue a medical internship which takes around a year, as well as 3 years of residency.
Another non-traditional way to pursue a career in dermatology would be through a BS/MD program. A BS/MD program is a program in which a university and a medical school pair up to allow students to gain admission into both straight out of high school. However BS/MD programs have notoriously low acceptance rates, sometimes even lower than top tier schools!
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