The Road Not Taken

How does one become a dermatologist?

After university there are four years of medical school, followed by four years of dermatology residency (the first year of which is an intern year in medicine, surgery, or possibly a few other things), followed by a one to two year fellowship (if applicable).

Before my three-year dermatology residency, I practiced one year as an intern in internal medicine (which makes me 1/3 of a general practitioner, although it's in that first year that you learn the most).

I have to say that dermatology is one of the most difficult specialties in which a physician can become licensed. I dare say it is THE most competitive of any specialty (including neurosurgery, and possibly plastic surgery) - If you ever see a dermatologist, congratulate them for surviving the ultimate haze. Everyone in medical school seems to want to be a dermatologist (or at least envies those who are in a dermatology residency). Why? I'm not quite sure. I suspect it's most desirable for its financial compensation relative to the amount of hours of work put in (and likely the idea of $cosmetics$. Read: "Insurance keep out!"). I hope that most of today's trainees truly enjoy what they do, and don't entirely desert the vast medical aspect of this field.

That being said, I love what I do. I look forward to each day's challenges. The more complicated, the better. The quirkier looking the rash, the more exciting it is to solve the puzzle. Medical mysteries are my forte.
Although most of what appears here won't be a medical mystery, it will certianly quench the visual appetite, so to speak.

Shall we begin?