Our goals for this application cycle based on the Association of Professors of Dermatology Program Director Section:
Recommendations to Programs:
Program signaling
- Most dermatology programs will participate in signaling through ERAS. A list of participating programs will be released by AAMC after July 1. This year, dermatology will continue with the strategy of 28 program signals – 3 gold, 25 silver. This allows applicants to denote their top 3 programs and an additional 25 programs of particular interest. Importantly, home programs and programs at which an away rotation was completed are not excluded from signaling.
- Applicants may signal their home programs and/or the programs at which they completed a virtual or in-person away rotation. Signals should be used to denote an applicant’s true preference; thus, applicants can consider using a gold or silver for programs at which they rotated or at their home institutions or they may not signal at all if that reflects their true preferences. Programs are encouraged to follow these guidelines and not offer conflicting advice to applicants.
- Of note, based on preliminary data from this past cycle, there is a near-zero chance of interview invite at non-signaled programs. A gold signal confers a greater chance of interview invite than silver, however, this is variable among programs. Please refer to AAMC’s website for more information about program signaling and its impact on interview invites across specialties: https://www.aamc.org/data-reports/students-residents/report/supplemental-eras-application data-and-reports
- Given this data, applicants are highly discouraged from applying widely. Limiting applications to the 28 signaled programs and any program that is not participating in signaling is recommended. As a reminder to programs and applicants, a signal does not guarantee an interview invite.
Coordinated interview invite release
- There will be three sets of interview invite release dates. Participating programs will not release more interview invites than interview slots available. Programs not participating have also been asked to follow this guideline and to post the date of interview invite release on their websites. A list of participating programs will be released later in mid to late August. Last year, the majority of programs participated with most programs releasing on the 2nd date.
Timeline for UF Dermatology:
UF Dermatology will participate in this coordinated release. Dates are listed below:
Invite release date: Monday November 18, 2024:
Wednesday November 20, 2024: applicants begin scheduling interviews; must respond by November 22
Additional interview invites will be released as they become available starting after November 22, 2024.
Interviews
- UF Dermatology will be conducting in person interviews in January 2025 at our facilities in Gainesville, FL
Pre- and post-interview communication guidelines:
- Before and during interview season, applicants are asked to refrain from contacting programs to express interest or provide application updates prior to interviews, except in truly exceptional circumstances (eg couples matching updates, major life events that impact. preferences). Questions about a program that cannot be easily answered by available materials (website, social media, etc) can be directed to the program.
- Post-interview communication of preference – including “letters of intent” and thank you letters – should not be sent to programs. These types of communication are typically not used by residency programs in decision-making and lead to downstream pressures on applicants.
- Programs are also encouraged to either avoid direct communication with applicants after interviews and before Match Day, or at a minimum, ensure that such communication is informational in nature, avoiding efforts to persuade or pressure candidates, in line with NRMP guidelines. Applicants should not equate lack of communication from programs with lack of interest, just as programs will not equate lack of communication from applicants with lack of interest.
- Additionally, faculty are discouraged from communicating on behalf of applicants to program directors and faculty at other institutions, either before or after interviews. Program faculty can reach out directly to letter-writers or faculty at other institutions to ask questions about an applicant or to gather more information than is available in the letter or application, but this should be instigated by the interviewing program not by the applicant or an applicant’s faculty mentor/advisor.