how long does it take to be a dermatologist?

Question

what classes will i have to take? how much is the salary? is it a hard job?what type of things will i have to deal with? and so on. thanks. :]

Answer 1

Hi,

A dermatologist is a medical doctor. So after completing four years of undergratuate college, you have to go to medical school for four years. You then have to complete a residency, which is specialized training in dermatology; that is 3 years long. After that, you would be a board - eligible dermatologist, and once you complete your board certification exams, you would be a board-certified dermatologist.

In college, most people heading for medical school do a pre-med major, but you can still get into med school with other majors (i knew people who majored in computers, english, russian literature, and engineering). You have to take an exam (the MCAT's) and apply to the med schools. Once in med school, you have to apply to residency programs and interview with them to get accepted.

It is a long road, but if you are interested, you should go for it. The average salary is around $215,000 (according to http://salary.hotjobs.com). In terms of hours, its probably on the lower range for doctors, but depends on if you are hospital based (possibly more hours and call), vs. private practice (you can set your hours yourself, but are responsible for your own patients). Besides dealing with patients, you will also be in charge of staff (nursing and office staff), deal with insurance paperwork, and maintaining excellent charts and files on patients.

If you are looking for more information, i highly recommend you contact your local medical school or university hospital, ask to speak with the dermatology department, tell them you are considering dermatology as a career and would like to get more information, see if it is possible to follow ("shadow") a dermatologist for the day. If you are really interested after your day, ask what you can do to make it more likely to get there .... it always helps on medical school applications to have something that shows that you know what you are getting yourself into, so if you can work with a dermatologist (even volunteering in your spare time) or participate in dermatologic research (gathering data, etc), it looks great, and gives you strong connections in the field.

anyways, thats the lowdown that I can think of. oh, another tip ... if you are still interested after shadowing a doc, and want more help or tips, you can also try getting in touch with a dermatology resident (through the medical school) and try to get advice from them. They may have more specific advice and tips than I had.

Good luck!

Answer 2

1

Answer 3

First you would have to get a bachelor's degree in the sciences. Apply to medical school - you may not get in right away, but that is at least five years. Then you do internship and residency, probably another two. Then you would do your area of specialization on top of that, for a dermatologist. Of course, any doctor has a hard job, but at least with being a dermie you are not on call, except on hospital emergency rotation maybe, and if you have an office away from a hospital you can work M-F, 8-5.

Answer 4

Your question reveals that it's a moot one.