Questions About Dermatology Residency Applications, with the Skin of Color Society

Credit: Tim Smith

The 21st Annual Skin of Color Society (SOCS) Scientific Symposium is underway in Orlando, Florida, featuring a wide array of notable experts in the field of dermatology.

The symposium—held during the same week as the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) Annual Meeting in Orlando—included an opening panel discussion that was moderated by Neelam Khan, MD. The SOCS panel was made up of 3 dermatology experts: Pamela S. Allen, MD, Amy J. McMichael, MD, and Ginette A. Okoye, MD.

Each of the speakers was first asked about what they believe the most important qualities or experiences that make an applicant stand out in dermatology and residency applications. McMichael, who is acting president of SOCS and a professor and chair of the department of dermatology at Wake Forest University, spoke first.

“I don't think there's one quality that I look for in every applicant who said, ‘Well, what are you looking for?’” McMichael explained. “Sometimes I don't know what I'm looking for, but I know it when I see it. What that means is that you've done the volunteerism [and] you are a leader in whatever it is that you've chosen to be a part of, or any committees or organizations…You don't just metabolize. You are actually part of the process and bringing things forward.”

After McMichael, Okoye responded to the question, pointing out that for her there are 2 aspects that come to mind when residency applicants stand out.

“The first is authenticity,” Okoye said. “I think many students are privy to the same advice, and so many applications sound the same, look the same, and many interview questions are answered the same. When we meet someone who is really true to themselves and confident in what they believe and what they might want to do with the specialty, it really stands out. So that's the first thing. The second thing is professionalism. We want people who will represent our program and represent our specialty well.”

As the panel discussion continued, the 3 experts were later asked about examples of common mistakes applicants make prior to residency programs. Allen responded to this question first.

Credit: Tim Smith

“It's a challenging time for you all, and you want to make those connections,” Allen explained. “You want to reach out to as many of us as possible. Many times we see that the same applicant or person has contacted multiple of us to do the same thing, to give mentorship, to tell them our story, and you know, I think that is something that can weigh heavily on us. We become taxed with multiple students reaching out to multiple people, asking the very same thing…I also think that you have to put in the work when it comes to figuring out what types of things you want to accomplish with that person that you want them to be your mentor.”

Okoye also responded, describing istakes made by trainees and medical students such as social media-related problems.

“Just be careful what you post, what you say on social media, because, you know, people send me screenshots all the time,” Okoye said. “I'm not on social media. We're not following you. But that information gets back to programs very, very quickly. So be very careful. Be professional. Have your professional social media and in your personal social media, and lock down the personal one.”

The panelists were asked a variety of other questions related to residency applications. Another notable example was a question regarding their opinions on the importance of research experience for students. Allen also asked if there is a minimum of abstract publications or presentations that students need to strive for.

“You don't have to have an amazing publication in The New England Journal of Medicine, and most of you are not going to have that,” McMichael said. “The other thing is that people who do basic science research are lamenting, oftentimes, that it's hard to get a publication…You know, we've been around for a while, and we get it. So we've done the substantive research in a lab, and if you don't have publications, but you want to present that data, we get it. Don't worry about if they are published. It's really about having put in the work.”

Okoye also responded to this inquiry, noting that what she wants to see in applications is some form of scholarly work. She noted that the work could be a basic science project, a literature review, advocacy work, or a public health project.

“It could be that you organized a number of students to start your own Habitat for Humanity or support something a little bit larger scale than this,” Okoye said. “I think that it goes back to my original comment about authenticity. If you are interested in research, and you do research, you're going to get a lot more out of it. You're going to be able to speak about it in a way that we're going to recognize…I actually know a student who has spent the past few months working on Capitol Hill. She stopped medical school, and instead of doing research here, did advocacy work.”

The panelists spoke on a variety of other topics, highlighting the importance of authenticity, professionalism, and academic performance in residency applications. The 3 experts advised students to network strategically, leverage away rotations wisely, and receive high USMLE scores.

For additional information related to SOCS Scientific Symposium information and interviews, view our AAD 2025 page here. To view more SOCS-related content, check out the Skin of Color Savvy series page accessible here.

The quotes contained in this summary were edited for the purposes of clarity.