Residency Application

• Our program does not have a cut-off score for the USMLE exams to determine application review. While Step 2 scores are not required, they are recommended.
• We review applications from both allopathic and osteopathic medical schools. Graduates of both have matched into our residency program.
•  We only review applications from graduates from a United States medical school. At this time, files of foreign medical graduates are not reviewed.
• Our program has trained residents who have completed prior residencies and we are currently allowed to match in that regard.
•  Though research experience is recommended, there are no minimum research requirements for application review.
• Our program requires three letters of recommendation.
• For the 2024-2025 cycle, our program will be participating in the supplemental ERAS application offered through the AAMC’s ERAS program. Applicants will be required to complete the MyERAS application, and participation in the supplemental ERAS application is optional.
• We plan to extend interviews only to those applicants who signal our program through the ERAS system using a gold or silver token.

Our department uses the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) to process all applications and we will participate in the NRMP's Coordinated Interview Release. Our first round of interviews will be sent on Monday, November 18, 2024, with scheduling beginning on Wednesday, November 20, 2024. Applicants must respond by November 22, 2024. Additional interview invites will be released when they become available after November 22, 2024.

All positions are filled through the National Residency Match Program (NRMP). U.S. medical school graduates who have previously completed an ACGME-accredited residency program in the U.S. are eligible to apply. 

A virtual open house session is planned from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. CST on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. Please use the following Zoom link to attend: https://slu.zoom.us/j/91850964378 

Attendance is not required and will not be recorded.

Four virtual interview dates will be offered in 2024 as follows: 

• Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025
• Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025
• Thursday, Jan. 23, 2025
• Thursday, Feb. 20, 2025

Each applicant will interview with faculty members in one half-day session beginning in the morning. We will interview 10 candidates each day for a total of 40 applicants. We are matching four available positions.

Prior to the interview we strongly recommend that you preview various information that outlines information about our program. Viewing instructions will be sent by the program coordinator upon acceptance of an interview. Some examples include:

• Residency overview video from Gillian Heinecke, M.D., program director
• Resident tour of facilities video
• Saint Louis University School of Medicine videos
• Benefits and sample contract 

We also ask that you acknowledge receipt of information as part of NRMP guidelines. The coordinator will send this as a Google Form upon acceptance of an interview.

We also recommend that you participate in the pre-interview “meet and greet” with our residents. This event will be held on two evenings, but you will be scheduled for one date depending on which interview date you attend. Dates will be sent to those selected to interview.  

As per guidance from the Association of Professors of Dermatology, our program is adhering to the following guidelines: 

Pre-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. Questions about a program that cannot easily be answered by available materials (website, social media, etc.) may be directed to the program.

Post-Interview Communication Guidelines

Applicants should not send "letters of intent" or thank you letters. These types of communication are typically not used in decision-making and lead to downstream pressures on applicants.  
 
We will avoid direct communication with applicants post-interview, or at a minimum, ensure that such communication is informational in nature, avoiding any effort to persuade or pressure. Applicants should not equate lack of communication from our program with lack of interest from us.

 Our program makes every effort to ensure diversity in trainee recruitment, selection and retention in the following ways: 

• Our program interviews underrepresented-in-medicine (URM) applicants. We have been successful in ensuring our program is diverse based on our recruitment practices and habits.
• We have submitted our program to be included in the Latino Medical Student Association URM Residency Hub.
• We encourage students applying to our program to highlight their personal journey to medicine, and to share any challenges they have overcome, and why they wish to pursue dermatology.
• Our clinical research fellowship recruits a diverse group of applicants. Our clinical research fellows often are retained as dermatology residents.
• Our department routinely offers workshops and programming on diversity, equity and inclusion.

The chair, program director and associate program director strive to ensure that the faculty, staff and personnel that work with our trainees have diverse backgrounds, specialties and strengths. Our residency program promotes diversity, equity and inclusion, and advocates for communities of color through the following initiatives:

• Establishment of the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee: The purpose of this committee is to nurture a culture of equity and inclusion in our workplace, in our clinics and in our community. Programs and workshops on diversity training, health care disparities, implicit bias, and underrepresented minorities in dermatology are held. Committee members include faculty, residents and staff.
• Priority to highlight skin-of-color content in residency education: Skin-of-color images within lectures, skin-of-color textbooks, initiative to compile kodachromes of clinic patients with skin of color for education.
• Community engagement: We routinely care for patients with skin of color in our clinics. We are also working towards offering free dermatology services at a clinic for underserved communities.

As guided by the NRMP, we adhere to the highest level of professionalism throughout the recruitment period. Failure to comply with the professional standards of the NRMP as well as the specified conditions below may result in an investigation by the NRMP for a match violation. As an applicant to Saint Louis University Dermatology Residency Training Program, it is expected that you agree the following in addition to the NRMP's Match Code of Conduct:

1. This interview is confidential. I will not record the interview, screenshot the interview, or share questions that I am asked, including to other applicants, or interested parties.
2. I will be the only person present for the interview. If at any time another person is present, including on another electronic device, I will immediately inform the interviewer.
3. I will not have anyone stand in or translate for me during the entire interview process.
4. I will not share or post any link, recording, or information provided with anyone, including other applicants, or interested parties.
5. I verify that I have a reliable Internet connection, a working camera, audio, and a speaker for my virtual interview.
6. If an emergency arises and I am not able to meet any of these parameters, I will contact the program coordinators soon as possible to create a resolution.