Dermatology Residency

Medical and surgical management of skin, hair and nail conditions, entered after a preliminary or transitional year.

Answer in brief

Dermatology training in the United States generally lasts generally 1 preliminary year plus 3 years. Entry is through ERAS and the NRMP Match after medical school. Consistently reported as one of the most competitive specialties. Few positions are available relative to applicants.

Training length

Generally 1 preliminary year plus 3 years. Program length is set by the accredited program requirements for the specialty, and optional fellowship training adds further years.

2025 Match figures (PGY-1)

Reported by the NRMP for the row Dermatology (PGY-1 positions only). Most dermatology training positions start at PGY-2 and are counted separately by the NRMP. The PGY-1 count below is therefore small and is not the total size of the specialty.

Positions offered: 30
Positions filled: 30
Filled by IMGs: 1

"Filled by IMGs" combines US citizen and non-US citizen graduates of international medical schools. Source: Advance Data Tables for the 2025 Main Residency Match, NRMP. Verified 2026-09-18.

Across all specialties in the 2025 Match, 40,041 PGY-1 positions were offered and 37,667 were filled. The PGY-1 match rate was 67.8% for US citizen IMGs and 58% for non-US citizen IMGs.

Considerations for international medical graduates

Consistently reported as one of the most competitive specialties. Few positions are available relative to applicants.

Position counts, fill rates and applicant numbers change every year. Check the current NRMP results report for the specialty and applicant type before drawing conclusions.

Sources

1.Main Residency Match results and data — National Resident Matching Program (NRMP)
2.Accredited residency and fellowship programs — Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)
3.ERAS for residency applicants — Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC)