University of California San Francisco

Instructions for Residency Applicants

 If you are interested in our program, we invite you to apply for the next match in the autumn of 2024 for residency starting in 2026.

We anticipate offering eight positions, 1-2 of which will be for our specialized physician-scientist research track. 

We have two tracks.  PLEASE APPLY FOR ONLY ONE TRACK  

Clinical Dermatology: Our traditional 3-year clinical dermatology track is (Dermatology - 1062080A0). 

 Physician Scientist (2+2) Research Track: For applicants with an advanced degree or at least one year of additional research training, a strong record of publications, and a serious commitment to a career in investigative dermatology, we offer our 2+2 research training track.  If you are interested in our 2+2 research track, please indicate this track in ERAS (Derm-2+2/Scientists 1062080A1). 

The Department does not accept applications outside of the ERAS process or have positions available outside of the NRMP match. 

Our Dermatology Resident Selection Committee selects applicants whose personal mission, skills and attributes match those described in our Residency Mission Statement. In the selection process, we consider clinical skills, motivation, integrity, ability to work with others, communication skills, scholarship, service, and other unique characteristics. We seek candidates with high potential for leadership who will eventually give more to the specialty than they will take from it.  We seek candidates with a desire to serve culturally diverse and medically underserved populations, and those committed to working on issues related to diversity, equity and inclusion. We seek candidates who put patients first and enjoy learning in busy and varied clinical settings. We seek team players who work well with faculty, fellow trainees, other departments, staff, and patients. 

Applications from individuals who self-identify as belonging to historically marginalized groups are strongly encouraged to apply.

The policies of the Dermatology Department as well as of UCSF and its affiliated hospitals prohibit discrimination, including harassment, based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender, gender expression, gender identity, gender transition status, pregnancy, physical or mental disability, medical condition (cancer-related or genetic characteristics), genetic information (including family medical history), ancestry, marital status, age, sexual orientation, citizenship, or service in the uniformed services, including protected veterans.

We do not have a minimum cutoff for USMLE Step I exam scores, and give limited weight to these scores. We do not require an election to the AOA honor society. We do not favor applicants from any particular geographic location and have residents who have lived, and trained all over the country.  We have no research requirements for applicants to our clinical track.   

We welcome applications from physicians with previous residency training beyond internship, particularly in internal medicine or pediatrics (even if their additional years of training make them ineligible for Medicare GME funding). 

We strongly urge applicants to seek rigorous internship training in preliminary internal medicine or pediatrics programs that are highly academic. Our experience has been that trainees who select the certain transitional year (TY) internships or internships in community hospitals that are not closely tied to an academic medical center struggle during their first year of dermatology residency. If you rank UCSF Dermatology, we expect you to apply for, interview with and seek to match at a rigorous, academic preliminary internship program. 

Application Process and Requirements

Residency applications must be received by the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS) and must be complete by the date ERAS is open to programs. To learn more about ERAS, please contact your medical school or visit the ERAS website. Applicants must provide the following to ERAS. We have no further application submission requirements beyond those of ERAS: 

  • Application
  • Dean's Letter (Medical School Performance Evaluation)
  • Personal Statement (preferably not to exceed one page)
  • Curriculum Vitae
  • Medical School Transcript of Grades
  • Minimum of three recommendation letters from physicians acquainted with you (we will accept up to four)
  • USMLE Scores

UCSF requires a passing score on the USMLE Step II exam for all trainees beginning a UCSF GME program. To meet this requirement, UCSF requires that all residency training programs (dermatology) only rank candidates who have taken the Step II exam and received a passing score reported to us through ERAS before the rank day deadline. If there is a valid reason why you cannot comply with this requirement, exceptions can be granted by our Dean's office on an individual basis, but we strongly urge all applicants to take their Step II exam in time to comply with this requirement. 

Applicants for the residency training program must be students at or graduates of approved medical schools in the United States or Canada and must complete a preliminary (PGY-1) year before being eligible to begin dermatology residency training (PGY-2). We also accept applications from osteopathic (DO) physicians. We also accept applications from International Medical Graduates, but only if they have completed or will complete PGY-1 training in the US, hold a current, valid certificate from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG), and are eligible for a California Medical License. For detailed information on obtaining a California Postgraduate Training License or California medical license, please go to the Medical Board of California website.  UCSF sponsors J1 and H1B transfers. Please see the updated GME eligibility information.
 

Signals and Geographic Preferences 

We integrate signals and other preferences into our holistic application review process for determining interview invitations.  For the 2024-25 application cycle (2026 match) we will read and evaluate all applications.  In the 2023-24 application cycle (2026 match) we read and evaluated all applications, interviewed 54 (50 signaled, 4 no signal), and matched 8 (8 signaled).  Since the start of the current signaling system every matched applicant has signaled our program.  Preference signals will only be used in determining interview offers. 

Interview Process 

We review applications in October and early November.  We are participating in a nationally coordinated interview release date and will notify internal applications of invitations to interview on November 4 and external applicants of invitations to interview on November 18.  We anticipate offering 22-24 clinical track interviews, and 8-10 physician scientist interviews.  Candidates selected for an interview will be notified by e-mail and phone. We will maintain a waitlist for interview slots.  Waitlisted applicant will be notified by e-mail. We are unable to interview many impressive candidates, and those who are not selected for an interview will be notified by e-mail.   

Interviews are an integral part of our selection process, allowing us to obtain supplemental information about you first-hand, as well as allowing you to ask questions and meet our faculty and residents. If you have a subspecialty interest, you may request to meet a specific faculty member and we will do our best to have them present on your interview day. 

For the 2026 Match, interviews will be conducted in January 2025 - Dates TBD.

We have a large selection committee.  You will meet with 8 teams of 2-3 interviewers for 15 minutes each.  All 8 of these interviews are scheduled in a 2.5-hour block of time.  The remainder of the day will include informational sessions, Grand Rounds, small group meetings with residents and faculty, and a diversity session.  The final details are still being decided and will be communicated in detail when you are invited for an interview.  

Selection Process (The MATCH)

Following interviews, the final selection is made in March 2025 through the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). 

Program Contact Information 

For information not found on this website, please contact Ms. Chris Walker at chris.walker@ucsf.edu or Ms. Laura Harrison at Laura.Harrison@ucsf.edu

Additional Information 

Our informational session for applicants was held on Monday August 26, 2024. If you have questions not answered on our website, please contact our program coordinators. 

Visit our residency program page on Instagram.

 Additional information about resident salaries, benefits, and institutional GME policies and programs may be found at the UCSF GME website at: https://meded.ucsf.edu/gme-resident-and-fellow-resources and https://bit.ly/gmeapplicants