Characterization of dermatopathology fellowship applicants: a 5-year single institution experience.

Background: Although much data have been documented on the characteristics of medical school applicants for dermatology and pathology residency programs in the United States and select medical and surgical fellowship applicants through the National Residency Matching Program, little is known about the dermatopathology applicant demographics.

Methods: We examined a 5-year pool of dermatopathology fellowship applicants from a single institution (University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences) and compiled background profile data of the applicants to characterize an 'average dermatopathology fellow' applicant.

Results: A total of 229 applicants over a 5-year period were included in the assessment. The majority were of pathology background with medical school and residency training based in the southern United States. One-third of the applicants had original research publications, case reports or had given an oral or poster presentation in the field of dermatopathology.

Conclusions: Knowledge regarding the average applicant statistics for a dermatopathology fellowship will allow prospective applicants to evaluate their own applications for strengths and weaknesses. This will also provide institutions information regarding anticipated statistics for a competitive applicant pool.