TOPLINE

Pediatric dermatology fellowship data showed a persistently small applicant pool, frequent unfilled fellowship programs, increasing numbers of nonboard-eligible applicants, and regional disparities.

METHODOLOGY

• Researchers conducted a retrospective analysis of pediatric dermatology fellowship data from the Society of Pediatric Dermatology, the San Francisco Match, and the American Board of Dermatology, spanning 2009 to 2023 in the US.
• A total of 277 applicants who participated in the pediatric dermatology fellowship match from 2009 to 2023 were included (range, 11-25 per year; mean, 19 applicants per year).
• Researchers assessed applicant trends, program match rates, program fill rates, board certification rates, board certification outcomes, and workforce distribution.

TAKEAWAY

• The overall applicant match rate across the 15-year period was 96%, with yearly match rates ranging from 81% to 100%. Nonboard-eligible applicants and matches increased from one applicant and one match in 2020 to seven applicants and four matches in 2023.
• The mean program match rate was 68% (range, 46%-91%), with an average of 32% of programs failing to match fellows annually (range, 9%-55%), and the mean position fill rate was 57% (range, 33%-75%).
• Of 225 fellowship-trained pediatric dermatologists who graduated between 2009 and 2021, 75% were practicing in academic settings and 24.5% in private practice; 54% remained in the same region as their fellowship training.
• From 2010 to 2023, a total of 307 pediatric dermatologists became board-certified, with a mean of 40 board-certified pediatric dermatologists during biennial testing periods (2010-2016) and 25 annually from 2017 to 2023, when the exam was offered every year.

IN PRACTICE

“There are more fellowship programs and positions with only a small pool of applicants, although most applicants who apply tend to match,” the authors of the study wrote. “With the small number of applicants,” they added, “efforts should be made to increase interest in pediatric dermatology fellowship, with the aim to expand the current subspecialty workforce.”

SOURCE

The study was led by Christina Druskovich, MD, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, and was published online on June 14 in Pediatric Dermatology.

LIMITATIONS

Fellowships outside the official match process were not captured. Other limitations were possible misclassification and changes in practice settings. Applicants who received no interview invitations and did not submit rank lists were not counted as participating applicants.

DISCLOSURES

The authors declared having no conflicts of interest and no funding to report.

This article was created using several editorial tools, including AI, as part of the process. Human editors reviewed this content before publication.