"I'm well aware that patient access is a huge issue for dermatologic care right now, and I got to experience this during my clinical rotation in the specialty last year in medical school. My attending physician was very upfront about a few issues she's been facing. First, she highlighted that the number of patients seeking cosmetic procedures like laser hair removal and derm abrasions had increased tenfold throughout her career. She was also one of only two providers in a region that could have used probably three times the amount of Dermatologists."

There are many known reasons why the demand for dermatologic services is increasing rapidly today. Before your residency interview, take some time to research the demand in the field and the several factors contributing to this high demand. If you are struggling to come up with ideas to answer this question, consider discussing the overall provider shortage, the rapidly rising rates of skin cancers, and the increase of patients seeking purely cosmetic procedures.

"Preventative measures, such as sun avoidance and regular use of sunscreen have been implemented in recent years. While such measures were used more rarely in the past, there have been increasing numbers of patients with skin cancers that require dermatologic care. Also, there is an overall shortage in numbers of providers as compared with numbers of patients. I hope that providing care as a medical dermatologist I can help to address this difficulty in access for patients."