Outpatient specialty
Dermatology: Salary, Residency & Career Guide
Medical and procedural care for skin, hair, nails and related disease.
Typical Training
3+1 years
Preliminary year + 3 years of dermatology
Attending Compensation
$497,509
Average Total Compensation
Employment outlook
+7%
Projected Job Growth
Relative Competitiveness Index
94 / 100
Very Competitive
Start in Medical School
M1 to M4 Preparation
Practical experience, projects and rotation planning.
See the Medical School RoadmapAttending Compensation and State Wages
U.S. Attending Compensation
$497,509
Average Total Compensation
BLS State Median Wages (Separate Data Series)
Highest published state medians. Select another state above for its figure.
Resident Pay by Institution
Preliminary year + 3 years of dermatology.
2026–27 salaries, five published training-institution examples.
Selected institution
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
$77,049/ year
Pay varies by institution and postgraduate year.
Schedules and Work Setting
Schedule and Call
Outpatient clinics often have planned blocks, but visit volume, pathology review, procedures, messages and access pressure can make the work intense even without hospital nights. Academic inpatient consult services and Mohs practices look quite different.
Practice Settings
Outpatient clinics with dermatologic surgery, hospital consultation and procedural practice.
Procedures and Clinical Work
- Skin biopsy
- Cryotherapy
- Lesion excision
- Dermatoscopy
Fellowship Training
Fellowship Expectation Index
2 / 5
Fellowship Options
Common Fellowship Duration: 1 year(s) beyond residency. Mohs surgery and dermatopathology commonly add a year.
General medical and many procedural dermatology careers are possible without fellowship. Mohs surgery, dermatopathology and some focused academic niches follow additional formal training.
Direct Practice
General medical dermatology, routine biopsies, medical management and many office procedures.
Specialized Practice
Board-certified dermatopathology and Mohs micrographic surgery subspecialty pathways require specific additional training.
Choosing a Path
Shadow general clinic as well as Mohs and dermatopathology. Those are materially different jobs; a fellowship is not a default requirement for the first.
Potential Fellowship Pathways
- Mohs micrographic surgery
- Dermatopathology
- Pediatric dermatology
Preparing in M1 Through M4
General dermatology clinics manage chronic inflammatory disease, skin cancer surveillance, diagnostic uncertainty and patient counseling. Observe a full clinic before choosing a subspecialty.
Research or QI
A coherent dermatology project; skin-of-color access, psoriasis outcomes, biopsy triage, hidradenitis care or dermatopathology; creates a coherent basis for interviews and mentor feedback.
Common Mistake
Doing a brief cosmetic clinic shadow and deciding you know the field. Compare high-volume general clinic, inpatient consults and pathology sign-out before committing.
Preparation by Year
- 1Shadow a general dermatology clinic that manages acne, eczema, psoriasis and skin cancer, then observe an inpatient consult or dermatopathology session to see the diagnostic breadth.
- 2Ask an academic dermatologist which projects can finish within the academic year; choose a prospective QI, review or retrospective project with realistic data access and mentorship.
2027 ERAS Signals: 3 Gold, 25 Silver.
Ask a resident this: How much time do residents spend in general medical dermatology versus cosmetics, consults, procedural dermatology and dermatopathology?
MD vs DO Match Outcomes
424 of 601 matched to their preferred specialty
40 of 85 matched to their preferred specialty
MD vs DO difference: 23.4 percentage points
Applicant Considerations
In the 2024 preferred-specialty cohort, dermatology had one of the largest MD–DO differences and a comparatively small DO sample. That is a reason to inspect program-level training history and access to specialty mentors early, not a conclusion about any individual applicant.
DO Application Strategy
If your school has no dermatology department, build a regional mentor relationship early and ask about opportunities for an evaluated elective, data-based project and substantive letter. Check DO trainee history, licensing-exam policy and prerequisite-year structure for each program.
Job Outlook
+7%
Projected Employment Growth
2025 to 2035, BLS occupational projection
Regional hiring depends on employers, workforce supply and patient demand.
AI and the Specialty
Potential Workflow Changes
Image analysis and documentation may assist triage, lesion review and workflow; diagnostic accountability and context remain clinician-led.
Sources & Data Notes
Reviewed . National attending compensation uses Doximity's 2026 specialty survey (2025 pay) where available, then verified specialty-specific Medscape, Marit or Salary.com estimates. Doximity, Medscape and Marit report total compensation; Salary.com models base salary. Survey averages, modeled salaries and BLS wage medians measure different populations and must not be interpreted as identical metrics. BLS May 2025 state wages are shown separately and exclude self-employed physicians. The ophthalmology BLS category excludes pediatric ophthalmologists. State figures may be missing, top-coded, or suppressed. Job outlook uses BLS 2025–2035 occupational projections; it is not a local vacancy forecast. Resident stipend examples reflect published institutional scales for 2026 to 2027, by postgraduate year, not specialty. Stanford includes housing in its reported base salary; other institutions handle allowances differently.
The Relative Competitiveness Index uses a fixed score of 25 plus 1.75 times the 2024 U.S. MD preferred-specialty unmatched percentage, rounded, then applies the same 1.225 multiplier to every specialty. Neurological Surgery is 98/100; the score is not the applicant's chance of matching. It is not a 2026 estimate or DO-specific score. The MD and DO percentages compare different unadjusted applicant cohorts who ranked that specialty first. They do not account for application strategy, program selection, scores, or geography. Ophthalmology and urology have separate specialty match processes; other pathways may lack suitable NRMP cohorts.
The 1–5 Fellowship Expectation Index is an editorial assessment of customary career paths, not a measured participation rate or requirement. For residency profiles, compact training labels put specialty years before the clinical base or preliminary year; e.g. 3+1 means three specialty years and one clinical base year, even though the clinical year comes first. Fellowship-defined careers are presented in the separate fellowship explorer. Schedules, procedural scope, preparation suggestions, and potential AI effects depend on the program and practice setting; they are qualitative descriptions, not guaranteed outcomes or forecasts of physician replacement.
For Dermatology: Doximity 2026, Average Total Compensation, reported under “Dermatology.” The national estimate must not be treated as a state-specific compensation figure.
Dermatology: Editorial classification based on generalist options and defined dermatology subspecialty tracks. Specialty-specific roadmaps describe illustrative activities, not mandatory publication, shadowing-hour, rotation, or skill requirements. Common fellowship routes: Mohs surgery and dermatopathology commonly add a year.