MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Yssra S. Soliman, BA Division of Dermatology, Department of Internal Medicine Albert Einstein College of Medicine Bronx, New York MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?  Response: As the population of the United States becomes increasingly diverse, certain fields within medicine have not followed this trend. Dermatology is the least diverse field after orthopedics. We wanted to understand what barriers prevent medical students from applying to dermatology and whether these barriers differed based on students' racial, ethnic or socioeconomic backgrounds. The main findings of this study are that certain groups are more likely to cite specific barriers than non-minority students. These barriers are significant deterrents to applying to dermatology and include the lack of diversity in dermatology, negative perceptions of minority students by residency programs, socioeconomic barriers such as lack of loan forgiveness and poor accessibility to mentors.  (more…)