Dermatologists
Diagnose and treat diseases relating to the skin, hair, and nails. May perform both medical and dermatological surgery functions.
Most important skills
- Critical Thinking
- Active Listening
- Service Orientation
- Reading Comprehension
- Speaking
- Social Perceptiveness
- Active Learning
- Judgment and Decision Making
Key knowledge
- Medicine and Dentistry
- Customer and Personal Service
- English Language
- Administration and Management
- Education and Training
- Biology
- Personnel and Human Resources
- Psychology
What the work involves
- Refer patients to other specialists, as needed.
- Record patients' health histories.
- Provide dermatologic consultation to other health professionals.
- Read current literature, talk with colleagues, and participate in professional organizations or conferences to keep abreast of developments in dermatology.
- Instruct interns or residents in diagnosis and treatment of dermatological diseases.
- Conduct or order diagnostic tests such as chest radiographs (x-rays), microbiologic tests, or endocrinologic tests.
- Recommend diagnostic tests based on patients' histories and physical examination findings.
- Provide therapies such as intralesional steroids, chemical peels, or comodo removal to treat age spots, sun damage, rough skin, discolored skin, or oily skin.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Investigative, Realistic, Social.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- Doctoral Degree (56.4% of respondents)
- Related experience
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (44.9%)
- On-the-job training
- Anything beyond short demonstration, up to and including 1 month (25.1%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 5: Job Zone Five: Extensive Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Dermatologists is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 91% of occupations compared | 88% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | Very high | Higher on dealing with the public than 97% of occupations compared | 82% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 71% of occupations compared | 66% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 99% of occupations compared | 99% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Moderate | Lower on time pressure than 54% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 54% of occupations compared | 50% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Very high | Higher on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 82% of occupations compared | 58% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a month or more but not every week” |
| Consequence of error | Very high | Higher on consequence of error than 93% of occupations compared | 65% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: moderate
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: very high
- Consequence of error: very high
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 0%
- Contact with others most of the time: 11.88%
- Constant contact with others: 88.12%
n = 25, Incumbent 08/2021
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 1.14%
- Important: 0.93%
- Very important: 16.14%
- Extremely important: 81.8%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2021
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 7.45%
- Important: 0.95%
- Very important: 25.37%
- Extremely important: 66.23%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2021
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 0%
- Some freedom: 0.95%
- A lot of freedom: 99.05%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2021
Time pressure
- Never: 2.78%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 16.3%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 19.66%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 19.87%
- Every day: 41.39%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2021
Conflict situations
- Never: 8.56%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 21.42%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 49.54%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 13.09%
- Every day: 7.4%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2021
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 2.57%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 57.92%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 27.13%
- Every day: 12.38%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2021
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 2.9%
- Fairly serious: 7.61%
- Serious: 22.27%
- Very serious: 1.89%
- Extremely serious: 65.33%
n = 26, Incumbent 08/2021
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O*NET-SOC 29-1213.00 · SOC 29-1213 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8