Thread: hard to get into Orthopaedic Surgery residency?

I was wondering how hard it is to place into Orthopaedic Surgery or is it not feasible?

also. during clerkships in the US, do students usually have lot of free time?

Originally Posted by uwrtank

I was wondering how hard it is to place into Orthopaedic Surgery or is it not feasible?

also. during clerkships in the US, do students usually have lot of free time?

Looks like 2 reported already for 2007. http://www.valuemd.com/st-georges-un...results-3.html.

Quote:
I was asked to post my Match results, but seems futuredoc already beat me to posting my own results.

Prelim Medicine: Mt Sinai SOM - Elmhurst
Adv Anesthesia: George Washington University

Other Anesthesias:
1 Drexel Univ (C)
1 UT Houston (C)
1 St. Josephs - NJ (C)

Also:
1 Plastics (C)
2 Orthopods (C)
1 Medicine (C) - Mt. Sinai SOM - Elmhurst

Originally Posted by uwrtank

I was wondering how hard it is to place into Orthopaedic Surgery or is it not feasible?

also. during clerkships in the US, do students usually have lot of free time?

I have been questioning the same thing uw. From what it looks like, it is VERY feasible. Someone on the previous thread posted that the guy who matched at Albany had a 220ish step one and an ok GPA, BUT showed a great committment and passion during his rotations.

Percentange wise, it will be tough getting into Ortho, but if you know you want it right from the beginning, it is definitely possible.

Also, could someone weigh in...if you want Ortho and do not match into it, can you match into General Surgery as a prelim and move into Ortho in year 2?

Originally Posted by meeza

I have been questioning the same thing uw. From what it looks like, it is VERY feasible. Someone on the previous thread posted that the guy who matched at Albany had a 220ish step one and an ok GPA, BUT showed a great committment and passion during his rotations.

Percentange wise, it will be tough getting into Ortho, but if you know you want it right from the beginning, it is definitely possible.

Also, could someone weigh in...if you want Ortho and do not match into it, can you match into General Surgery as a prelim and move into Ortho in year 2?

it is extremely tough to get ortho, derm, optho, plastics. it is tough to get ER and rads and teh rest of them i woulc classify as feasable. the 220 ortho match is a fluke and if you read the thread he worked extremely hard to get it so is it doable? yes, is it likely...just have a back up plan.

ortho needs to be done from the start you can't dop gen surg then change to a pgy2 spot. what you can do is do a pre-lim surgical year which is extrememly easy to get into and work your tail off, publish, etc then apply to ortho as a pgy1 the following year

Originally Posted by AUCMD2006

it is extremely tough to get ortho, derm, optho, plastics. it is tough to get ER and rads and teh rest of them i woulc classify as feasable. the 220 ortho match is a fluke and if you read the thread he worked extremely hard to get it so is it doable? yes, is it likely...just have a back up plan.

ortho needs to be done from the start you can't dop gen surg then change to a pgy2 spot. what you can do is do a pre-lim surgical year which is extrememly easy to get into and work your tail off, publish, etc then apply to ortho as a pgy1 the following year

Ah, thanks for the clarification.

Sorry about saying "very," I meant to use it as a means to say it's not impossible. So yes, it is extremely difficult to get, but possible.

FYI, if I do end up at SGU--I will be shooting for Ortho, but would not mind going the General Surgery route, and if not that, theres always good ole IM


OP--if you want to Ortho...I am sure you have dwelled over DO or SGUMD, but places like PCOM place a lot of people into Ortho residencies (osteopathic ones at least).

from what i know, yes it is possible, but NOT VERY FEASIBLE. the 220 is probably on the very low end of the ortho. but if you want it that bad, you just hve to work your end off that bad to get it. dont think the 220 is your ticket to get in as an IMG, think more like 250 maybe

Originally Posted by uwrtank

I was wondering how hard it is to place into Orthopaedic Surgery or is it not feasible? Also during clerkships in the US, do students usually have lot of free time?

Even from a US school - getting orthopedic surgery is difficult. Any of the top competitive residencies are. Generally, what you want to have is very good board scores and very good grades, then pull some honors in clinicals.

About free time - Different rotations have different hours. Some are like 9-5 others are like 12 -14 hours. Several stories I have heard - one person who hated ob/gyn - the attending had him do the minimal hours and doing paper work, while another student really into ob/gyn was still working the next day after her rotation ended in delivery. So a lot depends on your attitude, willingness to work. If you are going to be a sleepy eyed lounge lizard then don't expect "exceeds expectation" LOR's. If ya bust it and prep and pimp each day for the clinical and work those calls (yea you will not have free time but you will possible earn those LOR's honors and get to know some attending and PD's that may help you come match time.

Originally Posted by jaywalk81

from what i know, yes it is possible, but NOT VERY FEASIBLE. the 220 is probably on the very low end of the ortho. but if you want it that bad, you just have to work your end off that bad to get it. dont think the 220 is your ticket to get in as an IMG, think more like 250 maybe

I agree this sounds like a fluke - it would not be a good example other than the person hard work impressed some one. Also one has to consider Albany, NY - Mayor Koch once called upstate (ie Albany, NY) hicks - ville - not to be confused with the Long Island Hicksville. I am not sure how cutting edge it is. Not like Duke's ortho department that invents new procedures yearly. A Duke grad did my ACL replacement - I was walking in less than a week (new procedure back in 2002).

Have worked two winters up there, you have interesting mix there of people. I think it was a pretty nice place. I was in a car wreck and saw one of the othro's there he was really very good with a shoulder issue I had! So this person who got the position there is one lucky dude.

Originally Posted by meeza

I have been questioning the same thing uw. From what it looks like, it is VERY feasible. Someone on the previous thread posted that the guy who matched at Albany had a 220ish step one and an ok GPA, BUT showed a great committment and passion during his rotations.

Percentange wise, it will be tough getting into Ortho, but if you know you want it right from the beginning, it is definitely possible.

Also, could someone weigh in...if you want Ortho and do not match into it, can you match into General Surgery as a prelim and move into Ortho in year 2?

i wouldn't say VERY fesible - these are the 1st ortho matches in something like 5 years and that class is uber smart- i am not surprised at all that they are making great matches.

i have a classmate that is thinking about ortho as well and many, many attendings, residents, and a PD told her to transfer if she wanted to get ortho- very difficult as an IMG.

no - ortho is a straight match. That's not to say if you a prelim surg year and a PGY 2 ortho spot opens you may be qualified, but those spots don't open that often.

Originally Posted by meeza

FYI, if I do end up at SGU--I will be shooting for Ortho, but would not mind going the General Surgery route, and if not that, theres always good ole IM .

if you are not in yet- you should try what you can to get into a US school or consider the DO route yourself- again its much more the exception than the rule- and while i think most people change their minds when they finally do clinicals- if you have your heart set on ortho, you may be disappointed.