Am I competitive for ortho?

[Hurricane95]

5'10", 160 lbs, 200 lb bench press (I haven't worked out in 8 weeks though, I was at 215 before)...should I scratch ortho off my list? Or do you think I will be in good standing if I start up creatine again and working out 6 days a week for the next 14 months or so before I send residency applications (maybe a little hormonal help here and there)?


kidding, kidding


No seriously, a legitimate question - I know very little about ortho residency and what makes a good candidate because I only recently tagged it onto my list for real after tagging along with a few ortho guys during my trauma rotation and having a blast. I used to swear about going into IM and then doing cardio or GI, and while I still find these fields interesting, I feel every now and then that I could not take doing internal medicine residency without putting a bullet into my hard palate (figuratively speaking) before doing the only 2 fellowships that really interest me in IM, assuming of course I even get a fellowship. I realize that the things on the top of my list all involve procedures and hands on work, because the thought of doing a field where the only procedure I do is writing scripts and involves writing orders and sitting at a round table discussing someone's glucose control makes me want to projectile vomit. I have an interest in cardio and GI for the procedure-based management of these diseases (more of a consult based service), but abhor the thought of doing general medicine first before going into the fellowships. My top choices are:

Interventional/diagnostic cardiology
GI
anesthesia
something surgical, but probably not general

I did biomedical engineering for undergrad and was really fascinated by biomechanics of the body, prosthetics and joint replacements, biomaterials, etc. I also tagged along as an undergrad and shadowed several orthopedic surgeries but of course back then most of it went over my head. I'll explore this further of course, still being in my second rotation of third year, but I like to know what I'm shooting for in terms of expected qualities in a candidate.

Grades for 1st 2 years = average (right in the middle of the class), but
Step 1 is above average for orthopedics
So far honored my surgery rotation, and going in that direction for medicine as well (not that medicine matters for ortho, but keeping in the theme of rocking 3rd year grades)

Is orthopedics big on research? Should I try to get involved in that during my 4th year elective time? I know other competitive specialties are big on research but have no clue about ortho. Should I try to do my surgery sub-i next year in ortho (I have to check if that even exists at my school, don't know).

Aside from doing well in third year and maybe doing step 2 early and rocking that one too to snuff out my grades for years 1-2, what else do students going into ortho typically do to be competitive?

I'd appreciate it if anyone can help me with these Q's!!

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[dragonfly99]

I'm not an ortho, but I can tell you than 1st and 2nd year grades make little difference in residency selection, unless you flunked a bunch of classes or got written up for bitching at a professor, etc. (or maybe if you want to do dermatology at Mass General or something).

Honoring the 3rd year surgery clerkship, having decent (hopefully high like 230+ if possible) step scores and having recommendation letters from orthopedic surgeons and other surgeons should get you in. Honoring IM wouldn't hurt since it's an important clerkship. I think it helps somewhat to be male in ortho as well...still can get in as a woman but they have somewhat more of an uphill battle. I can't answer the research question, but get the impression it isn't all that critical...you can always plan to try and do a 2 month research block during your 4th year or something. Going to a fairly well known medical school would be helpful, but not critical.

 

[dpmd]

Just keep in mind that you can do all those things and still not get in. It can be a real crap shoot. It is such a competetive field. You never know what might catch the eye of the person who decided. Research is good if you can intelligently discuss it at the interview. If you have none it might come up, but probably won't be an automatic disqualifier. Doing ortho rotations will be important esp for letters. Part of the the game is who you know, so if you can get to know some big names in the field (and they are willing to speak on your behalf) that can be helpful. Apply widely to help your chances (10 or 20 is not going to cut it for most people, most of the people I talked to were doing upwards of 50 programs)

 

[ddmo]

If you were a chick and looked like your avatar, you would definitely be competitive.