Didn't get the M3 elective I wanted

[GonefromTX]

So I found out that I didn't get the M3 ortho elective I wanted. Just wanted yalls opinion as to which available elective I should pick if I am dead-set in aiming to get into an ortho residency. The remaining available electives are: Plastic Surgery, Pathology, PM&R, Derm, Internal medicine and Neurosurgery.

Also, what are my chances of being able to do a home ortho rotation in M4, before it is too late to submit letters of recommendation? Is it common to miss out on a home rotation? What if all the orthopods at my school were fully booked in July of 2018?

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[username456789]

So I found out today that I didn't get the M3 ortho elective I wanted. Just wanted yalls opinion as to which available elective I should pick if I am dead-set in aiming to get into an ortho residency. The remaining available electives are: Plastic Surgery, Pathology, PM&R, Derm, Internal medicine and Neurosurgery.

Also, what are my chances of being able to do a home ortho rotation in M4, before it is too late to submit letters of recommendation? Is it common to miss out on a home rotation? What if all the orthopods at my school were fully booked in July of 2018?

As I said in your other thread, most schools don't even have electives M3, and doing a home ortho rotation followed by away rotations during M4 is par for the course. You won't be too late.

 

[GonefromTX]

As I said in your other thread, most schools don't even have electives M3, and doing a home ortho rotation followed by away rotations during M4 is par for the course. You won't be too late.

I know, it's a different question. 1) what elective should I pick now? 2) Am I probably going to get to do the home rotation in M4? Thanks!

 

[username456789]

I know, it's a different question. 1) what elective should I pick now? 2) Am I probably going to get to do the home rotation in M4? Thanks!

1. Plastics
2. None of us have any way of knowing this

 

[pacman2018]

As above, I would pick plastics. You should not have an issue doing a home rotation... it's kind of assumed that you should get that. If they take away rotators and you don't get a rotation, your school is ****ing you over. You'll be able to get letters from home and aways M4 year. You should even be able to get letters after you submit and just upload them later. I think most ortho places don't even start looking at applications until October from what I'm told.

 

[GonefromTX]

As above, I would pick plastics. You should not have an issue doing a home rotation... it's kind of assumed that you should get that. If they take away rotators and you don't get a rotation, your school is ****ing you over. You'll be able to get letters from home and aways M4 year. You should even be able to get letters after you submit and just upload them later. I think most ortho places don't even start looking at applications until October from what I'm told.

Thank you, that is very reassuring!

 

[LilKangaroo]

I would go for neurosurgery. There us some overlap (spine surgery) between the two specialties, not as much with plastics.

You should be able to rotate at your home institution in M4. Worst case scenario is that you'd have to do it in August.

 

[Lexicon0]

I would go for neurosurgery. There us some overlap (spine surgery) between the two specialties, not as much with plastics.

You should be able to rotate at your home institution in M4. Worst case scenario is that you'd have to do it in August.

Actually there's some overlap in terms of hand/extremity surgery and trauma with plastics and ortho. Also you're guaranteed to get solid experience suturing in plastics.

 

[Redpancreas]

Others gave better advice.

 

[Doctor-S]

Plastics.

Suturing skills are useful in surgery, plus ortho and plastics work together in connection with individualized treatment plans (e.g., complications secondary to trauma, reconstruction, limb salvage surgery, elbow, wrist and hand surgery, bone and skin grafts, etc.).

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

Do PM&R. Both plastics and PM&R have a strong relationship with Ortho. However, in ortho residency you will rotate on gensurg and possibly plastics as an intern, and will be familiar with things like skin grafts and basic stuff as you go along. Other than flaps, almost everything on plastics will not be useful to you later on. Rehab, on the other hand, is everything that happens to our patients before they get to us, or after we are done with them. It is the field closest to us, musculoskeletal-wise, and their approach will give you a head start in being comfortable with msk exams, pathologies, etc. After medical school, you will never see it again.

 

[Bancrofti]

I'm going to give a different perspective here and say you should rotate on whatever you want that you enjoy. Your home rotation in ortho during 4th year will come before your aways and that should prep you well for rotations after that. Enjoy the time you have in med school. If you always wanted to do a gyn rotation and do Pap Smears all day or if you wanted to travel, I feel like that would be a better use of your time and leave you less stressed going into your Ortho rotations. Also, doing something different than what 75%+ of all the other applicants are doing will be valuable when it comes time for interviews.

 

[OrthoTraumaMD]

I'm going to give a different perspective here and say you should rotate on whatever you want that you enjoy. Your home rotation in ortho during 4th year will come before your aways and that should prep you well for rotations after that. Enjoy the time you have in med school. If you always wanted to do a gyn rotation and do Pap Smears all day or if you wanted to travel, I feel like that would be a better use of your time and leave you less stressed going into your Ortho rotations. Also, doing something different than what 75%+ of all the other applicants are doing will be valuable when it comes time for interviews.

@Bancrofti
While I agree, I don't know too many med student future orthopods who did a PM&R rotation... So he will stand out. It sounds like he wanted to do a rotation that is somehow relevant to make himself feel a bit more prepared. Nothing wrong with that. If he wanted to do Pap smears all day, I'd be worried about his future as an orthopod, lol.
That said...you're not wrong. Just a different way of looking at it. Sometimes I wish i had done some crazy left field rotation. Maybe in Hawaii.

 

[Cskidd359]

Plastics. Alot of hands on practice and overlap with hand surg

 

[Bancrofti]

@Bancrofti
While I agree, I don't know too many med student future orthopods who did a PM&R rotation... So he will stand out. It sounds like he wanted to do a rotation that is somehow relevant to make himself feel a bit more prepared. Nothing wrong with that. If he wanted to do Pap smears all day, I'd be worried about his future as an orthopod, lol.
That said...you're not wrong. Just a different way of looking at it. Sometimes I wish i had done some crazy left field rotation. Maybe in Hawaii.

I actually didn't even think of your rec & didn't read the OP in its entirety to see that there was a list of options. I think what you suggested is what I'd go with as well. Just saw a lot of people saying plastics and I'm like .

It seems weird you're limited to only 6 choices OP? Maybe you listed the 6 you thought would be peripherally related to Ortho?

 

[GonefromTX]

I actually didn't even think of your rec & didn't read the OP in its entirety to see that there was a list of options. I think what you suggested is what I'd go with as well. Just saw a lot of people saying plastics and I'm like .

It seems weird you're limited to only 6 choices OP? Maybe you listed the 6 you thought would be peripherally related to Ortho?

No they are the only 6 that are available to me.

 

[evilbooyaa]

I'd recommend PM&R above Plastics, as it's something that you'll never be directly exposed to, and it would be beneficial to have a (very) cursory standing of what rehab physicians (like the ortho attending said, where all your patients go to) actually do (and more importantly, what they can't or don't do).

Plastics you'll certainly do as a future Ortho intern.

 

[ortnakas]

I know, it's a different question. 1) what elective should I pick now? 2) Am I probably going to get to do the home rotation in M4? Thanks!

1) whatever you want. PM&R might give you interesting insight into past/future ortho patients. Plastics would get you some more OR time.

2) there is no way to predict this.

 

[Chillbo Baggins]

While I agree, I don't know too many med student future orthopods who did a PM&R rotation... So he will stand out. It sounds like he wanted to do a rotation that is somehow relevant to make himself feel a bit more prepared. Nothing wrong with that.

That's somewhat surprising to me! I put down for a PM&R elective for 4th year because it seemed like an obvious rotation to have ortho-related exposure. Second choice would have been radiology,