ortho-hand surgery - plastic

[orthohand]

I completed my orthopaedic residency outside USA and starting a hand surgery fellowship in US from aug.
i want to practice as a hand surgeon .
i want to do a 3 year gen surg residency and then do plastic fellowship
can some body help me as how to get 3 year gen surg position , are there programme which specifically take you for 3 years or you match for a 5 year programme and walk out after 3 years.
and can i practice as a hand surgeon after gen surg residency , because i will already have a accredited hand surgery fellowship done

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[Winged Scapula]

I completed my orthopaedic residency outside USA and starting a hand surgery fellowship in US from aug.
i want to practice as a hand surgeon .
i want to do a 3 year gen surg residency and then do plastic fellowship
can some body help me as how to get 3 year gen surg position , are there programme which specifically take you for 3 years or you match for a 5 year programme and walk out after 3 years.
and can i practice as a hand surgeon after gen surg residency , because i will already have a accredited hand surgery fellowship done

There are no General Surgery programs that I know of that will take Categorical candidates for only 3 years. When you match into the program as a Categorical resident it is assumed you will be staying the full 5+ years. If you wish to match into another field, it would behoove you to be upfront with your PD as you will surely need an LOR from him/her to match into PRS.

In addition, the match rate for General Surgery residents applying to PRS programs with only 3 years training (as opposed to those who have done the full 5+) is rather dismal. Your case is different in that you have completed ortho training elsewhere and you *may* find that you are more desirable in the match than residents with only 3 years training.

I don't imagine there should be any difficulty practicing as a hand surgeon in the US if you have completed the appropriate residency training and hand fellowship. However, if you want to be a Hand Surgeon why complete a full PRS training program if you're already Ortho and hand trained? Why not either finish General Surgery (that would be at least 1-2 years shorter in time) or do an Ortho residency here in the US (which would still take 5 years but presumably the learning curve would be fairly easy for you)?

 

[orthohand]

Thank you Dr Cox for the reply
The problem is of all the options i have which is the easiest of all
i saw some programme listing where they have 3 year designated prelimns
but looks like that is taking a lot of risk , with the match rate
when i can seriously try for 5 categorical position and just go into practice
MY only worry is in Gen Surgery programme , how much can get rotations in Hand and Plastics
will i be able to keep up my skills .

My first choices will always be Ortho ,but the match rate for FMG are 1.3 %