Ortho Program Requirements?

[emlopez2]

Hello. I was just curious as to what is required to get into an ortho program. I was checking one out and it showed only 4 spots in their PGY 1 year and 16 spots in their PGYII - V years. This really didnt make much sense to me. Is there usually some kind of internship or transitional year that you have to apply to if you dont match in one of the PGY1 spots.

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[TxMed]

Hello. I was just curious as to what is required to get into an ortho program. I was checking one out and it showed only 4 spots in their PGY 1 year and 16 spots in their PGYII - V years. This really didnt make much sense to me. Is there usually some kind of internship or transitional year that you have to apply to if you dont match in one of the PGY1 spots.

5-1=4
4x4=16

most people that do not match do a prelim year or a year of research.


-tm

 

[PediBoneDoc]

if you don't match ortho, there are several things you can do
1. prelim surgery year
2. research year
3. other

something i don't think many people know is that when you do a prelim year, it goes against one of you categorical years ... meaning that if a program takes you into the R-1 year they may have to pay (the department) for your last year .... if you do a prelim position, it does set you up for an R-2 position should one open ... R-2 positions are much fewe

the research year is another option, it should be done at a place where you have an opportunity of matching ....

the other ... there are some positions that are outside the match ... kind of audition positions ... those you have to search for ...

the number of positions in the R-1 year that don't fill, usually fill by the match day ... so that number is not important ...\

the number in the R2-R5 years is a number that comes from people who drop out for whatever reason ...

so there you have it .... and that's all i have to say about that

 

[emlopez2]

Thanks for the replies. Very well explained.

 

[PediBoneDoc]

no problem .... glad to help

 

[junebuguf]

I'm a little confused about the first year of ortho residency. If I match into an ortho program, can I choose to do the PGY1 year elsewhere, if, for instance, my wife was still completing the last year of her internal medicine residency somewhere else? Thanks.

 

[sscooterguy]

No you cannot. Ortho used to have a prelim type first year way back in the day. Now all ortho programs require you do the internship year at the program you matched, as you will be mixed into the surg intern pool as well as do Ortho rotations.

EDIT
There are some random exceptions every now and then though. I've heard of someone doing a prelim and then sliding into a pgy-2 spot that opened up for some reason. However, aside from these isolated cases, I think the ortho internship has to be at the institution that your ortho program is at.

 

[G.O.A.T.]

if you don't match ortho, there are several things you can do
1. prelim surgery year
2. research year
3. other

something i don't think many people know is that when you do a prelim year, it goes against one of you categorical years ... meaning that if a program takes you into the R-1 year they may have to pay (the department) for your last year .... if you do a prelim position, it does set you up for an R-2 position should one open ... R-2 positions are much fewer

hey pedi,

i was just looking for some clarification on this. i know that if you match into one categorical program (say fp) and switch to another (say ortho) you are only funded for the length of the initial program to which you matched (in this case 3 yrs, so the last 2 years of ortho would be unfunded). but how sure are you about a prelim year counting against a year of funding? since a prelim isn't categorical i didn't think it would count against your funding.......but that may be wishful thinking on my part. i really have no clue how it works, so i was just wondering how sure you are of this. thanks for your help.

 

[TxMed]

hey pedi,

i was just looking for some clarification on this. i know that if you match into one categorical program (say fp) and switch to another (say ortho) you are only funded for the length of the initial program to which you matched (in this case 3 yrs, so the last 2 years of ortho would be unfunded). but how sure are you about a prelim year counting against a year of funding? since a prelim isn't categorical i didn't think it would count against your funding.......but that may be wishful thinking on my part. i really have no clue how it works, so i was just wondering how sure you are of this. thanks for your help.

a prelim year will definitely count against your funding. it will not be a problem if you can get a pgy2 position, but if you have to enter as an intern the program will be on the hook for one year of your salary+educational costs.

-tm

 

[PediBoneDoc]

unfortunately, the prelim year counts as a PGY-1 year and thus the beginning of your training. yes, it count towards the 5 ortho years.

another one of the big problems with the prelim year is that if you don't have all of the requirments of the ortho internship, many programs will not take you into a PGY2 spot because you don't have the prereqs.