Need advice about 4th year ADTs/rotations!

[monkeybaronjr]

Since it's about that time to begin scheduling out the rest of my 4th year, I have a few questions that a number of you may be able to answer. Currently, I am scheduled for ortho ADTs at 2 Army MedCens (August/Septmeber) and am planning on scheduling my home institution sub-I during the prior July. Thus, my questions is this: for the month of October, should I schedule an additional 4th year ortho sub-I at a civilian institution that I would love to go to, or try to go to a 3rd MedCen for some face time??

My goal with residency is to get the best training possible and if that happens to be in the military, then so be it. However, with the discussions that constantly consume this board, it appears that better training can usually be obtained in the civilian world. With that said, how many Army ortho deferments are given each year? According to a prior thread with the 2007 Army match results listed, it appears 37 people applied for ortho, with 19 getting military spots and 18 "not matching". How many of those 18 were awarded deferements and how many were forced into another specialty/transitional year??

If there is a slim-to-none chance of me receiving an orthopedic deferment, then I would rather not waste a month doing a civilian sub-I when I could further increase my chances of matching my specialty of choice within the military as opposed to getting forced into something else.

Anyone have any advice, words of wisdom, previous experiences, or anecdotal stories that would pertain to my (and I'm sure many other's) situation???

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[monkeybaronjr]

Anyone??

 

[delicatefade]

Well, I'm still in medical school so take my thoughts for what they are worth. If I were you, I would do the 2 Army ortho rotations and make the 3rd civilian. Doing 2 Army rotations gets you face time, etc and hopefully you can get a good letter or two from one of the attendings at each program. That will look good.

Doing a civilian rotation would either confirm/deny your suspicions about training in military ortho programs. Doing well there will also get you a good letter which I think will also look good to the PD's in the military. I wouldn't imagine there could be all that much difference in doing 2 vs 3 military rotations.

Then again, I haven't done this yet so I could be completely wrong. Hopefully someone who has gone through this already can help you too.

 

[NavyFP]

Anyone??

You have 2 scheduled, that should be adequate. Can't speak to the number of deferments Army offers, but having good evaluations from members of the military community can be of benefit when requesting a deferal. If members of the community feel you have an apptitude for the specialty, you have a better shot.

 

[monkeybaronjr]

Cool deal. Thanks for the input, guys. I appreciate it.

I've heard too military match horror stories within the last week and I guess I just don't want to get screwed with matching into psych or a transitional year. I would much rather do the civilian rotation, but at the same time I would like to cover my @ss for the match.

Any other opinions?

Thanks, all...