back up plans for ortho residency

[drvegas]

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with the change in the traditional internships and the linked internships, what would be the best move for a back up plan if I don't match with ortho-

1. apply to a general surgery residency- in reality, are you really able to transfer later to an ortho program?
2. apply to a traditional rotating intership and then apply next year to ortho
3. scramble in feb. and take anything available
4. take a year off for research, then reapply
5. something else I haven't thought of

Is the financial problem only related to transferring from one linked residency to another or does it apply to the traditional intership as well?

 

[Oasis105112]

Many Orthoa wannabes ended up in PMnR as a backup plan

 

[InductionAgent]

It all depends how badly you want to do Ortho. If you can see yourself happily doing Gen Surg, that's one thing. I wouldn't apply to any residency programs you're not actually planning to complete. Transitional year or (if available in the AOA match) preliminary surg/med years would be better. It creates less bad blood from the program you are leaving, and makes you appear more honest to the program you're applying to.

Also consider that in the case of Gen Surg, if you match to a program and then leave, you denied someone genuinely interested in Gen Surg that spot the first time around.