I never expected someone would fall at my door begging me to come be in their residency program -- I know I have to work at it, and I have, I've rotated and had some amazing experiences. It's made me want ortho even more. But someone needs to let people know the game isn't about board scores anymore. Advisors at my school basically told me my scores, my rec's etc. meant I'd have interviews out my ears -- that just hasn't happened yet -- other than the ones I hope to get from rotations. I'm doing the work - doing the hustle, showing up, working hard, making good impressions and am liked by everyone. So I'm not complaining that I feel I'm coming up short -- it's simply that certain facts were somehow withheld.
At one of the places I rotated, there are people who have done transitional years and are hovering over the open slots. There are also tons of MS4s hovering over the spots -- and by that I mean they've rotated more than once at the place. It kind of seems like there's a rotation frenzy going on and people are circling like sharks over the the few spots. You can't help but catch the air of desperation going on around you.
So maybe that's what's bugging me now is that I've fully caught the strain of desperation running through all the MS4s who want ortho.
Nontheless, at this point, my advice to those coming up behind me is to really think damn hard about what you want. I'd tell them scores are always important, but not as much as face-to-face of rotations. I want ortho like nothing else, but I'd probably tell people behind me to choose something else and run hard and fast away from this mess!