Short answer is yes.
Hard to say. The last thing programs want is someone who doesn't want to be there and there are equivalently strong IM applicants out there for the top programs who actually like IM. Be aware that matching into cards is not guaranteed from any program, and cards is a long pathway- requires a lot outside of work (networking, research) outside of a very tough residency, and fellowship is super tough/stress level of surgery. Would make sure you like general IM too as things change- maybe you decide you don't want to do 6-8 years of training after med school.
Hard to say if you would be kept out of a top program for sure, as it can be a crapshoot at top programs (which get a lot more qualified applicants than spots). Though assuming you do well on Step 2 you should still be able to match into a mid-tier academic program even dual applying the way you have described. Just make sure the program has an in-house cardiology fellowship (which nearly all major academic IM programs usually do). Cardiology is one of the more competitive fellowships in IM to get into, but graduating from a mid-tier IM program as a USMD won't be main factor holding you back, as long as the program has an in-house cardiology fellowship. The rest will depend largely on how well you do in residency (eg rec letter from program director, research, networking, Step 3 scores).
Generally, and as long as the program has an in-house fellowship to fall on (though wouldn't count on an a fellowship taking an in-house resident 100% of the time, especially on the competitive specialties). Will need some research as well but as a USMD don't need a crazy number of publications either that you see with some FMG applicants.
Perhaps I’m behind the times, but is it common at this point for otherwise seemingly strong candidates to do a research year just to match ortho? I’m inclined to agree with posters above…just get in the match and go to residency…trust me, the whole training process is already long and miserable enough without adding in random extra years of “research”. You will get to the point where you just want to be done with all of it.
Sounds reasonable for research year. Unless your med school already gives you enough time dedicated research time built into its standard 4-year curriculum, most applicants will need that time to get the typical number of pubs/abstracts/posters that are needed to match ortho (or any of the other super competitive specialties that require a lot of research). Would still have a back up plan in this situation since matching ortho is uncertain. One option that many applicants do is to also dual apply to gen surgery if they're still interested in a surgical field. Or, I've also seen unmatched ortho applicants SOAP into a gen surgery prelim spot and re-apply the following year.
Would agree if OP were single applying, but the problem is he/she is planning on dual applying to ortho and IM. And dual applying usually hurts your chances of matching into the best program of your "back-up" specialty compared to just single applying to that specialty.
