Dual Applying with Ortho - Anyone with experience?

[IV Zulu VI]

Hi all,

Newly minted MS4 and I plan on applying Ortho, but the ever looming fear of not matching has made me consider the possibility of dual applying to something else. Now, I can't really see myself as happy in another field, but certain other specialties would be better than getting that dreadful email next march saying I didn't match. If anyone has any experience applying to Ortho and another specialty I would love to hear about how it went and if they thought it was worth it.

Thanks in advance.

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[Handinhand]

Can't really advise you on if that's a good choice or not until we have a better idea of your application...

Step 1
Step 2?
Research?
AOA?
3rd year grades?

 

[IV Zulu VI]

Northeast allopathic school, non top 40
Step 1: high 240s
Step 2: Later this month
3rd year: All honors except surgery HP and medicine pending.
Research:
1 national platform presentation for non-Ortho
1 regional poster presentation non-Ortho
1 school research day poster for Ortho
Actively engaged in multiple Ortho projects now, maybe one pub by September.
AOA: Since our school just switched to P/F curriculum I'm not sure how they're going to determine it but possibly?
ECs and Leadership: A decent amount of things to add, a few different leadership roles.

Realistically looking to match mid-tier program in the northeast. There were a decent amount of non matched Ortho applicants at my school this year which is somewhat concerning.

Let me know what you guys think, should I even bother thinking about this or just stay focused on Ortho?



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[Handinhand]

I would try and see if you can find anything out about AOA and how your program decides as AOA can be a big boost for an application -- if you seem like you're actively interested in it with the right people (hint: the administrators who make the decisions) it might help push you into the running over some kid they've never met. Even without AOA though I would not dual-apply, as I think your application is good enough that you'll likely match. Pick your away rotations carefully and be realistic, work your ass off, try hard to get that pub by September (if you can -- I know it's not often up to the med student when it gets done) and I think you'll be in good shape. Come application time, I would apply to 70-100 programs as that seems like the new average now.

The people that I personally know that didn't match either:

-Did not pick their aways carefully
-Did not work hard or were cocky on their rotations
-Did not apply realistically

I know multiple people with your stats, or even worse, that still managed to match this year because they realized what kind of application they had and played the game accordingly.

 

[krispyyo]

I matched ortho at my top choice program in the DO match this year. I was a competitive applicant, but did fewer auditions than most due to family obligations. Because of this, I was a little worried about not matching. With a family, I knew I had to keep the ball rolling and not matching at all would not have been good for us. Therefore, I applied to a backup specialty.

I wanted the backup to be EM, but I learned that EM is too competitive for a backup. To get a SLOE, I would have had to use a valuable ortho audition month to do an EM rotation, which would have negatively affected my ortho chances. It seems that with EM nowadays, you have to go all in for that specialty.

In the end I chose FM as my backup. Aside from writing a second personal statement and getting LORs from third year FM & IM preceptors, it seems to take minimal effort for an ortho applicant to match FM. I knew I could do a FM sports fellowship or work in a rural ED or something, which would not have been a terrible career.

I interviewed at four FM programs, both DO and MD. Further into interview season after ortho interviews as I was getting more confident in matching ortho, I cancelled a lot of FM interviews. Nobody mentioned anything about my ortho intentions (even though my dean's letter mentioned it) during FM interviews. I was heavily courted by these programs, lots of emails, phone calls etc after interview, them letting me know they wanted me in their programs. Ortho programs never knew about it or mentioned it either. If I was asked what I would do if I didn't match ortho, I was planning on just being honest about it, but thankfully nobody asked me.

In the end, I may have wasted time and money on FM interviews. However, given my circumstances being married with kids, I'm happy I did it. It made the whole process less stressful knowing that worst case scenario was matching FM in a nice program and good location. While it would have sucked super hard not matching ortho, I always kept a good attitude and knew that being a FM doc is still much better than most jobs in the world. With that said, I am SO happy and relieved that I matched ortho!!

I know you've got a different situation going through the MD ortho match, but hopefully this helps. Good luck!

 

[IV Zulu VI]

I appreciate the responses, they were very helpful.


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[waitlist22]

I think this largely depends on what you would do if you didn't match ortho. Would you do a prelim year and try to match the next year? Research year? Whole new specialty?

I think with your step one you have a pretty good chance of matching but its hard to say how things are going to go. It is getting increasingly more difficult to match and there is more than just step 1 involved in that. You not only have to have the stats but also the right personality and people skills to match.

That being said, I think there is some value to applying to a few prelim programs in the main match if that is the path you would choose if you didn't match. It is much easier to swallow getting to choose the prelim spot you match to rather than trying to figure it out in SOAP. If you get enough ortho interviews you can cancel the prelim interviews and pretend like you never applied for them. On the other hand if you don't get many ortho interviews it may be advantageous to have your pick of prelim programs in regard to location, flexibility, culture, residents etc. I don't have any experience with this path, it just theoretically seems much better than coming up with a last ditch plan if you get that unfortunate email saying you didn't match ortho.