Gen. surg to ortho?

This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

NRAI2001

3K Member
15+ Year Member
20+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 6, 2001
Messages
4,653
Reaction score
65
Can someone do a general surgery residency and then apply to ortho residencies or fellowships? Would they have to do the complete 6 years?

Members don't see this ad.
 
NRAI2001 said:
Can someone do a general surgery residency and then apply to ortho residencies or fellowships? Would they have to do the complete 6 years?

Hmmm. Difficult, but as usual, I'm acquainted with an exception. Orthopod I know in SF did a gen surg internship, had excellent test scores, and then switched by virtue of a year off doing research in ortho.. resulting in 13 publications.

If you make them feel like they can't NOT take you...

-C
 
If you complete gen surg intern year, do you have to do ortho intern year also, or can you start as 2nd year... AND, do you use the same application 4th year med students use to apply to ortho programs, or is there a different system in place?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
you would have to repeat the ortho intern year, or at least part of it, since ortho intership is not the same as a g-surg internship: only about 1/2 their rotations are on general surgery, the remainder includes ortho and related rotations.

you would have to use the same application (ERAS) as 4th-year students, since there is no "system" in place. The exception is when residents leave programs, resulting in open spots -- those you would apply to directly.
 
Could someone do a G surg res. for a year or two and then switch into ortho or plastics (same institution or different institution)?
 
NRAI2001 said:
Could someone do a G surg res. for a year or two and then switch into ortho or plastics (same institution or different institution)?

From what my chairman tells me, the issue in switching residencies is that the government only funds so many years of training. The problem with switching after doing any number of years in any residency is that your funding will run out during your new residency. Thats the explanation I got for why so few surgical specialties will take transfers (except in instances where there is a vacancy because someone dropped out). I hope that makes sense.

As for plastics, there are several ways to get into plastic surg. (This is all second hand info, so correct me if my understanding is incorrect)
The first way is matching directly into a 5-6 year plastics program directly from med school. There are very limited spots for this route (less than 100) from what my friends in plastics tell me.
The second way to get into plastics is to match into it after some surgical training. I believe the requirements are 1 (intership year) + 2 years gen surg. Plastics is either 2 or 3 year program to finish a total of 5-6 years.
A third way to get into plastics is following COMPLETION of Ortho or ENT residency, you are eligible for 2-3 year plastic surg programs. ENT has a final route, in which you can specialize by fellowship for facial plastics (I don't know how long fellowship is).

sscooterguy
 
sscooterguy said:
From what my chairman tells me, the issue in switching residencies is that the government only funds so many years of training. The problem with switching after doing any number of years in any residency is that your funding will run out during your new residency. Thats the explanation I got for why so few surgical specialties will take transfers (except in instances where there is a vacancy because someone dropped out). I hope that makes sense.

As for plastics, there are several ways to get into plastic surg. (This is all second hand info, so correct me if my understanding is incorrect)
The first way is matching directly into a 5-6 year plastics program directly from med school. There are very limited spots for this route (less than 100) from what my friends in plastics tell me.
The second way to get into plastics is to match into it after some surgical training. I believe the requirements are 1 (intership year) + 2 years gen surg. Plastics is either 2 or 3 year program to finish a total of 5-6 years.
A third way to get into plastics is following COMPLETION of Ortho or ENT residency, you are eligible for 2-3 year plastic surg programs. ENT has a final route, in which you can specialize by fellowship for facial plastics (I don't know how long fellowship is).

sscooterguy

Thanks for the reply.

I guess what i was thinking of was the second way that you mentioned. Match into gen surg. and then switch out of it into plastics.

If you complete an entire g surg. residency, how difficult is it to get a plastics fellowship?
 
Top