M4 - Am I crazy if I drop ortho after interviews?

[whatsthepoint]

US MD M4 here, applied ortho and did 5 ortho sub-is and then another rough 2 week ortho rotation. It was grueling, I only really enjoyed 1 or 2 of the 5 sub-is. I hated the hours and got completely burnt out by the end of the 3rd one. I've contemplated switching specialties for over a year but the inertia of ortho has kept me in it. I dreaded most cases in the OR, didn't feel excitement at all about reductions in the ED, and feel like I don't belong even though I got awesome feedback everywhere. The hours were too brutal and I have health issues I have to consider that make me reconsider.

Am I crazy if I withdraw from the ortho match? If I do, I will likely pursue radiology or delay graduation and do an ophtho research year. I worked so hard to get a spot in ortho but I'm not sure if I even want it. I feel so lost :/ thanks all

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[DO2015CA]

you’ll have to do some introspection (although it seems that you have when speaking about health). 1.) if it’s burnout and nerves then I would continue 2.) if it’s truly not what you want then it is 100% ok to drop ortho. No one but yourself can make the decision but we can tell you that it is ok switch. Sometimes it feels like you can’t switch or change paths cause you’ll be a failure but that’s not true at all.

I will say that ophtho will also have grueling hours in residency being a surgery specialty. Granted life is chiller than ortho

 

[mrbreakfast]

All I would say is I'm not sure the likelihood of being able to withdraw from one surgical subspecialty and match a different surgical subspecialty the following year.

I think if you decide you'd rather do another specialty, among several options, over ortho, then go for it. But I'm not sure you can bank on matching ophtho, etc.

I do know multiple people who switched out of surgical subspecialties into non-surgical specialties and are happy.

 

[Hollow Knight]

As far as whether it's OK to drop, of course it is, it's your life.

As far as matching into other competitive specialties.... maybe some attendings who know about those things will chime in. Not sure how that will work.

Also, if you like the pathology in ortho but hate the lifestyle, you could always do FM and then a sportsmed fellowship. Be your local baseball team's doc if you're into that.

 

[Smurfette]

If you are burnt out doing sub-i's, you are likely to burn out in ortho residency as every month is more or less a version of a sub-i, but with more responsibility. It's not like a non-surgical specialty where there are a fair number of outpatient elective months to break up the hospital based rotations. Some rotations are harder than others, you may get an occasional "light" rotation, but it is a 5 year grind.

I agree with the FM--> sports med option if you like dealing with MSK issues without having to operate.

Ophtho is very much a lifestyle surgical specialty and very different even though it's surgical. Not many emergencies to bring you in at night, and virtually no inpatient work once you get past intern year rotations. If you are competitive for ortho, you are likely competitive for ophtho as well. Question is whether you have had enough exposure to it to know it's for you--a year of research is different from day-to-day ophtho life.

 

[anxious_premed44]

Bro, come to the dark side and do anesthesia

 

[operaman]

Not crazy at all, and actually quite lucky to figure it out before residency. Plenty of people switch in M4 and even intern year. If you’re competitive for Ortho, pretty much every option should be open to you with a little time and planning. What you pick will determine whether you match this year versus next.

Either way, see if you can adjust your schedule for some rotations in prospective fields now so you can figure out what you want to do. Rads and anesthesia are probably the most common non surgical fields I see subspecialty applicants switch to. They seem to have many of the perks of surg without many of the drawbacks.

 

[aldol16]

I will say that ophtho will also have grueling hours in residency being a surgery specialty. Granted life is chiller than ortho

In my experience, more of a softer surgical specialty with hours not being particularly grueling. At least not more grueling than residency in general.

 

[aldol16]

Not crazy at all, and actually quite lucky to figure it out before residency. Plenty of people switch in M4 and even intern year. If you’re competitive for Ortho, pretty much every option should be open to you with a little time and planning. What you pick will determine whether you match this year versus next.

Not true that any option will be open. Ophthalmology is very competitive and they will unlikely be able to just go match in another competitive surgical specialty without having had research, mentors, etc. in the field which take time to develop. It would be hard to switch from ortho to ENT for example, unless they have already done ENT research and have some mentors in ENT.

 

[operaman]

Not true that any option will be open. Ophthalmology is very competitive and they will unlikely be able to just go match in another competitive surgical specialty without having had research, mentors, etc. in the field which take time to develop. It would be hard to switch from ortho to ENT for example, unless they have already done ENT research and have some mentors in ENT.

Oh yeah the other subs would need a year for getting letters and research but should still be within reach for a truly competitive Ortho applicant.

 

[whatsthepoint]

Not true that any option will be open. Ophthalmology is very competitive and they will unlikely be able to just go match in another competitive surgical specialty without having had research, mentors, etc. in the field which take time to develop. It would be hard to switch from ortho to ENT for example, unless they have already done ENT research and have some mentors in ENT.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I do have an ophthalmology research year likely available if I want it but I'm not sure if it's worth delaying another entire year in this already super long process.

 

[collegestud2013]

US MD M4 here, applied ortho and did 5 ortho sub-is and then another rough 2 week ortho rotation. It was grueling, I only really enjoyed 1 or 2 of the 5 sub-is. I hated the hours and got completely burnt out by the end of the 3rd one. I've contemplated switching specialties for over a year but the inertia of ortho has kept me in it. I dreaded most cases in the OR, didn't feel excitement at all about reductions in the ED, and feel like I don't belong even though I got awesome feedback everywhere. The hours were too brutal and I have health issues I have to consider that make me reconsider.

Am I crazy if I withdraw from the ortho match? If I do, I will likely pursue radiology or delay graduation and do an ophtho research year. I worked so hard to get a spot in ortho but I'm not sure if I even want it. I feel so lost :/ thanks all

If you're already burning out from ortho rotations as a medical student, it's only going to get harder in residency. And even as an attending when you have volumes to meet and much higher liability. Even the high pay in ortho won't be able to make up for it if you're dreading most cases in the OR already.

Ophthalmology is still competitive. Even your grades and Step 2 score are competitive for ortho, you would need to do a research year to get enough pubs to make your app competitive. It also on average pays a lot loss than ortho nowadays (with significant declines in insurance reimbursement for most ophtho procedures).

Radiology has historically not required nearly as much research as the ortho or ophtho but it has been very competitive the last 2 years with match rates in the low-80s% even for USMDs (which are similar match rate percentages to the surgical subspecialities and dermatology) but would still need to show some interest.

 

[ProReduction]

US MD M4 here, applied ortho and did 5 ortho sub-is and then another rough 2 week ortho rotation. It was grueling, I only really enjoyed 1 or 2 of the 5 sub-is. I hated the hours and got completely burnt out by the end of the 3rd one. I've contemplated switching specialties for over a year but the inertia of ortho has kept me in it. I dreaded most cases in the OR, didn't feel excitement at all about reductions in the ED, and feel like I don't belong even though I got awesome feedback everywhere. The hours were too brutal and I have health issues I have to consider that make me reconsider.

Am I crazy if I withdraw from the ortho match? If I do, I will likely pursue radiology or delay graduation and do an ophtho research year. I worked so hard to get a spot in ortho but I'm not sure if I even want it. I feel so lost :/ thanks all

It sounds like you are right for Ortho but Ortho is not right for you and you already know it. Your eyes are clear and your future is bright. Definitely leave it in the rear view. No amount of money will make a job you do not enjoy worth doing. Your future self in 2040 will thank you as it being the best decision you ever made.