Matched in Ortho…ask away

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FischerCat

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Recently matched in ortho, served on admissions to med school and oh yea…took me 3 applications to get in. ask away.
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do you even lift?
 
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FischerCat said:
Recently matched in ortho, served on admissions to med school and oh yea…took me 3 applications to get in. ask away.
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What were your stats when u got into medical school. What changed third time around?
 
lift tonz

studied efficiently but lived pretty balanced, didn't go crazy studying details but learned big pictures

ok

when i finaly got in my mcat was 33 (3rd try overall) ugrad gpa was 3.1 i think so did a postgrad program
 
Bench, squat and deadlift stats? How much can you incline and how many of your peers consider you to be a jock if male or if female, the most alpha of the bunch?
 
interesting. thought i could be helpful here.

all of my peers consider me a jock. jealous?
 
FischerCat said:
interesting. thought i could be helpful here.

all of my peers consider me a jock. jealous?
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Nope. Look at all the other "Matched into ortho/derm" and "Derm/ortho resident here ask anything." The very same lifting and turtle questions have been asked there. It's probably just because we've had a few of these recently.
 
too lazy to look through this website for other threads. i guess sorry for redundancy. good luck haterz
 
justAstudent said:
Nope. Look at all the other "Matched into ortho/derm" and "Derm/ortho resident here ask anything." The very same lifting and turtle questions have been asked there. It's probably just because we've had a few of these recently.
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I lift more than most ortho residents and I like turtles.
 
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And why did you pick Ortho? Were there any other specialities you were considering? When did you realize you wanted to pursue Ortho?
 
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graduated college in 4, did a post grad year bc my science gap was brutal
 
FischerCat said:
Recently matched in ortho, served on admissions to med school and oh yea…took me 3 applications to get in. ask away.
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did you know coming in that you wanted to do ortho? what other specialties were you considering? what sealed the deal for you? how were your step scores?

re getting in after 3 times:

did you change your PS essays every time? did you have significantly new and/or different activities after each application? based on your previous response, you base your entire success on getting in the 3rd time solely to a better mcat and gpa (AKA it was only stats that kept you out the first 2 times?)

re serving on adcom:

what are most important qualities/statistics/things you looked at in applicants? reason I'm asking is that I'm very non trad, ~2.5 GPA in 5 years of undergrad, 4 years out of school, then 4.0 in 60 credits raising my bcpm and cgpa to 2.8. I am hoping that a strong mcat showing will help me get into my state school. currently registered for july 12. thoughts on my current situation?

thanks for doing this.
 
FischerCat said:
graduated college in 4, did a post grad year bc my science gap was brutal
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Oh, actually I meant med school--it seems a lot of people who match into the more competitive specialities take a 5th research year, which is why I was curious.

Also, thanks for doing this!
 
FischerCat said:
Recently matched in ortho, served on admissions to med school and oh yea…took me 3 applications to get in. ask away.
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Do you know any other classmates who match into other specialties and are willing to do one of these threads? Ortho is a popular specialty on here, but we have seen numerous threads about this specialty. @orthos (orthopedic spine surgeon) has answer lots of questions for us. Nevertheless, people will still like to ask you stuff, though. ;)
 
i did 4 years of med school, no research year. i was a pretty competitive applicant and didnt want to waste another year in school. i got a 254 on step 1 and 258 on step 2. ortho sealed the deal for me really early on-i wanted surgery, but didnt want to manage pts medically, i liked great outcomes and enjoyed when pts were satisfied and knew their procedures went well (i.e. felt better), had good pay/lifestyle, could work as a specialist and not get pts dumped on, awesome variety of procedures, complexity and length…i could go on and on about why i picked it. i didnt seriously consider any other fields but if i had to pick i would have done msk radiology.

i got in eventually bc i did an smp program and they had to interview me (top 15%). my mcat had improved and i had done really well in the smp program. without that year i definitely wouldn't have gotten in. i didnt really change my ps bc my motivations/route to medicine didnt change.
 
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The Buff OP said:
Do you know any other classmates who match into other specialties and are willing to do one of these threads? Ortho is a popular specialty on here, but we have seen numerous threads about this specialty. @orthos (orthopedic spine surgeon) has answer lots of questions for us. Nevertheless, people will still like to ask you stuff, though. ;)
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hmm ill ask around…what would be interesting? neurosurg? plastics? ent?
 
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FischerCat said:
i did 4 years of med school, no research year. i was a pretty competitive applicant and didnt want to waste another year in school. i got a 254 on step 1 and 258 on step 2. ortho sealed the deal for me really early on-i wanted surgery, but didnt want to manage pts medically, i liked great outcomes and enjoyed when pts were satisfied and knew their procedures went well (i.e. felt better), had good pay/lifestyle, could work as a specialist and not get pts dumped on, awesome variety of procedures, complexity and length…i could go on and on about why i picked it. i didnt seriously consider any other fields but if i had to pick i would have done msk radiology.

i got in eventually bc i did an smp program and they had to interview me (top 15%). my mcat had improved and i had done really well in the smp program. without that year i definitely wouldn't have gotten in. i didnt really change my ps bc my motivations/route to medicine didnt change.
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Nice Step scores! How did you study / prepare? When did you start studying? Any tips?
 
FischerCat said:
hmm ill ask around…what would be interesting? neurosurg? plastics? ent?
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Plastics, ENT, pediatrics, GS, integraded CT, rad onc, EM, anesthesia, urology, neurology, rads, and ObGyn.
 
The Buff OP said:
Plastics, ENT, pediatrics, GS, integraded CT, rad onc, EM, anesthesia, urology, neurology, rads, and ObGyn.
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ok cool ill try to recruit

to study/: worked hard 1/2 years, first aid +uworld+goljan
 
When should I start to study for the step 1/2?
 
FischerCat said:
ok cool ill try to recruit

to study/: worked hard 1/2 years, first aid +uworld+goljan
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Cool. :thumbup:
I have to ask. Why aren't you using proper spelling and not replying to someones personal message instead of combining answers in one post? lol :thinking:
What state will you be doing your residency at? Any subspecialties in mind?
 
Better physiques: Predator vs. Rocky IV

Please present your response in essay form.
 
justAstudent said:
Did you start studying for the Step at the start of year 2?
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Definitely not. Just studied for each step exam and tried to do my best on those. Then took 3-4 weeks of studying while on rotation for step 2 (mainly just did uworld questions and reviewed the answers). Step 2 doesn't even compare to step 1 studying.
 
Xenoblade said:
When should I start to study for the step 1/2?
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Your school will have a dedicated step 1 block with no classes. This is when everyone really ramps up studying. However, most people start studying less intensely a few months before the time off. I learned the material really well the first time around and began lightly studying after winter break during second year. I think its a good idea to incorporate a question bank into your studying at the beginning of year 2.
 
The Buff OP said:
Cool. :thumbup:
I have to ask. Why aren't you using proper spelling and not replying to someones personal message instead of combining answers in one post? lol :thinking:
What state will you be doing your residency at? Any subspecialties in mind?
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Because I don't care about spelling and grammar mistakes and Ive never really posted on this site.

Probably joints or trauma.
 
FischerCat said:
Recently matched in ortho, served on admissions to med school and oh yea…took me 3 applications to get in. ask away.
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Do you think being a reapplicant made it harder for you in future cycles/ was it looked down upon that you had to reapply?
 
How much research did you have? Was it all mainly ortho or in other areas too?
 
Did you attend MD/DO school?
Step Scores (you can give ranges if you like)
AOA?
What region did you match Ortho in?

Did you do away electives?

That's all for now.
 
TurkDorian said:
Do you think being a reapplicant made it harder for you in future cycles/ was it looked down upon that you had to reapply?
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Hard to tell, I think you need to prove that you accomplished something in the year you had in b/w cycles. Unless you are a stud ppl wonder why you didnt get in the first time. Even then, adcoms often think there must be something wrong for them not to have gotten in. Reapplicants really need to show that they are improving in the area they are lacking (retaking mcat, taking more classes, gaining more clinical experience)
 
TheThirdLevel said:
How much research did you have? Was it all mainly ortho or in other areas too?
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I had the typical medical student research: One poster, one case report and one project pending. No one expects you to first author papers that are accepted in major journals. However, it provides interviewers something to talk about during interviews. For the most part it seemed like residency committees wants to make sure you had done some research and can check "that box" off. This seemed to be true for most places I interviewed except for the major academic programs. Some of them expect lots of research. My goal is to be a solidly trained orthropod and enjoy my life for the next 5 years…not do research. If you want to be an attending at HSS or Rush start working on that research.
 
La Presse said:
Did you attend MD/DO school?
Step Scores (you can give ranges if you like)
AOA?
What region did you match Ortho in?

Did you do away electives?

That's all for now.
Click to expand...

MD
See Above
East of Mississippi
Yes, everyone does at least 2-3. Crucial for certain fields (ortho, plastics, ENT, nsg, deem, uro). I was told ~70% of orthopedic applicants match either at their home institution or their away rotation programs. With a field of applicants that is so strong (and really similar in stats, demographics etc) it makes sense to rank applicants they know much higher than an unknown commodity.
 
How many programs did you apply to? How many interviews did you receive?

Do you feel there is a hard step cut off for ortho or is it more personality/interview driven and can overlook subpar numbers if you mesh well? I'm guessing this is largely program dependent.

Any other tips for setting yourself up early on for ortho?

Any drawbacks you see to ortho? How do you see the future outlook for ortho?

Ever consider PM&R?

Thanks for taking the time and congrats!
 
Are you married? Did that come up in your interview for residency?
 
Elevencents said:
How many programs did you apply to? How many interviews did you receive?

Do you feel there is a hard step cut off for ortho or is it more personality/interview driven and can overlook subpar numbers if you mesh well? I'm guessing this is largely program dependent.

Any other tips for setting yourself up early on for ortho?

Any drawbacks you see to ortho? How do you see the future outlook for ortho?

Ever consider PM&R?

Thanks for taking the time and congrats!
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Applied to 70 and was offered 22 interviews (Avg applications is in the 70s I was told), went on 14 interviews

There is a hard cut off for some programs. Directly from one PD their program screens out at 240. Have heard other places that have cut offs but not sure of the step score they screen. Screens can be overcome by rotating at that program and killing it.

Work hard, perform solid in school, be a normal/good person to work with that doesn't annoy the sh#t out of people on rotations

No drawbacks that I can see (I guess the hours during residency). People are getting older and staying active longer. Patients will continue to break bones and injure themselves so outlook is great.

Never considered PMR…wanted to operate

Thanks.
 
solitarius said:
:thumbup::thumbup:


Besides pure enjoyment of surgery itself and the (presumably) interesting cases, why would anybody want to do surgery?
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They enjoy the work and can't stand internal medicine and rounding. You get to make concrete changes to people's function and improve their quality of life.
 
CabriniGreen said:
Are you married? Did that come up in your interview for residency?
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Yea I am. I was asked about it at 75% of interviews. Was also asked what my spouse did for work. Definitely wasn't seen as a negative or positive. People are just trying to get to know you.
 
What is your opinion on p=md schools?

My thoughts, "Awesome, now that I can just skate by, I can focus more on Step1 and research without stressing minutiae!"
 
Chillbo Baggins said:
Just kinda jumping in here, but have you read up on P/F schools and internal rankings?
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my school, rankings are done at third and fourth year based on clinicals. That is what they "claim."

At any rate, I would love to read up on any particularly helpful threads that you think would help me. Always willing to learn more.
 
Xenoblade said:
my school, rankings are done at third and fourth year based on clinicals. That is what they "claim."

At any rate, I would love to read up on any particularly helpful threads that you think would help me. Always willing to learn more.
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I'm not aware of any specific threads, just what I've read over time. I'm not sure of the actual numbers, but my understanding is that "true" pass/fail schools are less common than internal ranked ones.

In a way, internally ranked P/F might be more stressful than traditional grades because you don't know exactly where you stand, which would later be indicated on your dean's letter and likely come into play for AOA purposes.
 
Chillbo Baggins said:
I'm not aware of any specific threads, just what I've read over time. I'm not sure of the actual numbers, but my understanding is that "true" pass/fail schools are less common than internal ranked ones.

In a way, internally ranked P/F might be more stressful than traditional grades because you don't know exactly where you stand, which would later be indicated on your dean's letter and likely come into play for AOA purposes.
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According to my dean, aoa is assigned via clinical grades. If he/she is lying, I guess i'll find out in 3 years from now.
 
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