ortho attending AMA

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Trollest said:
What does it take to get into ortho these days?

Also assuming I do research, do they all have to be related to ortho?
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250+ step, Ortho research (average is 7 “experiences”), good letters, away rotations. And luck.
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Trollest said:
@VincentAdultman @OrthoTraumaMD Maybe I have not looked hard enough but are most ortho research opportunities reserved to 3trd and 4th year? Thus far, I have only found 2 institutions willing to take MS1/ MS2.
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No, I routinely work with MS1 and 2. I think it’s program dependent.
 
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maybe you already answered this, if you did let me know will look for it. if you did general surgery interviews as back up, how did you approach those. Were you tight-lipped about ortho?
 
afib123 said:
maybe you already answered this, if you did let me know will look for it. if you did general surgery interviews as back up, how did you approach those. Were you tight-lipped about ortho?
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I did answer this. Basically, I had a completely separate set of applications, letters, etc. I also did not apply to both Ortho and general surgery at the same hospital.
 
OrthoTraumaMD said:
I did answer this. Basically, I had a completely separate set of applications, letters, etc. I also did not apply to both Ortho and general surgery at the same hospital.
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okay. will look. were your home gen surg and ortho departments aware? Did you tell your letter writers?
 
afib123 said:
Thank you. I am just having a tough time because I don't want to lie when people ask which field I am going into but I don't want each field to think I am not committed to that field.
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If your goal is ortho, you’re going into ortho. You don’t need to bring up backups, but don’t lie either.

But yeah you run the risk of not looking like you’re committed to either. It’s one of the downfalls of dual-applying.
 
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VincentAdultman said:
If your goal is ortho, you’re going into ortho. You don’t need to bring up backups, but don’t lie either.

But yeah you run the risk of not looking like you’re committed to either. It’s one of the downfalls of dual-applying.
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Well I guess it is more difficult talking to the faculty in the backup speciality. Although I might really enjoy the field, it is hard for me to say I am applying in to that field as a backup. It seems like I am lying. But I try to phrase it as one of my top choices without saying it is the field I am going into specifically. Even harder when talking to letter writers in the back up field.
 
afib123 said:
Well I guess it is more difficult talking to the faculty in the backup speciality. Although I might really enjoy the field, it is hard for me to say I am applying in to that field as a backup. It seems like I am lying. But I try to phrase it as one of my top choices without saying it is the field I am going into specifically. Even harder when talking to letter writers in the back up field.
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You talk about what why you enjoy general surgery and what drew you to that field just like you would ortho. When you go on interviews assuming you have separate letters, personal statements etc no one should think that you are applying to gen surg as a backup. That being said if someone asks you you obviously can’t lie.
 
VincentAdultman said:
You talk about what why you enjoy general surgery and what drew you to that field just like you would ortho. When you go on interviews assuming you have separate letters, personal statements etc no one should think that you are applying to gen surg as a backup. That being said if someone asks you you obviously can’t lie.
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Why cant you lie and tell them you're not dual applying? Just curious. Because I assume entirely that telling them will really lower your chances at that specality.
 
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Is there any activity or sport (skiing, motorcycles, etc) that you deem too high risk for yourself or a child in your care to participate in due to the injuries that you've seen? I had a childhood friend with a physician-parent who would not let them participate in gymnastics due to the injuries they have seen. I was wondering if you had any opinions like that where risk >> reward.
 
guacalot said:
Is there any activity or sport (skiing, motorcycles, etc) that you deem too high risk for yourself or a child in your care to participate in due to the injuries that you've seen? I had a childhood friend with a physician-parent who would not let them participate in gymnastics due to the injuries they have seen. I was wondering if you had any opinions like that where risk >> reward.
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Motorcycles.
 
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VincentAdultman said:
You talk about what why you enjoy general surgery and what drew you to that field just like you would ortho. When you go on interviews assuming you have separate letters, personal statements etc no one should think that you are applying to gen surg as a backup. That being said if someone asks you you obviously can’t lie.
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As a follow up question to that, for ortho you would have to do multiple aways which will all likely be on your transcript when you apply. Won't gen surg see those aways? It seems like it would be obvious that you are doing gen surg as a backup.
 
afib123 said:
As a follow up question to that, for ortho you would have to do multiple aways which will all likely be on your transcript when you apply. Won't gen surg see those aways? It seems like it would be obvious that you are doing gen surg as a backup.
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That’s why I did a gensurg elective and a gensurg project.
 
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afib123 said:
As a follow up question to that, for ortho you would have to do multiple aways which will all likely be on your transcript when you apply. Won't gen surg see those aways? It seems like it would be obvious that you are doing gen surg as a backup.
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Yeah they can see it all. Double applying isn’t without downsides.
 
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Which legendary orthopaedic surgeon's life do you find the most interesting?

Out of curiosity, I began reading about surgeons such as Dr. Letournel and Dr. Coventry, and it's fascinating to read about how orthopaedics started to pick up as a surgical specialty.
 
Especially as a trauma surgeon, is there anything you wish allografts could be used (that they aren't currently) for or were better at repairing/replacing?
 
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ceilingfan019 said:
Which legendary orthopaedic surgeon's life do you find the most interesting?

Out of curiosity, I began reading about surgeons such as Dr. Letournel and Dr. Coventry, and it's fascinating to read about how orthopaedics started to pick up as a surgical specialty.
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He was not an “orthopaedic” surgeon because the specialty didn’t exist at that time, but much of his work was developed as a result of treating fractures: Joseph Lister. Read “the butchering art,” it’s fascinating.
 
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OrthoTraumaMD said:
He was not an “orthopaedic” surgeon because the specialty didn’t exist at that time, but much of his work was developed as a result of treating fractures: Joseph Lister. Read “the butchering art,” it’s fascinating.
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Just finished this book. 10/10 would recommend to anyone interested in any kind of surgery! What an amazing story.
 
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How are clinical grades weighed? Will a pass or two crush someone if plenty of honors grades (surg, IM) etc and above average for ortho Step1, solid app otherwise
 
bonemann said:
How are clinical grades weighed? Will a pass or two crush someone if plenty of honors grades (surg, IM) etc and above average for ortho Step1, solid app otherwise
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If you honor surgery and your electives, you should be okay. I would aim for honors in at least several other classes as you said; you don’t want to be the guy who only looks like they showed effort on their surgery rotations and ignored everything else. I’ve never seen clinical grades be what made or broke someone.
 
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halfwaycrooks said:
Favorite OR shoes?
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Believe it or not, I’ve had to operate in stilettos several times, when I’ve been called in for an emergency during a dinner date. (Protected with the plastic booties of course).
But on non-weird days, I wear Skechers Women’s Work.
www.skechers.com

Work: Clog SR - Candaba | SKECHERS

A classic clog style gives all day comfort and support in the Skechers Work: Clog SR - Candaba shoe. Smooth leather upper in a slip on closed back casual work clog with roomy comfort design, shock absorbing lightweight midsole and slip resistant outsole.
www.skechers.com www.skechers.com
 
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Might be a dumb question but where can I learn more about reduction and splinting techniques? Or am I better off just googling ‘distal radius reduction’?
 
How much does having a well-known academic ortho surgeon in the field supporting your application matter? I am a non-traditional student who became very close with an orthopaedic surgeon prior to medical school. This surgeon told me before I went to med school that I better go into ortho or he would be mad at me (somewhat kidding, but he loves mentoring and really wanted me to pursue ortho), and that he would support me in any way (he wrote me a LOR for med school). He is a full Professor at a well-known academic uni.

I loved ortho prior to med school but I wanted to explore other fields because I didn't want to get my hopes up (I am a very average-below average student academically) given how competitive med school is. I did research in another surgical field (pretty productive as I have a couple of pubs and 15+ posters). Fast forward two years and I am a rising M3 with a 237 Step 1 and 4th quartile grades. I am considering making the plunge to ortho but I know I am a very below average applicant given Step score and class rank. If I busted my ***, considered an ortho research year and used my connections the best I could would I stand a chance at matching? I have no connections at my university currently but would obviously work on that as well as using my connections from my mentor who is a well-known academic surgeon (travels to tons of conferences, publishes a lot, etc).
 
PatchAdams25 said:
How much does having a well-known academic ortho surgeon in the field supporting your application matter? I am a non-traditional student who became very close with an orthopaedic surgeon prior to medical school. This surgeon told me before I went to med school that I better go into ortho or he would be mad at me (somewhat kidding, but he loves mentoring and really wanted me to pursue ortho), and that he would support me in any way (he wrote me a LOR for med school). He is a full Professor at a well-known academic uni.

I loved ortho prior to med school but I wanted to explore other fields because I didn't want to get my hopes up (I am a very average-below average student academically) given how competitive med school is. I did research in another surgical field (pretty productive as I have a couple of pubs and 15+ posters). Fast forward two years and I am a rising M3 with a 237 Step 1 and 4th quartile grades. I am considering making the plunge to ortho but I know I am a very below average applicant given Step score and class rank. If I busted my ***, considered an ortho research year and used my connections the best I could would I stand a chance at matching? I have no connections at my university currently but would obviously work on that as well as using my connections from my mentor who is a well-known academic surgeon (travels to tons of conferences, publishes a lot, etc).
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As I said in my very first post, I do not give “what are my chances” advice as there are so many factors. It’s always good to have a big name person supporting you though, if they make a phone call to a program for you.
 
Let's say you matched into a program that's weak in trauma. What would you recommend that a resident do to eliminate that weakness, aside from doing a fellowship? I know that using elective time on extra trauma rotations in an option.
 
Fracture said:
Let's say you matched into a program that's weak in trauma. What would you recommend that a resident do to eliminate that weakness, aside from doing a fellowship? I know that using elective time on extra trauma rotations in an option.
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Depends on what you want to do in the future. The reality is if you want to do a non-trauma subspecialty you won’t be doing trauma beyond the basics. That’s what your trauma partners are for. The reason to do a trauma fellowship is to learn complex stuff, not basic stuff. If you want to learn more basic stuff, scrub with your trauma partners when you’re an attending. Or do what you said in your post.
 
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OrthoTraumaMD said:
Depends on what you want to do in the future. The reality is if you want to do a non-trauma subspecialty you won’t be doing trauma beyond the basics. That’s what your trauma partners are for. The reason to do a trauma fellowship is to learn complex stuff, not basic stuff. If you want to learn more basic stuff, scrub with your trauma partners when you’re an attending. Or do what you said in your post.
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That makes a lot of sense. The reason why I brought up the fellowship option is because I have heard many times that fellowship is a good way to shore up a weakness that you have because of your program. But I always found that confusing because I always thought a fellowship was for other reasons, like becoming a sub/super subspecialist (for whatever reasons that may be, like special interest and/or lifestyle) and for marketing in a competitive metro/suburban area.
 
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Fracture said:
That makes a lot of sense. The reason why I brought up the fellowship option is because I have heard may times that fellowship is a good way to shore up a weakness that you have because of your program. But I always found that confusing because I always thought a fellowship was for other reasons, like becoming a sub/super subspecialist (for whatever reasons that may be, like special interest and/or lifestyle) and for marketing in a competitive metro/suburban area.
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Correct. A fellowship shouldn’t really be used to “boost,” but sometimes that’s what happens.
 
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I just read all 29 pages and WOW this is so invaluable. thank you @OrthoTraumaMD.

Can you elaborate on the factors that lead to ortho physician depression, anxiety, and suicide?
 
rainfall9786 said:
I just read all 29 pages and WOW this is so invaluable. thank you @OrthoTraumaMD.

Can you elaborate on the factors that lead to ortho physician depression, anxiety, and suicide?
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How much time do you have? LOL.

In no particular order:
-Long work hours
-practice issues, academic and private have their own sets of stressors
-not enough time with family, or not enough family support, basically any family related issue is a big one. Divorce is a common thing in surgery.
-general stresses of surgery— you’re an island unto yourself, and it’s hard to deal with your own demons, you relive the mistakes you make with patients etc.
 
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How long did it take you to adapt to the surgeon lifestyle or are you still learning to find ways to be efficient?
 
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