Ortho & Step 1

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

ac_91

New Member
7+ Year Member
Joined
Mar 30, 2015
Messages
6
Reaction score
1
Im interested in ortho and got a 233 on step 1. Also participated in NYU summer ortho research btw 1st and 2nd year and was co-president of the ortho interest group at my school last year. Any one have any info on ppl who applied to ortho with a similar step score and how many interviews they got, and where they matched?
Members don't see this ad.
 
ac_91 said:
Im interested in ortho and got a 233 on step 1. Also participated in NYU summer ortho research btw 1st and 2nd year and was co-president of the ortho interest group at my school last year. Any one have any info on ppl who applied to ortho with a similar step score and how many interviews they got, and where they matched?
Click to expand...
100 US seniors with a step 1 score of 240 or greater did not match Ortho in the last edition of Charting Outcomes. http://www.nrmp.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Charting-Outcomes-2014-Final.pdf
Start reading on page 174.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Your odds are probably 50-50.

Average matched in 2014 was 245. Average unmatched 231. You're gonna be in the 2018 match. In those 4 years you can add +5 to those numbers.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
ac_91 said:
Im interested in ortho and got a 233 on step 1. Also participated in NYU summer ortho research btw 1st and 2nd year and was co-president of the ortho interest group at my school last year. Any one have any info on ppl who applied to ortho with a similar step score and how many interviews they got, and where they matched?
Click to expand...

You're too young ( in your journey) to be 100% sure you want ortho.
there are a lot of fascinating field out there, just be open

if you do a sub internship in the hospital affiliated with your school. It will help.
getting to know the right people will afford you an interview for sure.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
markrivers said:
You're too young ( in your journey) to be 100% sure you want ortho.
there are a lot of fascinating field out there, just be open

if you do a sub internship in the hospital affiliated with your school. It will help.
getting to know the right people will afford you an interview for sure.
Click to expand...
I've always felt you can't know what you want to do until at least part way through MS3. Lets be real though. You have to act like you know that you want to do ortho earlier in order to actually do ortho. In most cases, it seems like it is too late for an average or below average applicant to discover they love ortho in MS3 unless they take a gap year.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
markrivers said:
You're too young ( in your journey) to be 100% sure you want ortho.
there are a lot of fascinating field out there, just be open

if you do a sub internship in the hospital affiliated with your school. It will help.
getting to know the right people will afford you an interview for sure.
Click to expand...
I agree 100%- I have a surgical sub specialties elective in November that im really excited for bc I haven't really seen any surgeries outside of ortho. so I'm definitely going into every rotation with an open mind! :)
 
You'll probably have to take a year or two off for research before applying for the match.
 
I have a friend who matched ortho at a mid-tier program this past season with a 235. I don't know much else about the rest of his app, but I know he is one of the friendliest and most well liked people in our class. I don't think anybody doubted he was going to be successful.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4 users
Lord_Vader said:
You'll probably have to take a year or two off for research before applying for the match.
Click to expand...

big mistake. the farther you are from your graduation. the harder it is to match for ortho.
when you do research, you must have a good outpu
Donald Juan said:
I have a friend who matched ortho at a mid-tier program this past season with a 235. I don't know much else about the rest of his app, but I know he is one of the friendliest and most well liked people in our class. I don't think anybody doubted he was going to be successful.
Click to expand...

if he's the friendliest and most well liked, then he should have been in Family Medicine. :)
this just prove that personality will open doors for you.

i don't agree with taking a year or two for research.
unless you come up with a very good outcome OR you're applying to an academic program with a research inline with yours
this strategy can be very risky, because you'll be 2 years away from your graduation.

i'd rather match to a prelim year than do research.
 
ac_91 said:
Im interested in ortho and got a 233 on step 1. Also participated in NYU summer ortho research btw 1st and 2nd year and was co-president of the ortho interest group at my school last year. Any one have any info on ppl who applied to ortho with a similar step score and how many interviews they got, and where they matched?
Click to expand...
Do you have pubs? Did this summer projects yield anything?
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Donald Juan said:
I have a friend who matched ortho at a mid-tier program this past season with a 235. I don't know much else about the rest of his app, but I know he is one of the friendliest and most well liked people in our class. I don't think anybody doubted he was going to be successful.
Click to expand...

Yeah I heard about one guy who had a pretty low step score but everyone in the department loved him and the residents went to bat for him. He matched there.
 
ac_91 said:
Im interested in ortho and got a 233 on step 1. Also participated in NYU summer ortho research btw 1st and 2nd year and was co-president of the ortho interest group at my school last year. Any one have any info on ppl who applied to ortho with a similar step score and how many interviews they got, and where they matched?
Click to expand...

Just based on your step 1 score you have about a 75% change of matching. Do research, research and more research. Reach out to your ortho department. That is probably one of your better chances of matching.
 
Instatewaiter said:
Just based on your step 1 score you have about a 75% change of matching. Do research, research and more research. Reach out to your ortho department. That is probably one of your better chances of matching.
Click to expand...

He has a 75 percent chance of matching????? Wtf??? I thought ortho was competitive?? That doesn't seem right...
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Merely said:
He has a 75 percent chance of matching????? Wtf??? I thought ortho was competitive?? That doesn't seem right...
Click to expand...

If one is basing it off of the 2014 data, this is correct. However, we don't know how this will translate to today.

EDIT: Would have had a 81% chance of matching in 2011.
 
IslandStyle808 said:
If one is basing it off of the 2014 data, this is correct. However, we don't know how this will translate to today.

EDIT: Would have had a 81% chance of matching in 2011.
Click to expand...

Yes and a 75% chance in 2008.

Merely said:
He has a 75 percent chance of matching????? Wtf??? I thought ortho was competitive?? That doesn't seem right...
Click to expand...

75% chance is not exactly a good chance.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Merely said:
He has a 75 percent chance of matching????? Wtf??? I thought ortho was competitive?? That doesn't seem right...
Click to expand...
Doesn't seem right based on what? Your intricate knowledge of match statistics? Or what you read in the fake world of SDN?

Specialties that are "competitive" mostly have ~75% match rates overall for USMD seniors. Dermatology was 76% in 2014. Neurosurg 79%. Ortho 76%.

For step 1 231-240, those percentages were derm 69%, neurosurg 80%, ortho 76%.
For step 1 221-230, those percentages were derm 69%, neurosurg 83%, ortho 52%.

I strongly suggest that at some point before it comes time for you to pick a specialty and apply for residency, that you stop getting your information from SDN and start getting it from the very easily accessible actual data.
http://www.nrmp.org/match-data/main-residency-match-data/
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
Merely said:
He has a 75 percent chance of matching????? Wtf??? I thought ortho was competitive?? That doesn't seem right...
Click to expand...

Thank god we can rely on your astute powers of intuition and abuse of punctuation marks.
 
It's actually based on what I read on SDN...looks like the people here are mostly crazy lol
 
doczebra said:
Your odds are probably 50-50.

Average matched in 2014 was 245. Average unmatched 231. You're gonna be in the 2018 match. In those 4 years you can add +5 to those numbers.
Click to expand...

The average Step 1 score went up by +1 between 2014 and 2016. I think the average will be about the same. +5 is too large a change to expect.
 
I heard that the step 1 average for the most recent administration of the exam was 229 which really surprised me.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
Psai said:
I heard that the step 1 average for the most recent administration of the exam was 229 which really surprised me.
Click to expand...

Because it was too high or too low?
 
Psai said:
I heard that the step 1 average for the most recent administration of the exam was 229 which really surprised me.
Click to expand...
People are saying that but it's not just for the most recent (as in the newer version of the test). It was for all first time MD (American and Canadian) test takers for the calendar year of 2015.

If someone knows the exact wording from the report they could post. I'm on mobile.

Edit: my point being we don't know how the most recent changes to the test affected averages and SD. Don't think any data has been released yet.
 
The obsession with step 1 scores on this website is unbelievable. Yeah, I shouldn't be speaking...
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 users
qw098 said:
What's a good amount to pump out after a year?
Click to expand...

According to the 2014 Charting the Outcomes data from the NRMP, the majority of matched applicants had at least 5+ publications. If your Step 1 score is below the average (which is probably close to around 250 at this point), you'll want to churn out a lot more. But I didn't apply for ortho, so fellow ortho applicants or residents will have better information than me.
 
failedatlife said:
The obsession with step 1 scores on this website is unbelievable. Yeah, I shouldn't be speaking...
Click to expand...

When you apply, your application will start off with your name and your step score right next to it. A high step score opens doors. A low score closes doors and even some fields so I'd say it's pretty ****ing important
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2 users
ac_91 said:
Im interested in ortho and got a 233 on step 1. Also participated in NYU summer ortho research btw 1st and 2nd year and was co-president of the ortho interest group at my school last year. Any one have any info on ppl who applied to ortho with a similar step score and how many interviews they got, and where they matched?
Click to expand...
I have a friend from undergrad who went to a US MD school (not a big name), had a 235 step 1 and no 2ck score, and matched at an IVY for ortho. The catch is he did a visiting rotation there. But that's a real story.
 
Merely, I guess you didn't get the memo that a good number of people that post on SDN are either trying in vain to be witty, being a jackwad by unnecessarily being rude, confrontational, and holier than though because their own life sucks so bad, or just flat out trolling (again, trying in vain most of the time).

There's good, true, helpful advice here and some people even consistently give it....just not the norm it seems.
 
Dral said:
Merely, I guess you didn't get the memo that a good number of people that post on SDN are either trying in vain to be witty, being a jackwad by unnecessarily being rude, confrontational, and holier than though because their own life sucks so bad, or just flat out trolling (again, trying in vain most of the time).

There's good, true, helpful advice here and some people even consistently give it....just not the norm it seems.
Click to expand...

Exhibit a
 
You're totally right. Publications, letters, 3rd year grades in medicine and surgery, and AOA don't matter at all. And Step I isn't just a screening tool, it's you whole app. I'll keep that in mind when planning my future.
 
failedatlife said:
You're totally right. Publications, letters, 3rd year grades in medicine and surgery, and AOA don't matter at all. And Step I isn't just a screening tool, it's you whole app. I'll keep that in mind when planning my future.
Click to expand...

I'm living proof that they do matter and Step 1 isn't everything. If I screwed around from here on out and didn't do research I still couldn't match derm.

I think you need to get some therapy or something.


Sent from my iPhone using SDN mobile
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
I wouldn't give up if Ortho is what you know you would like to do. Knock STEP 2CK out of the park, do great on your clinical rotations, and begin research in Ortho. Not impossible.

medmatchplus+
 
Step 1 is a big piece of the app but not everything. I think 3rd year and step 2 are both opportunities to make up for it. And unfortunately for me, but maybe good for you are letters of recommendation. The my can really help your application if you meet the right person.
 
Step 1 scores rise every year. Average score of the people i interview is around 245. You're not significantly below that to the point where you would be considered an outlier, where we would question your grades. Step 1 scores are a predictor of OITE scores (the orthopaedic in training exam), which are in turn predictive of board pass rates. No program wants to hire a resident who is at risk of failing the boards. That's primarily what we use step 1 for, and why cutoff scores exist for interviews (I personally don't agree with cutoffs and don't use them, but many programs do). More important is how well rounded you are otherwise, which includes research, Med school grades, and good recommendation letters. Particularly for those with slightly lower scores, a letter can make or break you. The orthopaedic world is very tight, and we will 100% take somebody who is highly recommended by a surgeon we know and like than somebody we don't know with an astronomical step 1 score. If none of that convinces you, let me tell you this: my score was very similar to yours and I did just fine. :) (granted that was years ago)
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

OldBenKenobi
Ortho Competitiveness (Step 2)
Replies
31
Views
4K
operaman
O
N
Ortho vs Radiology
Replies
36
Views
3K
Cognovi
Cognovi
C
Ortho Backup plan
Replies
14
Views
1K
voxveritatisetlucis
V
B
Advice for Ortho Summer Research program
Replies
3
Views
493
ceilingfan019
ceilingfan019
T
Clinical grades ortho
Replies
15
Views
2K
thedocta
T
Top