preliminary to categorial

[HP11]

Hi

What are the chances of a person who completes a preliminary surgical year to match into a PGY-1 general surgery categorial year? Let's assume that the person does really well during the internship year and gets strong letters.
Is that person a highly regarded candidate because he or she has proven themselves during the internship year?

Also, is it a good idea to use some of the letters that I have now when I apply after the preliminary year?

I'm a pretty strong candidate, however, I'm starting to realize that I may have to go that route. My orthopedic surgery chances are diminishing and I am in a bit of a depressed mood.

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[Pilot Doc]

Hi

What are the chances of a person who completes a preliminary surgical year to match into a PGY-1 general surgery categorial year? Let's assume that the person does really well during the internship year and gets strong letters.
Is that person a highly regarded candidate because he or she has proven themselves during the internship year?

Also, is it a good idea to use some of the letters that I have now when I apply after the preliminary year?

I'm a pretty strong candidate, however, I'm starting to realize that I may have to go that route. My orthopedic surgery chances are diminishing and I am in a bit of a depressed mood.

To answer your main question: very good. If you are a proven hard worker and can function in a hospital, lots of programs would like to have you. (And many of them will likely hire you as a PGY2) One thing to keep in mind is that you won't have strong letters per se - the letters have to be written before you have had much of a chance to prove yourself. When February comes along and programs are making match lists, people will likely be willing to go to bat for you over the phone, though.

That having been said, if this is a backup plan for ortho, I think it's a bad one. You should rank ortho only, and if you don't match, take the year to do research. Find a lab with good ortho or GS connections and reapply at your leisure the next year with no competing clinical duties. The research buffs your CV both for residency and fellowship, and very importantly it makes connections in the small world of academic medicine.

 

[HP11]

Thanks for the feedback. That's very good news. If I can continue in general surgery as PGY-2 or even PGY-1, I'm cool. The world isn't all about ortho.