Uro or Ortho

[DocEspana]

First off: I'll admit this is a repost of what I put in orthopedics. I realized after I posted it there that itd get many more responses here, since that forum goes days between posts sometimes. I'm sorry.

So 3rd year here and I've begun to narrow down my prospective fields. But now I've hit a bit of a conundrum as to what the next step should be. The fields I'm interested in are ortho, uro, ophtho and some others that aren't relevant to this conversation.

My 3rd year wraps up in may, leaving me June free to do an elective. A few hospitals allow 3rd years to rotate in competitive rotations, many dont... but so far testing the water has shown that the hospitals are okay with me rotating in june and calling myself a 4th year since I've done my entire 3rd year by then. Since June is, likely, the least competitive month to get a rotation I want to make sure I aim high and nab a competitive rotation in june when the competition is lower (most 3rd years cant rotate, and most 4th years are taking the month off/doing joke rotations near a beach somewhere). But since I'm pretty equal on all three of these potential fields I have no clue which one is the "best one" to secure a rotation in.

Basically my question is, if I wanted to rotate at a respectable program which of the three specialties would be the hardest to do so at/should I do first since I have this June opportunity.

I'm already at a hospital for the whole 3rd year with an ophtho program that is known for favoring the home team (aka my school) and I recently had a relative go through the residency program. I'm not concerned *right now* about ophtho. Thus why I posed the question title as ortho vs uro, as I'll need to move to a new hospital for those programs.

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[bleeker10]

First off: I'll admit this is a repost of what I put in orthopedics. I realized after I posted it there that itd get many more responses here, since that forum goes days between posts sometimes. I'm sorry.

So 3rd year here and I've begun to narrow down my prospective fields. But now I've hit a bit of a conundrum as to what the next step should be. The fields I'm interested in are ortho, uro, ophtho and some others that aren't relevant to this conversation.

My 3rd year wraps up in may, leaving me June free to do an elective. A few hospitals allow 3rd years to rotate in competitive rotations, many dont... but so far testing the water has shown that the hospitals are okay with me rotating in june and calling myself a 4th year since I've done my entire 3rd year by then. Since June is, likely, the least competitive month to get a rotation I want to make sure I aim high and nab a competitive rotation in june when the competition is lower (most 3rd years cant rotate, and most 4th years are taking the month off/doing joke rotations near a beach somewhere). But since I'm pretty equal on all three of these potential fields I have no clue which one is the "best one" to secure a rotation in.

Basically my question is, if I wanted to rotate at a respectable program which of the three specialties would be the hardest to do so at/should I do first since I have this June opportunity.

I'm already at a hospital for the whole 3rd year with an ophtho program that is known for favoring the home team (aka my school) and I recently had a relative go through the residency program. I'm not concerned *right now* about ophtho. Thus why I posed the question title as ortho vs uro, as I'll need to move to a new hospital for those programs.

Will you be able to get any exposure to ortho or uro in your third year during your surgery clerkships? Is there a uro or ortho residency where you are? Can you spend some free time with them during your 3rd year so you can narrow down your choice?

I'd email some programs and ask them if you can rotate then or just apply for rotations and just see which you are selected for. I know this isn't the most helpful advice but this is what I've been doing because every program is different.

 

[DocEspana]

Will you be able to get any exposure to ortho or uro in your third year during your surgery clerkships? Is there a uro or ortho residency where you are? Can you spend some free time with them during your 3rd year so you can narrow down your choice?

I'd email some programs and ask them if you can rotate then or just apply for rotations and just see which you are selected for. I know this isn't the most helpful advice but this is what I've been doing because every program is different.

My current surgery clerkship wont give me much ortho exposure (big ortho program within 2 miles at neighboring hospital) but we have two urologists on staff and one of them was recommended that I spend time with during my surgery rotations (jan-feb). I figure I should prob begin the leg work for locking down a rotation before then, and can always change my mind if i find i randomly dislike it.

the advice is helpful, no doubts

P.S. The reason why I dont just rotate at the neighboring hospital for ortho is because that hospital is closing at some point this year due to massive debt problems. I have no idea where their ortho residency is going to go, but I dont want to invest my time in the brick and mortar hospital that wont be there when I'm applying for residency, even if the residency program does move somewhere else.

 

[bleeker10]

My current surgery clerkship wont give me much ortho exposure (big ortho program within 2 miles at neighboring hospital) but we have two urologists on staff and one of them was recommended that I spend time with during my surgery rotations (jan-feb). I figure I should prob begin the leg work for locking down a rotation before then, and can always change my mind if i find i randomly dislike it.

the advice is helpful, no doubts

P.S. The reason why I dont just rotate at the neighboring hospital for ortho is because that hospital is closing at some point this year due to massive debt problems. I have no idea where their ortho residency is going to go, but I dont want to invest my time in the brick and mortar hospital that wont be there when I'm applying for residency, even if the residency program does move somewhere else.

Yea if the program/hospital status is up in the air, then I'd avoid them as well. I'm pretty sure I know which hospital you are talking about, although I thought they decided to stay open instead of closing down?

What do you like/dislike about ortho vs uro vs ophtho? Are you regionally limited in where you want to apply?

 

[Sam212]

My current surgery clerkship wont give me much ortho exposure (big ortho program within 2 miles at neighboring hospital) but we have two urologists on staff and one of them was recommended that I spend time with during my surgery rotations (jan-feb). I figure I should prob begin the leg work for locking down a rotation before then, and can always change my mind if i find i randomly dislike it.

the advice is helpful, no doubts

P.S. The reason why I dont just rotate at the neighboring hospital for ortho is because that hospital is closing at some point this year due to massive debt problems. I have no idea where their ortho residency is going to go, but I dont want to invest my time in the brick and mortar hospital that wont be there when I'm applying for residency, even if the residency program does move somewhere else.

Brookdale and LIJS

 

[DocEspana]

Yea if the program/hospital status is up in the air, then I'd avoid them as well. I'm pretty sure I know which hospital you are talking about, although I thought they decided to stay open instead of closing down?

What do you like/dislike about ortho vs uro vs ophtho? Are you regionally limited in where you want to apply?

The attempt to purchase it and keep it afloat is being denied by the state. Currently they're petitioning the state to change its stance (and staying afloat on the money infusion from the initial deal), but they've filed for bankruptcy in the mean time and insider information puts the state at >50% chance to keep their stance exactly the same. So they stay open as long as the new owners are willing to protest the closure order.

I am surgery minded. Always have been. I love that I know enough general medicine facts to do well on the boards, but general medicine is a bit too "try something and wait to see if the values change" for me. It feels too ineffectual. I like the idea of going in, getting hands on, and fixing the problem. In Ob/gyn right now and my time in the OR just cemented that I like the idea of surgery. But general surgery is not the life for me. And I don't mean the residency. The residency is not ideal, but its also a bit exciting to devote a few years to becoming the best you can be at everything. It just never gets easier with general surgery. That same dedication during residency can pay larger dividends in less hours in uro, ophtho or ortho, and then I can be a real expert in a field, rather than very good at many surgical fields.

Ortho has the clear ups of being seen as (hit bone with hammer jokes aside) the top surgeons at many hospitals. To get there you need to be smart and super dedicated. I live up to the bar set, so the honor alone of doing it would bring out the best in me. Plus I like the idea of having to face a slightly new challenge every single time. I appreciate that it lightens up once you're out of residency and you can, if you play your cards right, cater your business to however hard you wish to work and whatever procedures you like most. And I can build an ikea dresser without reading the directions, thats "job skills" right there (had to say it).

Ophtho is sort of the family business. My relatives rave about it being challenging and cutting edge without requiring anything but a rare on call emergency. Its the "lazy" option of the three. But even if it's lazy compared to the other two, its still a true challenge to get there and I appreciate that. I also like medical gadgets and ophtho has them in spades.

Uro. Well. It takes a certain kind of guy to want to be a cock doc. I hear the doctors who do uro are some of the most laid back and fun doctors (and a patient really hopes it should be the case when he has your genitals in his hands). Similar lifestyle to ophtho: lots of hard work to get there, but it lightens up a ton once your out and can get into an office and swing by the hospital for surgeries. I also wouldn't mind studying prostate cancer since its in big need of some renovation in its diagnostic tests and treatment modalities, and I'm a bit of a cancer enthusiast despite not having a huge interest in oncology as a full time thing.

what do they all have in common? Hard residency that pays off with a much more "customizable" lifestyle afterwards. I definitely do not want to skate through anything, but I also dont want to start a family life anytime soon, so work is my life. I do know that by the time i'm out of residency I'll be in a different place and by then I'll appreciate sacrificing those early years for more freedom in my full time practice.

 

[DocEspana]

Brookdale and LIJS

gracias. So my desires to rotate at Brookdale anyway were fortuitous.

 

[DwightSchruteDO]

If you do Uro, you will be using some cutting edge technology since a lot of uro surgery is now done with robotics. Uro is on the frontier for a lot of cool tech stuff. If you want to do uro then you should try to go to a place where the residency allows time for its residents to practice robotic surgery since it will be a lot harder to find time to learn when you are out of residency. Also the Uro match is separate and happens a lot earlier than the DO match so I would try to narrow down what you want to do soon.

I was in a similar situation between ortho and another field that was also very competitive. In the end I applied to one of those and used gen surg as a back up. I dont think it is feasible to apply to uro/optho/ortho and use the other as a back up. since a lot of residencies prefer you rotate with them before november/december.

Most of the urologists I know love what they do. They have surgery time, clinic time, and as mentioned before no other specialty (as far as I know) uses robotics and other cool stuff as much as uro.

 

[DwightSchruteDO]

Brookdale and LIJS

Does brookdale still have an ortho program? They don't have any info listed on the opportunities.osteo website and their page hasnt been updated in over a year.

Also does plainview still have an ortho program since information on them is pretty scarce.

LIJS is DO or MD program? thought it was MD.

 

[Sam212]

Does brookdale still have an ortho program? They don't have any info listed on the opportunities.osteo website and their page hasnt been updated in over a year.

Also does plainview still have an ortho program since information on them is pretty scarce.

LIJS is DO or MD program? thought it was MD.

Should have said LIJS-Plainview..... both LIJS plainview and Brookdale are recently created to absorb residents from that other program if that hospital in fact does close its doors.

 

[DocEspana]

Should have said LIJS-Plainview..... both LIJS plainview and Brookdale are recently created to absorb residents from that other program if that hospital in fact does close its doors.

It looks somewhat inevitable, but I'd enjoy being pleasantly surprised here.

And the unique situation of uro is how its match and the AOA match happen one after another. Apparently if I AUA match, I need to write to the NMS to have them cancel my AOA or else they'll "accidentally" continue with the AOA match and pull you from the AUA. Not that it would be a tragedy to be pulled from one match into another match... it's a successful match then!... but it'd be a bit of a bummer to get pulled from the AUA program. So thats my warning for anyone who uses this thread in a similar situation as I hope to be in.

 

[cpants]

Away rotations don't really get set up until spring. I would do your best to choose one of these specialties before about February, and then set up rotations accordingly. For any of these competitive specialties it is to your advantage to choose early.

 

[Green Grass]

Away rotations don't really get set up until spring. I would do your best to choose one of these specialties before about February, and then set up rotations accordingly. For any of these competitive specialties it is to your advantage to choose early.

Good advice right here! Choose one and go all out to match.

 

[Zuerst]

what type of bone do you like better?

 

[officedepot]

what type of bone do you like better?

loool!! took you a few days to come up with that one I see! also took me a sec to get what you were saying...

 

[DocEspana]

what type of bone do you like better?

Oh. I see what you did there.

 

[Zuerst]

loool!! took you a few days to come up with that one I see! also took me a sec to get what you were saying...

actually one of the first things that pop into my mind when i read the thread title... if that tell you anything about my thought process. 😉