what is up with georgetown having 10% ortho residency matches???

[dhinaabi]

so i was looking through msar and noticed that georgetown had 10% of their graduates match for orthopedic residencies... Now orthopedics is one of the hardest residencies to get, and georgetown isn't hopkins or anything... The next highest percentage for a school to match that many of their students for ortho residencies is 5%. What the heck is up with Georgetown students getting all the orthopedic residencies???????????????????????

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[NoktorNoL]

Just because they match more into Ortho programs doesn't necessarily mean Georgetown students get into better residencies. There just might have been more students from that school interested in Ortho than there were at other schools in that year. Maybe the professors who teach during ortho rotations were able to have a bigger impact on the students in that school than other professors. A more accurate way to judge residency matching is by how many students match into the speciality they want (top or second choice).

 

[Law2Doc]

so i was looking through msar and noticed that georgetown had 10% of their graduates match for orthopedic residencies... Now orthopedics is one of the hardest residencies to get, and georgetown isn't hopkins or anything... The next highest percentage for a school to match that many of their students for ortho residencies is 5%. What the heck is up with Georgetown students getting all the orthopedic residencies???????????????????????

I haven't looked at the match list but maybe folks are choosing this over other similarly competitive choices (i.e. a high ortho match ist but lower derm, optho etc might not be better, just more singularly focused). Could be G-town does well at hooking folks up with ortho, or it could be highlighting a shortcoming in other paths. Or maybe a few years back they just by chance recruited a big handful of people who wanted ortho. This doesn't mean that next year they will have many. Bottom line is you just cannot tell. Personal preference is huge in residency selection, and it is not unheard of for the best credentialed people to not choose the most competitive fields. They choose what they enjoyed most during rotation. Others choose lifestyle fields (i.e. not ortho), some of which are more competitive than others.
I guess what I'm saying is it's a bit dangerous to hone in on one segment of one match list and draw any conclusions. And probably best to keep an open mind about specialties until your rotations -- you may find you don't even want ortho when you get to the decision point. Good luck.

 

[Law2Doc]

A more accurate way to judge residency matching is by how many students match into the speciality they want (top or second choice).

That's better, but often more of a reflection of how realistic the schools make their students be when applying. You don't really get to take longshots on the match the way you do in med school applications. If the school feels you have no shot at eg derm or optho, they are non-subtley going to make sure you don't apply to derm or optho, by sitting down with you and making sure you know what's what . Hence 100% of people at a school might get their "first choice" in the match, and yet it might not have been their first choice going into the applications stage, just their first realistic choice. So it is a reflection of the schools advising/mentoring more than anything else.

 

[CTtarheel]

If you look at the national match data, something like 80%+ of people who rank ortho as their first choice match in an ortho program. Generally, if you go to a US medical school and do decently well, you'll do what you want to do.

 

[Law2Doc]

If you look at the national match data, something like 80%+ of people who rank ortho as their first choice match in an ortho program. Generally, if you go to a US medical school and do decently well, you'll do what you want to do.

There a lot of "self" selection after brutally honest advising. Folks who rank ortho as their first choice are those who haven't been advised that they won't get it. Board scores play a big role too. One website I found indicates a rumored 230 score cutoff for those even considering ortho.
(See http://www.eddev.arizona.edu/students/studentgroups/osig/residency.htm)

 

[C.P. Jones]

so what's the point of looking at match lists if it seems that why some school seems to have a great match in something can be explained. it also sounds as if most of it just has to do with personal performance. if i want to go into neurosurgery, and i end up being best in my class at any school, does it matter what their past match lists have been? or if i end up doing very poorly, as long as i know that i should be realistic with my choices. or is this more for if i really want to do a hard specialty, but don't end up being top of the class, that a school matching well in a competitive residency can likely get you were you want to be?

these match list comparisons have always just confused me since let's say i go to uconn, which is probably more primary care oriented, but i want to do some really competitive specialty.....what should i care what the match list is, shouldn't i just work really hard and match into it anyway?

 

[Law2Doc]

.what should i care what the match list is, shouldn't i just work really hard and match into it anyway?

Exactly. They are interesting, but awfully hard to extrapolate meaningful info from. Best to do well in med school and the boards, and find yourself a good advisor/mentor in your desired field (when you choose one, probably in 3rd year) who can take you under his wing, tell you what's what, which programs are good versus "malignant" and the like.

 

[AmoryBlaine]

There are a few Ortho residents from Georgetown at my school who I have talked to about this issue. I think it is a combo of the fact that it is a strong school academically and that the mentors available in Ortho are awesome. It just has a rep for being an Ortho feeder school.

You'll see when you get into medical school that alot of people are way into surgery. It is a fun and exciting field and I can't blame them. After the initial honeymoon many, many people decide that Gen Surg is not for them and decide to look at other options. Ortho is a good choice - not nearly as malignant and the pay is a whole lot better for the same length of residency.

As for Step 1 - 230 is a good number for Ortho. You need to be a good applicant all around but Ortho is notorious for dwelling on test scores. There are PLENTY of applicants who fail to match in Ortho, you'll probably meet some interns who scrambled into prelim surg spots and are trying again.

 

[dhinaabi]

There a lot of "self" selection after brutally honest advising. Folks who rank ortho as their first choice are those who haven't been advised that they won't get it. Board scores play a big role too. One website I found indicates a rumored 230 score cutoff for those even considering ortho.
(See http://www.eddev.arizona.edu/students/studentgroups/osig/residency.htm)

Thanks for the link- it seems very helpful. i'm of course going into med school with an open mind considering i havent been exposed to all the fields.