Med School: Middle tier in the Midwest
Preclinical Grades: Mix of near honors and honors, some passes
3rd year: Honored all clerkships
4th year: All honors, including home ortho AI and two aways
Boards: Step 1- 259, Step 2- 233 (just got the scores two weeks ago, not only was Step 2 not emphasized, but several programs told me they wouldn’t have taken it early if they were in my shoes…)
Elected to AOA senior year
Research: Several ortho projects, one presented at 2008 ORS and will be published soon
Extracurriculars: Class president, Ortho interest group president


I applied to 30 programs, all in the midwest, and received 26 offers for interviews. I think I did well in terms of interviews because I did not apply outside my "region."

I went to 13 interviews and thought all were at least solid programs, although a handful stood out amongst the others...

1. University of Wisconsin- I rotated here and thought they had everything I would want in a program. A mix of young and energetic attendings fresh out of fellowships and more experience ones with national reputations. The residents were an outstanding bunch and I think they go out of their way to make life easier for each other. I also love the fact that they have a nightfloat system, making the senior years much easier. Madison is a sweet town and I also have the draw of family in the area.

2. University of Iowa- I thought this program also had everything one could want for their training. They have huge reputation and they lived up to it on interview day. The staff seemed very responsive to residents, although I heard morning didactics/conferences can get intense at times. The residents were a fun group and I think Iowa City is more tolerable then most would expect.

3. University of Minnesota- This is another program I would be extremely happy to match at; they have a combination of strong research, operative experience and clinic exposure. I love the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, the only problem is you have to drive all over it to get to their hospitals (I hate driving- or more specifically I hate sitting in traffic- so this was a negative for me.) Some people like the fact you get exposure to multiple hospitals/clinics, but I wanted something more centrally located.

4. Mayo Clinic- I rotated here and though they have an amazing program in a not-so-amazing city. They have facilities that are second to none and a staff that has the national reputation and high powered research to get you in any fellowship you could want. I really like the program director, Dr. Hanssen. The mentorship setup (all services, except trauma, are one attending with one resident) is something that had both positives and negatives for me, but in the end I feel like I wanted a program that had more resident interaction. They have excellent didactics, especially for the second years- with six months of protected afternoons for basic science/clinical lecture/anatomy lab. The biggest downer is Rochester, MN, but if you are already married it wouldn't be that bad of a town to raise a family in and there were some hot nurses…

5. Medical College of Wisconsin- This program was solid and has very well-rounded training, but I think they might spend too much time on trauma. They have great facilities and I really thought the residents were a good bunch. Milwaukee is a pretty cool city that was better than I thought it was going to be.

6. University of Chicago- Great program, I just don't like Chicago. I thought their chair, Dr. Peabody, was one of the funniest people I came across on the trail, he would be great to train under.

7. Saint Louis University- If not for the sixth year, could have been higher. Their trauma staff is fantastic, along with their residents. One of the peds attendings, Dr. Puryear, is one of the most pro resident/student attendings out there, really a great asset to the program.

8. Case Western- I thought they were a great program, just didn't like Cleveland that much. Also, I am a little wary of the way they pick the two residents for the six year track (i.e. they make the residents pick amongst themselves and if two don't step up...)

9. Loyola- Solid program, I just don't want to live (or drive) in Chicago.

10. University of Kansas- KC is a nice city and I thought they had a solid program. They have a great group of residents that help make life easier on each other.

11. University of Missouri- This is a program on the rise, I was very impressed with their soon to be new "Missouri Orthopaedic Center," it is basically an independent ortho hospital, where the will do most of their elective cases and house their short stay patients.

12. Wash U- They have amazing facilities and research opportunities, but I felt like things were a little too stuffy there for my tastes.

13. University of Illinois at Chicago- I don't think their probation is a real issue, but why take the chance? Also, as previously stated, I don't like Chicago.

I matched at my #1, University of Wisconsin, needless to say I am extremely excited.

Some additional advice:
1. Away rotations- The most important weapon in your arsenal, but you only get 2 or 3 so choose carefully. I think you should only rotate at a place if you really want to go there, otherwise it is a waste of a valuable resource. I would not recommend rotating at a school just to get letters. Although I did not experience it, I have heard of schools that won't interview rotator unless they meet prerequisites (which might make you ask yourself why would they even let them rotate there in the first place...) so check out your top choices ahead of time.
While on service, work your tail off! It is basically a 4 week interview and make them want you. Always be working, whether that means showing up early to pre-round on your own (which residents LOVE), helping to write orders, getting supplies for a splint, transferring patients to and from the OR table, etc… NEVER just sit there and watch people do things, you must be the one working!

2. Boards: I think Step1 is important for getting interviews, but don’t be fooled into thinking this is the only variable that programs look at. You are more than your board score, on the other hand don’t forget that it is the one objective score on your CV, so study enough to do well.

3. Research: It is almost getting to the point where this is a must. You need to have something in this area. If you are a first year reading this, get started now, it is never to early to do research. Also remember, don’t pad your CV by putting projects down that you only helped a resident out on for a couple afternoons. You must know your projects inside and out, as you will be discussing them throughout interviews.

4. AOA: It certainly doesn’t hurt, but I think if you at least have some honors/A’s on your transcript you will be OK.

5. Letter of Rec: My first piece of advice is try get them as early as you can, as it can seem like pulling teeth when you try get attendings to submit their letters on time. I would also say, try get a great letter first and foremost, if it happens to be a well known orthopod then that is just icing on the cake. Don’t make the mistake of getting a mediocre letter from a big name, it is not to your advantage.

Good luck to all the students out there, just keep on keepin’ on.

Med school: solid west coast public
Preclinical: no grades, top 10-15%
3rd yr: 5/6 honors
4th yr: All honors, including 3 ortho sub-I's
Not AOA
Step I 243, step II 241
Research: OREF Fellowship, 1 pub, 2 conference podium presentations
Extracurricular: lots of teaching
Apps: 48
Offers: 15
Interviews made: 12
Rank List:
1. UCSF: Rotated here and liked the residents and emphasis on didactics, great research opportunities, and opportunity for training in developing countries. SF is a ridiculously nice city albeit expensive. Lots of personal reasons thrown in.
2. Stanford: Ranked it so high for personal reasons. Have to admit lifestyle was attractive.
3. OHSU: Rotated here; attendings were very friendly and did a lot of teaching in the OR--program has many young faces who are very enthusiastic and feel they are creating something special there. Yoo is tirelessly trying to put this program on the map and is a huge resident advocate. Fantastic affordable city.
4. UCLA: Surprisingly down-to-earth for its storied reputation. Was told by my interviewer that I would be doing a fellowship when I leave--however, despite the lower volume and delay of operative experience the residents emphasize that they learn to do procedures the right way. Residents were very friendly and I would have loved to train among them. Lifestyle a plus. Can't beat 75 degrees in January although the rent on the west side is Manhattan-esque. Traffic is a nightmare too. Were family issues not a factor, I would have ranked this program much closer to the top.
5. UC Davis: Rotated here--these guys work harder than anyone else as far as I can tell...also seemed to be the most confident residents in the OR because of it. Only holes right now are tumor and maybe foot/ankle but they have people coming in for these imminently. Sacramento is the most affordable of the CA programs but surprisingly dull -- however, it is close to non-dull places like Tahoe and the Bay Area.
6. Tufts: very small program with some holes in it--like having to rotate out of town for polytrauma training and lacking tumor. Even so, there is a friendly close-knit vibe among the residents and between residents and faculty that stood out immediately. They claim to have a nice lifestyle. Feel like I could have had more time to myself and family there.
7. Harvard: Ever growing program that seemed to offer exposure to everything under the sun with a name that probably would open doors to any fellowship I want. Seemed too big and spread out to me though, and one res said he had a hard time finding an attending who knew him well enough to write an insightful letter of rec for fellowship training.
8. USC: Not at all impressed on interview day--can't imagine how they got to know me in two 10 minute interviews--LA County General Hospital is a frightening building if there ever was one although a new hospital is on the way so facilities should improve and basics like a PACS system should be in place. I didn't encounter another program with q3-4 mandatory in-house call for seniors and the pay scale starts in the 30's in an expensive city. Strangely, they questioned my willingness to venture out of my "region" even though I am west coast because I am not from SOUTHERN CA. Despite all this they cover everything and the case load is huge and you'd get plenty of exposure/OR time. The only reason it isn't ranked last or not ranked at all is it was a last gasp to stay in the West.
9. Wisconsin: Really loved this program. The attendings who interviewed me were the most down-to-earth nice guys I met on the entire trail. I would have loved to train there but Madison is a little rural for me and my family, and a little far from home. Clearly though a fantastic program that might have been #1 were it west of the Rockies.
10. Boston U: Solid program. Excellent training with lots of contact time with Tornetta...you'd definitely know your trauma coming out of here.
11. Dartmouth: Another great place with humble, friendly attendings and a seemingly nice group of tight knit residents. Again, a little too remote, cold, far from home.

Did not rank: Mayo Clinic...my wife would have left me if we landed in Rochester, MN. Still, the resources here are mind-boggling.

Matched at UCSF

Med school: top 20 midwest
Preclinical: grades were P/F
3rd yr: Mostly honors, a few high passes (including surgery and medicine)
4th yr: All honors, including a gen surg sub-I and 3 ortho months
AOA
Step I 251, Step II 254
Research: Some basic science research early in med school; got involved with an ortho project late in my third year, which yielded a podium presentation
Extracurricular: sports and service work

Aways: just one - Rush

Apps: 46
Offers: 23
Interviews made: 16

Interviewed at:
U of Chicago, Rochester, Penn, Carolinas Med Ctr, NYU-HJD, Case Western, Pittsburgh, U of Wisconsin, Rush, Cleveland Clinic, Georgetown, UIC, Grand Rapids, Beaumont, U of Michigan, Henry Ford

I’m gonna list my ROL by tiers (rank within tiers in no particular order)
1-2: NYU-HJD, Penn
3-5: Carolinas, Wisconsin, Case Western
6-8: Grand Rapids, Beaumont, U of Chicago
9-11: Cleveland Clinic, U of Michigan, Henry Ford
12-13: Georgetown, Pittsburgh
14-16: Rush, UIC, Rochester

Matched at NYU-HJD and couldn’t be happier. Some thoughts on a few programs:

NYU-HJD - Loved this place on interview day. Large residency, but the residents get along so well it doesn’t feel that way. Training is very hands-on. Zuckerman, the chair, cares a lot about resident education. Great mix of hospitals. Little high-speed blunt trauma, but the couple months they spend away at Shock, etc. makes up for it.

Penn - This is place is awesome. The energy the residents and faculty have for this program is second-to-none. The faculty place a tremendous emphasis on resident education. There’s been some issues lately with faculty retention, but I wasn’t particularly worried about that. Would have been very happy here.

Carolinas - Very unique set up here, with 3-month preceptorships, where each resident works one-on-one with one or two faculty for the entirety of each block. Really liked the residents and faculty here, and Charlotte is awesome. It wasn’t ranked higher because I felt like there wasn’t enough of a team environment on a day-to-day basis (i.e. people did their one-on-one thing and then went home).

Wisconsin - Very friendly place with down-to-earth residents and faculty. Beautiful hospital with the VA right next door. Madison is great. I got the impression from a couple residents that sometimes the operative experience isn’t as hands-on as they’d like, but I’m not sure about how much of problem that actually is, if at all.

Case Western - Very happy residents, very good training. I really liked the breadth of experience with the University Hospital, VA, and Metro County. The chief year is sweet, with 4 months as a hospital chief at each place. The “Russian roulette” for the research year is a bit of a turn-off, though.

U of Chicago - Great place with a lot of positive energy by the faculty and residents. Not many faculty, though, and that results in some double-scrubbing and a limited exposure to different techniques.

Grand Rapids - Almost didn’t go on this interview, but I’m glad I did. Tremendous operative experience, with the chiefs graduating with >3000 cases each. The program’s a bit decentralized, so that was a bit of a downside. Grand Rapids is so-so.

Pittsburgh - I went to this interview thinking that I’d love this place, but I didn't leave with the best feeling about it. I guess I just don’t buy into the hype. I got the impression that the fellows are the primary focus, and the residents often play second-fiddle. I thought it was very telling that fellows, not residents, gave us the tour of the sports complex.

Rush - Rotated here. The residents and faculty are great people. It’s a pretty chill environment overall. I was worried by the operative experience, though. In the majority of cases that I saw, the residents did a lot of watching. It’s true that you can land just about any fellowship you want coming out of this place, but I was looking for a more hands-on experience in a residency.

Rochester - Seriously a great program. Only reason I ranked it so low was because I really didn't want to live in Rochester.


Best of luck to all those applying this year. It’s a long and stressful process, but things usually have a way of working out the end.

Sorry for the length...but I have found these posts interesting and helpful in the past so I thought I’d share my thoughts…

Midwest State School
Pre-clinical Grades- Mostly honors (a few HP’s and a couple P’s)
3rd Year Grades- Honors in everything but Ob/Gyn
4th Year Grades- Honors in all of my 5 ortho rotations including 2 aways
Step 1: 254
Step 2: 260 (took it late and not available to programs)
Senior AOA
Research: Ortho pub in AJSM w/ presentation at AOSSM conference, 2nd paper has been accepted for presentation at AOSSM this summer.
Other: Chair of Ortho Student Interest Group, some community work activities, and lots of clinical ortho experience prior to medical school

Applied to 42, received ~22 interviews (+/- 1 or 2…can’t remember). Went on 13…canceled 3-4 because I just couldn’t take traveling all over and answering the same questions over and over any more.

Went to…UVa, Duke, WashU, UCLA, Wisconsin, UC Davis, Pitt, Loyola, Dartmouth, Oregon, Indiana, USC, William Beaumont

Canceled/turned down- Campbell Clinic, Mayo, Cleveland Clinic, Grand Rapids, MCW, George Washington…couple more that I can’t think of off the top of my head

Here’s the list…

1. University of Virginia- Rotated here and agree with things posted about the program in other threads. It's a solid program in all areas. Excellent operative experience, excellent didactics, Dr. Chhabra is an awesome PD, the residents and faculty were great. Very strong in sports. However, probably the biggest reason I ranked UVa #1 was that I really liked all of the residents I worked with. They seemed like a great, down-to–earth, group of residents. They worked very hard…but they seemed to enjoy doing it. I could also see myself working with them for the next 5 years. The chiefs were all extremely impressive and if I am at their level when I am done, I will be thrilled. I also loved Charlottesville. It is gorgeous out there! I was a little leery about the 10 months in Roanoke at first, but all of the residents seem to love this rotation. Definitely “surgery camp” and you come out of there performing TONS of cases as a primary surgeon. The Roanoke rotation gives UVa an awesome private practice experience for a big academic program. This is an experience that you may not get at other academic places. There are also tons of research opportunities which was important to me.

2. Duke- Very impressed by Duke. Had heard a variety of positive and negative things going into the interview so I was a little skeptical, but I was blown away by the interview day and it soared up my list. The residents all seemed easy to get along with and I was extremely impressed by the faculty I interviewed with. Had heard going in that 2nd looks were almost required, but that was okay. After interview day I was eager to go back and see if what I saw on my interview was for real. For the most part it was… Really a great group of residents. They are all intelligent and hard working, and fun to be with. I spent time with the sports guys and loved it! Drs. Garrett, Hardaker, Moorman and Taylor all seemed like great guys and would have loved to work and train with all of them and I didn’t see fellows stealing any cases. The things that kept me from ranking it #1 was probably my comfort level with everyone in Charlottesville and that I felt I probably fit in just a little better at UVa. Durham wasn’t as bad I had heard… It is shockingly affordable and the weather is great… Still, would have been extremely happy to match there… Also...didn't like the feeling that to have a chance to match there I had to tell them that they were my #1...

3. WashU- Also rotated here and really liked this program. The facilities were phenomenal, the faculty were impressive and the residents were great. I think you would have a hard time finding a better collection of faculty. Not only are they huge names, but they are all pretty approachable from what I saw. As has been mentioned before…the didactics are phenomenol. The residents were maybe a little more serious or “stuffy”as some people have put it, but they were all pretty cool and easy to get along with while I was out there. The 2nd years I got to know were extremely impressive and had a tremendous amount of knowledge so early on in their training. This says a lot about the teaching at WashU. There is primarily a mentoring/preceptorship style of teaching here and despite all of the chatter about not getting to operate… that isn’t what I saw. Maybe don’t operate quite as much as a PGY-2…but still get to operate a good amount and the PGY-3’s and 4’s I worked with were excellent in the OR. There are tons of fellows however not once did a fellow steal a case from one of the residents the entire month I was there. It may be different on spine or joints…but it wasn’t that way on the sports or hand services. It is mostly one-on-one training and the fellows have their own faculty to work with… The only reason that I didn’t rank #1 is that I wasn’t sure how well I clicked with Dr. Wright the PD. I spent a couple weeks with him and just couldn’t get a read on what he thought of me and I am just not sure how well we clicked…so that knocked WashU down a couple spots. After my experience there and spending time on the interview trail…I truly believe it is easily one of the best training programs in the country. I also love St. Louis. Not the best place to visit for a day or so...but I lived there for ~3 years while in grad school and fell in love with it. TONS of things to do and very affordable.

4. Wisconsin- Also an unbelievable program. I loved this place and Dr. Z seemed like an awesome guy who really is focused on providing residents with an awesome training experience. As has been said above…it was also easily one of the best groups of residents that I met on the interview trail. All were down-to-earth, easy to get along with, and really seemed like good guys. They also get awesome training with a pretty good lifestyle, and still get awesome fellowships. The only thing that kept them this low on the list is that my wife hates the cold. She really wanted to go to a warmer place if at all possible. Madison is an awesome town however. Very easily could have been my #1 as well.

5. UCLA- Also very surprised by UCLA. I thought the interview day was fantastic. Great group of residents. I enjoyed all of the faculty I met with. Can’t beat the weather. I grew up in CA so would have enjoyed going back…the bad side is that LA is so expensive. Having lived in the Midwest for several years with a wife, a daughter, 2 dogs and used to owning a big house…it would have been a difficult transition to move back to a smaller place that we would have to rent. Still a few questions about the operative experience…but in the end I think they still come out well trained. The fellowship list is UNBELIEVABLE!!! If it wasn’t for the cost and change in my family’s lifestyle…also could have easily have been my #1.

6. UC Davis- Good solid program. Definitely seems trauma heavy with a questionable lifestyle, but overall it seemed well rounded. Good group of residents who all seemed happy to be there but work VERY HARD. It is about an hour or so from where I grew up…so that also moved it up the list. Interview was pretty rough… that turned me off a little. Sacramento is pretty affordable for CA and the ski slopes in Tahoe are just a short drive away.

7. Loyola- Very solid all around. Trauma heavy from what I have heard...perhaps maybe the best all around training of any of the programs in Chicago? Residents all seemed pretty tight knit and were very easy to get along with. The faculty all seemed like good guys and I think I would have enjoyed working with them. Not in the greatest part of town…but far enough out from downtown that you could buy a place if you wanted to but close enough to live downtown if you didn’t mind renting a place. 6 months of dedicated basic science research but you also can do an international rotation during that time…thought that was very cool!

8. William Beaumont- The best facilities I have seen...period. Great training program with great operative experience with excellent faculty in all specialties. My wife is from Detroit and my in-laws live there…which was a plus and a minus. The only thing that I was concerned with is that they seem to kill their 2nd year residents. Life is much better after that year, but it sounds like a very rough year. Excellent community program.

9. Indiana- Great bunch of residents that are all pretty easy to get along with. There has been quite a bit of turnover and turmoil in the department in the past few years…so the program has been a little unstable…but it seems to be on the right track now. There are a few great young faculty that enjoy teaching but also a few older faculty that don’t seem quite as interested. Have to go off campus for spine, hand and sports as there are none on campus. Hand and spine rotations are great…but on sports you don’t really get to do too much. This was a big negative for me. Indy is a nice enough city. It is affordable, easy to get around, and the people are friendly. You will be trained well enough to go out into general practice if you want, and many do. Research is not a big emphasis. Many go into general practice but some get good fellowships (Andrews for sports, Parkland for Trauma, etc…). The turmoil and the lack of sports put it lower on my list.

10. Dartmouth- It reminded me a lot of Wisconsin’s program. Great residents, great faculty, great hospital, great lifestyle, just way out in the middle of nowhere and cold as hell. I think it was 8 below on my interview day. Great skiing in the area however! Seemed like all of the residents hit the slopes post call. What kept it lower on my list was the fact that it was a little remote. I would have been very happy here…just not sure the cold and not having a mall within an hours drive would have gone over too well with the family…

11. Oregon- I thought the program was very solid and residents got great training. As has been mentioned above, I think it is definitely a program on the way up. Dr. Yoo seems like a great chair and very interested in developing a great training program. Great group of residents, very family friendly, good lifestyle, and a great place to live. I loved Portland and the hospital is GORGEOUS!!! Research is somewhat of a weakness (at least for me…maybe a plus if you want an academic place without too much hardcore research). My wife has family near by but ultimately decided she didn’t like the rain…I didn’t mind it. I think I would have loved living in Portland.

12. Pitt- Everybody seems to love this program…but I also didn’t think that it was a good fit for me. I am sure it is a great program and they have big time faculty and awesome research, but I just felt like someone trying to sell me something. They put on a good show. They have great facilities….and the Steelers/Pitt training facilities are impressive…but since I’m not playing football there…I’m not so sure how productive it was to spend most of the day showing me the training facilities. Dr. Fu is an amazingly charismatic guy and really seems to want to conquer the world of orthopaedics, but I question how much residents actually get to do on the sports service with either him or Harner. The fellows made it seem like they do a majority of the cases with the residents assisting them. Didn’t get to meet too many of the residents except those in their research year...which is pushed HEAVILY. As mentioned above…the fellows gave the tour… Also...didn't like the pressure to tell them where I was ranking them. Just didn’t seem to be what I was looking for.

13. USC- VERY TRAUMA HEAVY. They laughed at me when I asked if people tended to go into trauma or do trauma fellowships after residency. I think that you would leave as a very skilled surgeon. Not sure about the lifestyle… They seemed to work their residents pretty hard with lots of trauma call. LA county hospital was a little scary…but it is being replaced by a nice new shiny hospital. The interview day was very disorganized and I didn’t get to meet very many residents. I ended up sitting around for 4-5 hours waiting for my interview, even then…there were still people going 1-2 hours after me!!! The resident pay is horrible here…and LA isn’t cheap. That kept it down on the list but I definitely think you would come out as an excellent surgeon.

14. Darmouth 6yr- Really cool research year. If I didn’t have a Master’s degree already…it would have been very intriguing… If you are willing to do a 6 yr program and want a career doing clinical research, this sounds like an awesome experience.
15. UC Davis 6yr
16. Pitt 6 year

My top three were really 1a, 1b, and 1c. I had a very hard time separating them and really had to use small, nit-picky little things to find a way to separate them. It came down to things such as which program director I enjoyed being around more, where my wife would be the happiest, which had the better weather, which faculty I would enjoy working with a little more, but in all honesty…all could have been my #1 and I would have been ecstatic to train at any of them! All are unbelievable programs.

Matched at my #1 UVa!!!

Extremely excited about it and I’m ready to move out to Charlottesville! This is obviously a very personal decision as I really thought pretty much all of the places I was fortunate to receive interviews at were excellent. I thought before hitting the interview trail that my decision would be much easier, but in the end, I thought that pretty much all of the programs I went to were great. I just think that UVa was the best fit for me and it was what I was looking for in a training program. In the end, UVa was a place that I knew I would receive excellent training with a great operative experience, I would be able to get pretty much any fellowship I was interested in, I knew I would enjoy the people I would be working with, and a place where my wife and I would enjoy living and spending 5 years raising our daughter. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Feel free to PM me if you have any other questions..

Med school: Midwest state school
Preclinical: 1st year all pass, 2nd year all honors
Clerkships: Honored all except OB, Psych, ER
AOA
Step I: 246
Step2: 255 (got score mid-January)
Research: Basic science undergrad research with 2 pubs; 2 ortho projects during med school each with a publication (one was presented at the Academy this year).
Extracurriculars: Sports, but no leadership stuff

Aways: one at Grand Rapids

Apps: 43
Offers: 29
Interviews made: 15

Interviewed at:
U of Chicago, Case Western, U of Wisconsin, Rush, Cleveland Clinic, Grand Rapids, Beaumont, Ohio State, Vermont, Iowa, U of Washington, U of Utah, Harvard, WashU, Minnesota

Did not attend: HSS, U of Cincinnati, both Akron programs, Allegheny, Hamot, Kalamazoo, Jefferson, OHSU, Mount Carmel, Nebraska, Dartmouth, Southern Illinois

I’m also going to list my ROL by tiers (rank within tiers in no particular order)
1-2: Utah, Wisconsin
3-5: Grand Rapids, U of Washington, Cleveland Clinic
6-9: Vermont, Beaumont, Case Western, Rush
10-15: Minnesota, Harvard, Ohio State, WashU, Iowa, U of Chicago


I'm extremely excited to have matched at Wisconsin!!

Some thoughts on programs in no particular order:

Utah - Loved this program. Thought it this and Wisconsin were the most well-rounded programs I saw on the interview trail. Residents and Faculty were very friendly and down to earth - my type of people. Good amount of level 1 trauma, but don't get beaten down with it. Great new facilities. Have heard from a few people that fellows can interfere on a few services, but residents were adamant that this was not a problem. I love Salt Lake City and the mountains. Nothing negative at all to say about this program.

Wisconsin - A lot of people have already commented on this program so I'll be brief. Extremely well-rounded, the people here are awesome - both residents and staff. Dr. Z is going to be an amazing chairman to work with. Good amount of trauma, great didactics. I love Madison. Salt Lake had mountains, Madison has beer and cheese. Can't go wrong either way.

Grand Rapids - I rotated here and loved the program. The residents are an amazing group of people to work with and do everything they can to make each other's lives easier. Phenomenal trauma experience with extremely busy Level 1 trauma center. There is nowhere on my rank list you will operate more than here. The call schedule is pretty brutal the first 2 ortho years, but gets better your last 2. I put this behind UT and WI because I thought didactics were weaker and location was not as desirable as Salt Lake and Madison.

U of Washington - I think this is one of the top programs in the country in terms of the training you get. Unbeatable trauma experience, but have heard that you don't operate on trauma until your chief year due to all the trauma fellows. Brutal first and second year, but life is good after that. Great didactics. More top-heavy operative experience then I was looking for. Seattle is a great city, but extremely expensive and traffic is horrible. Would come out of this place being a great orthopod.

Cleveland Clinic - I was extremely impressed with this program on interview day. The faculty seemed very friendly and approachable, while they were all leaders in their field. Teaching here is amazing and it seems like they get a ton of operative experience with community rotations every year of residency. Trauma is definitely their weakness - I happen to believe that good trauma exposure is crucial for orthopaedic training so this was a big concern for me. Very heavy emphasis on research. Cleveland is pretty blah.

Vermont - I thought this was a great training program. They don't have tumor, but are in the process of recruiting. Residents and Faculty were among the best I met on the interview trail. Good trauma and didactics. This would have been higher on my list, but Burlington is a little isolated and far away from family.

William Beaumont - Great community program with academic tendencies. Great facilities, residents operate a ton, nice lifestyle except for second year. There was nothing I didn't like about this program except for Detroit.

Case Western - Very strong program all around with a great group of residents. They had great facilities and research opportunities. They get very good trauma exposure and seem to operate a ton. Again, Cleveland was very blah, but what killed this program for me was the "russian roulette" for the research year. I like research, but don't feel the need to dedicate a year to it.


I'm tired of typing and wrote blurbs about all the other programs in a previous thread. There was nowhere that I interviewed that I didn't think you would get good training. It came down to a lot of personal preference. I wanted to be able to afford a house and not spend a lot of time sitting in traffic. I put emphasis on working with a great group of people vs. working at a big name/reputation program. Things worked out perfectly in the end and I couldn't be happier about training at Wisconsin for the next 5 years! Good luck to all who will go through this next year!

Med school: Solid Northeast public
Preclinical: Honored 2/3rds
3rd yr: Honored Surg, OB/Gyn, Internal Med
4th yr: All honors, including 4 ortho sub-I's
AOA, Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society
Step I 241, step II 235 (Mistakenly checked the ERAS box to release score, so wasn't available for interviews but was sent to all programs just before rank list submission)
Research: >4yrs neuro/HIV research prior to med school. 3 Neuro pubs w/ one 1st author. Clinical oculoplastic surgery trial in Nepal between 1st & 2nd yr med school - had submitted manuscript for pub by interviews. 3rd/4th yr med, did interesting study using biomarkers to predict risk of post-traumatic knee OA following ACL tears. Was brought up at every interview.
Life before med school - Spent 2 yrs in CO being a ski/rock climbing/mountain biking bum. 4yrs in Army as medic. 4yrs doing research in Boston.
Apps: 40
Offers: 14
Interviews made: 13 (UCSF, Vermont, BU, Tufts, UMass, UW, HSS, NYU-HJD, Stanford, UC Davis, Colorado, Rochester, Florida-Shands). Couldn't go to Baylor.

I no particular order:
UCSF - Rotated here and loved it. Extremely well balanced. GREAT operative experience. Residents (Juniors & Seniors) had top-notch op skills even in complicated cases. Top research support, Chiefs get top fellowships. Great didactics. Will work extremely hard on Joints, and Spine. Dr. Vail is amazing joint surgeon, has a great vision for UCSF, and is amazingly nice. He's probably what really sold me on the program. New ortho bldg will be finished by 2009. San Fran is awesome, obviously $$$$

Vermont - Rotated here and absolutely loved it. GREAT op experience. Chief to chief, I would place these guys near/at the top in the country. Tightest-knit group of residents I've met. All attendings great surgeons and all are pro-resident. No fellows. Chair- Dr. Nichols (Sports) is a HUGE asset to program. Are adding tumor/peds attending, as well as sports, arhroplasty, and hand & UE. Small (3 res/yr) but might be expanding to 4 soon. Brand new ortho clinic building. Really strong in Spine.

HSS - Didn't rotate here but loved the interview. Appeared that the residents operate a ton. Claimed they did skin to skin primary joints as interns. BEST perks of any program in country (Any sporting event, broadway, opera, annual party at Rockefeller private estate, Casparry estate in the Catskills). All attendings I spoke with pre- and during interview were really friendly and approachable. Had great down to earth talk with Sculco. Tons of residents, but so much volume that doesn't matter. Great cold trauma but a little weak in high energy blunt trauma. Will rarely see acute spinal long bone trauma. Housing a +++. Would love to do a fellowship here.

NYU-HJD - Big program. Residents work extremely hard and play hard. Thought trauma experience would be much better than HSS due to rotation at VA in Queens where there is a lot of high speed blunt trauma. Plus they have the option of rotating in Tampa or Maryland? No longer rotating in Seattle. Zuckerman will be AAOS pres. HUGE name. Will get pretty much get any fellowship you want (they had 9/12 res go into Sports this yr and all got great fellowships). Huge research. NYC is $$$ w/ little housing support. Subsidized studio is $1300/mo.

Rochester - Would be the best residency program in country if not in Rochester. Although I have never lived there or really visited. Residents and attendings say they love it there, many attendings have been there for 10+ yrs and came from other parts of country.

Univ of Florida - Shands - Probably nicest outpt/clinic/research ortho facility of all places I interviewed at. Dr. Gearen is extremely nice and is actively recruiting top notch attendings. Most residents were from Southeast or Texas, all were really nice, all were really proud of program. Big tumor, big sports. Great college sports. Gainesville isn't most exciting city, but close to Gulf, Jacksonville, Orlando.

Boston U - Will work extremely hard, will be a great surgeon (esp in trauma), residents get top fellowships. Residents like to party. Tornetta is OTA pres, showed up at post-interview party in shorts.

Tufts - Overall good program. Just felt like it was too fractionated because some hospitals so far apart. NE Baptist hosp is top notch ortho hosp. Great fellowships there. Interview day was a little inefficient - had 60 applicants on 1 day, two 30min interviews, was there for 7hrs.

UMass - Didn't know anything about it before interviewing. Was really impressed. Busiest trauma hosp in MA. Seemed well rounded in all sub-specialties except tumor (No op tumor, just clinic exposure). Residents were great. Research is now huge since Craig Mellow (sp?) just received the Nobel prize. Dr. Ayers has BIG visions for UMass incl ortho only hosp. Really good pre-interview dinner at country club.

UC Davis - GREAT trauma experience. Pretty well rounded in all sub-specialties. New chair has realisitic visions of making program a top program. REALLY strong in Peds. Shriners hosp looks like the Taj Majal. Rapidly increasing research. Won't see Sacramento in Top 10 cities in America, but Yosemite, Tahoe, Napa, Sonoma, and San Fran are really close by. The residents I talked to really utilize their location. Plus you can buy a house here unlike SF or Palo Alto.

UW - Undoubtedly the best trauma in the country for one program. Residents won't be scared of anything coming out of here. HUGE names there Matsen, Hansen, Conrad,... Residents did say most trauma op exp comes as 3,4, & 5 w/ very little in PGY2. Matsen got almost teary eyed describing how much he loves this program and how proud he is of the residents coming out of here. Seattle and it's are is MECCA for outdoor activities. I lived just south of Tacoma for 3yrs and winters aren't as rainy & dreary as the uninformed perception suggests.

Colorado - Had program at bottom of list before interview but moved it up considerably after interview. Definitely didn't get the malignant vibe that this website has suggested exists there. Couple of the Chiefs did say their 1st couple of yrs were "malignant", but work hrs, new attendings, and a different attitude has pretty much abolished that. Really strong in Peds and trauma. New peds only hosp. Location - it's Colorado!

Stanford - Rotated here. Friendly congenial vibe. All sports attenings are awesome esp w/ recent addition of Safran from UCSF. There are 4 sports fellows which I thought hurt the R2's op experience considerably, but R4 operated a ton. Caragee, Alamin, & Cheng are great spine surgeons and very pro-resident. Told that trauma is strong at County hosp. Supposedly, VA does most joints in the country. Didactics a little lacking (just one day/week, which is +/-). Fellow heavy in joints. Thought interview day portrayed a malignant vibe, they still have the debate room. Got pimped BIG time in research room. No shiny folder, so-so lunch. Chairman didn't give a welcoming talk in morning, but he was friendly during 1-on-1 interview. It's good/really good residency program now and will be a great one soon. Increasing attendings and #of residents san increase in # of fellows.

Matched at UCSF. I'm PUMPED, wife is PUMPED, life is good...

Whew, sorry so winded. If you have specific questions feel free to pm me. GOODLUCK!

Med School: Public southeast- not sure of rank (probably middle tier)
Pre-clinical: 4.0 GPA
3rd Year: A's in all core rotations
4th year: A's on all ortho rotations (home and 2 aways)
Junior AOA, Class rank 1/159
Step I-263, Step II-272 (Score was released but only one place mentioned it. Didn't take until December.)
Research: Worked on one ortho project between 1st and 2nd year. Did not get my name on it, but was familiar enough with it to discuss.
Extracurricular: Does having kids count? Intramurals and some community service type stuff.
Aways: Vanderbilt and Emory
Applied programs: 30
Interviews offered: Duke, UNC, UVA, UK, UT Southwestern, MCG, Campbell Clinic, Vanderbilt, Chattanooga, Arkansas, UAB, UF-Gainesville, Maryland, WashU, Miami-Jackson, Greenville, USC-Richland, Union-MD, Emory(interviewed while rotating)
Interviews attended: Duke, UNC, Emory, Campbell Clinic, Vandy, Chattanooga, UAB, UF-Gainesville, WashU

Programs in no particular order:
1) Duke- Fantastic interview day! Dr. Hardaker puts a great amount of work into the process and it shows. Made me feel very welcome and wanted. Every sub-specialty is well covered and the residents seem like a cool group of guys. Residents love their program and take pride in it. Only negative was that I felt there was pressure to keep in close touch and let them know what you were thinking. All in all a great program.
2) UNC- The chair Dr. Dirschl is very charismatic and engaging. Had everyone over to his house the night before the interview. Rotations are set up with the mentoring system which can be great or not so great depending on the situation. Chapel Hill is a great location as well.
3) Emory- Loved this program. One of the coolest group of residents around. Work extremely hard, but have a good time doing it. Great mix of urban trauma at Grady and private practice at Executive Park, Emory University, etc..) Residents knew their stuff and were very capable in the OR. The chairman Dr. Roberson is incredible to work with and is a great teacher. Dr. Wright at Grady is also a great mentor/role model.
4) Campbell Clinic- Similar to Emory in the great mix of resident autonomy at the Med and one on one attending time in the private setting. Strength of the program are the residents. Again they work very hard, but all look out for each other. Great group of guys who are wonderful to work with and respected by all the other residency programs there. Appropriate early operative experience and had the feeling that when you leave here you are ready for pretty much anything.
5) Vanderbilt- Also a great program. Residents were all very bright and a fun group. Well known staff and all the upper level residents were headed for top-flight fellowships. Plus Nashville is a great place to live. The Vanderbilt Orthopedic Institute facilities are extremely nice.
6) UF- Dr. Gearen and Dr. Scarborough are both incredible. The facilities were the nicest I saw throughout the interview process. Great sports and tumor exposure.
7) Chattanooga- Great resident group. Smaller community program which offers many of the perks of working in a private hospital such as PA's, cast techs, dictation services, etc... Chattanooga is a great city especially if you have a family. Staff were all very approachable.
8) WashU- Incredible program. Interview experience was designed to be a little intimidating, but I thought it made it interesting. Best didactic design I saw other than possibly Duke. Felt the residents were getting plenty of cases. Big names on staff and Dr. Gelberman will continue that trend.
9)UAB- Solid program. Dr. Volgas seems intent on turning it into more of a research driven residency. Residents work hard and operate a ton. Well trained when you finish there.

Matched at my #1 Campbell Clinic! Felt this was the best place for me to train. Loved the residents and staff here and felt I fit in really well. Great mix of training experiences and well known staff (Beaty, Canale, Azar, etc...) Plus I have family in Memphis which made it even more attractive. Good luck to everyone next year.

Med school: Northeast state school
Preclinical: Mix of honors and high pass, more of the latter
Clerkships: Honored OBGYN (I dunno why or how), high passed the rest
Step I: 241
Step2: 243
Research: Undergrad basic science, first year some cancer research, then ortho oncology research
Extracurriculars: Student Council, Student-run clinic
Aways: Two
Apps: 60
Offers: 25
Interviews made: 16

Tier One:
Penn State-I really liked the balance in this program...everything is covered, and covered well. Residents were a great group and made me feel very welcomed...very strong camaraderie. Dr. Black is an amazing chairman, very passionate about resident education. Dr. Juliano, the program director, is likewise a true resident advocate. I also really liked the area...great for family life.
Loyola-Chicago-Awesome camaraderie amongst residents, maybe the closest bunch I saw. Great trauma experience, strong in hand and sports. Awesome leadership. Chicago is a great city to live and train in.
University of Chicago-Dr. Peabody really sold me on this program. His chalk talk was straight up the best I saw all interview season. Great group of residents. Only drawback was not a level 1, but this could be a plus depending on what you're looking for. Residents do get good trauma rotation at Loyola.
Tier Two:
UMDNJ-NJMS-I am very interested in both trauma and tumor, and this program probably has these subspecialties covered just as well as any in the country. Only drawback is location, but then again it is only 20 min. from NYC.
UPENN: I loved the residents here...they were so passionate about their program that it was tough not to put them first. Also great tumor experience. Facilities were amazing, and it's reputation speaks for itself. I just don't like Philadelphia.
Kalamazoo: Community program that I feel would train me to be an amazing orthopaedic surgeon. Great group of residents. Also really liked the area...affordable, family friendly, college town.
Ohio State: Great balance to the program, get university, VA, and community experience throughout training. Fun bunch of residents. College town, great atmosphere
Georgetown: Great didactics, good group of residents, great town. Only drawback was how expensive DC can be...but we'll be making money eventually.
Grand Rapids: Amazing operative experience. Residents spoke very highly of program, and I liked that many of the attendings were grads of the program who stayed in the area and are contributing back to education.
Tier 3:
UMDNJ-Robert Wood: Good group of residents, good sports experience.
Cincinnati: Great trauma experience, good hand too.
Akron General: Great community program, good tumor exposure, which was a plus.
St. Lukes: Great operative experience, fun group of residents. NYC is a little too expensive right now.
Monmouth: Good community program, but interview day was disorganized and kind of turned me off.
LIJ: Residents get amazing fellowships. Operate a ton. Just did not feel I'd fit in well.

I matched at my #1, Penn State, and could not be happier!! Looking forward to some great training and a good life in a wonderful area!

Congrats to all you future Orthopods. Matching into Ortho is a long, and sometimes confusing process. These threads helped me the past few months so I thought I would post my thoughts.

Med School: Midwestern State School
Pre-Clinical Grades: Most High Pass, scattered Honors, scattered Passes
Clinical Honors (4/6): Medicine, Surgery, Peds, Family Med
4th year: ortho home, ortho away (Rush), ICU, Research, General Medicine class (all Honors)
Boards: Step 1 (257), Step 2 (just took, don't know yet)
Research: One non ortho poster, One ortho project recently submitted for publication
4th year AOA
Leadership: Ortho Student Interest Group President
Applicatiosn: 40
Interview Offers: ~25
Interviews attended (chronological): Indiana, U of Michigan, Case Western, Ohio State, U of Kansas, U of Utah, MCoW, Rush, Wash U, Baylor, Nebraska, Vande

Comments: in chronological order
Indiana: Long interview day. A little concerned over recent turnover. I think they are on the right track now. Cool City.

Michigan: Very good group of residents. Very good fellowships. Very nice and approachable chairman. Good lifestyle in residency. Hired a new PD during interview season. Moonlighting is a positive. Solid education/academics. Would have been very happy in Ann Arbor.

Case Western: Very solid academic program. They interview a ton of people. The 2/6 chance of doing another year of research did not bother me. Cleveland is a tough sell. Just did not feel it on the interview day.

Ohio State: Good group of residents. Good Private ortho exposure. Moonlighting is a positive. Would not have minded the 6th year track either. Lengthy absence of chairman concerning for me.

U of Kansas: Good City. Good people. Not quite as academic of a feel as I was looking for. Would have been happy in KC though.

U of Utah: Came away with the best "gut feeling" out of any place I interviewed at. Great, diverse training with big names from big places in every sub-specialty. I think that helps residents get good fellowships. Was told by faculty that nearly everybody gets first or second choice of fellowship. Very strong Peds/Joint/Trauma experience. Lots of fellows, but I don't think they really get in the way, according to residents and staff. Down to earth faculty. Great new facility built at the foot of the mountains, which are awesome. Great climate/location. Can be as academic as you want, without it being crammed down your throat. Didactics must be strong because they ave ~90th percentile OITE scores yearly.

MCoW: Well-covered sub-specialties. Not quite as academic as I was looking for. Strange interview questions.

Rush: Rotated here and had a very good experience. Got along well with everybody. Not sure if I wanted to raise a family in Chicago, or drive in the traffic. Big name place that gives you big name fellowship opportunities.

WashU: Big name place with top-not facilities. Perhaps the best didactics of any place I saw. Interview was stuffy, as previously noted. Questioned if I wanted to spend 5 years in that environment. St. Louis was a less than ideal location for my family situation.

Baylor: Warm, and Houston was not that bad. Huge facilities. I got the feeling that residents really got killed with trauma throughout their residency. Not sure about the strength of didactics.

Nebraska: Very good people. Residents seem to get really good fellowships. Good lifestyle. Not quite as acaemic as I was looking for.

Vande: Impressive interview day. Very good program that everybody seemed to love. Warm climate. They advertise that they look for people interested in academic career. Good fellowships. Would have been happy here.

Match Results: I matched at my #1 choice, Utah. Very good fit for me and my family. We are not LDS, but I think we will fit into the program nicely and will enjoy Salt Lake City.

Advice: Weighing reputation against other factors is very difficult. On the one hand a great reputation helps with getting a solid fellowship. On the other hand, sometimes the environment can be a little stuffy for some people. You need to feel out programs for yourself and be honest with what type of program, and people, will make you happy. 5 years is a long time. I ended up ranking based on the combination of: quality of training, reputation, residents, family issues, and location. I think my top choice provided me with the best combination and am looking forward to my residency experience.

Congrats to all my fellow orthopods who matched and keep hope alive and stay focused on the goal to all who fell short.

Hope this post really helps some people. I know i watched these posts like a hawk when i was dreaming big.

MCAT: LOL! Didnt get in 1st go round- applied again
-Private Primary Care Focused School in SE (no ortho program, not single orthopod on faculty)
Preclinical-3.5 GPA (A-F grading system)
Clinical- 4.0
Aways- USC and Harbor-UCLA
Step I -238
Step II- 239 (studied 5 days and took new years eve- did not release)
Step II CS- still waiting on that and my refund!
AOA- Senior year (updated eras and emailed programs soon as i knew)
Research- 1 ortho project (no pubs, 1 poster, 2 oral presentations with that) 1 public/community healh project- oral presentation
Extracurricular- More than you can imagine
LORs- all strong, 2 ortho (one from TJ guru-which i thinked helped me a bunch) 2 GSurg (chairman and my advisor)
As u can tell by the screenname - I'm XX

Apps : 73 (5 of which LOR missed deadline so u can say 68 official apps)
Interview Offers: 32 (got almost NO love from southeast even though thats were im from, i have my theories but you can come up with your own)
Scheduled 21 due to conflicts.......ended up going to 16 (got tired and broke fast)
Attended: UChicago, UCSF, HSS, Stanford, UPenn, USC, Harbor-UCLA, UVA, UFJville, UTSW, Carolinas, Duke, NYU-HJD, Howard, Hopkins, St. Lukes-Roosevelt

Rank List- I did mine in tiers too (not in order either)
Ranked by where i wanted to be location wise, how well i thought i would fit in
1-3 NYU-HJD, UPenn, USC
4-7 UCSF, UVA, Duke, Harbor-UCLA
8-11 Stanford, St. Lukes, Carolinas, UFJville
12-15 UTSW, UChicago, Hopkins, Howard
16-17 USCF 6yr, UPenn 6yr
Not ranked- HSS- awesome program, interesting interview day but got "will not rank you letter"

Matched at my # 3- UPenn! Phili here I come!

-Didn't get ANY phone calls post-interview so for all those 3rd years dont freak out with post-interview antics!

To all the underclassmen reading this- YOU CAN DO IT!!!
This is your life, your dream so claim it now! You will hit roadblocks, people will doubt and discourage you but YOU KNOW YOUR POTENTIAL!
Ortho is the best field in medicine HANDS DOWN!
And if your XX, more power to you. There is no such thing as being too pretty or too small to be an orthopod- never judge a book by its cover!

Any 3rd years reading this post have any questions about programs i interviewed, rotated at or my rank order list you are welcome to PM me.

Congrats again to all!

Found these helpful so I will contribute. Mine is relevant for the Midwestern applicant trying to get to either coast. Hope it helps.


Med School: Midwest State School
Preclinical Grades: 3.9 (ABC system)
3rd and 4th year: 4.0
Boards: Step I 245, Step II 258 <--(mentioned at a couple int in a + light)
Senior AOA
Research: One ns spine pub, basic science undergrad stuff
Extracurriculars: Class President and VP, D-1 athlete in undergrad (talked about often at interviews), 2 international trips in medicine (also brought up a lot). Bunch of other randomness.

Applied to 41 schools. All were OUT of the Midwest but two, and all were universtiy programs. Got 16 offers, went on 13. Ranked all 13 plus research years.

Schools in no particular order (every program I would endorse easily; I would have been happy to train at any one):

University of Washington: very renowned well balanced program with public hospital brutality at harborview and gentlemen's third and fourth year. Operate late. Matsen is the MAN. Great fellowships (really it seemed like everywhere did). Seattle is gorgeous and fun but with high COL and bad traffic.

University of Utah: Very solid program in an outdoor mecca. Some fellows, but residents didn't seem to mind them. Unbelievable ortho center. Friendly leadership. Only 5/25 in program and 47% of SLC is LDS so that shouldn't really stop anyone that would have a problem.

University of Oklahoma: Solid busy clinical program with a nice PD. Very family friendly with great housing. OKC is more fun than one might think esp with the sonics coming to town. (?) Hard working but close group.

Dartmouth: Nice program with some cool outcomes research. Small town but with lots of outdoor activities, and big cities only a couple of hours away. The away rotations in Boston were a turn off. A little expensive. Lots of snow.

OHSU: Lots of young, enthusiastic attendings. Cool city and nice hospital with tram to sweet clinic. Improving from everything I could tell. Nice chair.

USC: Crazy interview day with a ton of applicants. Trauma heavy program. Impressed with the resident presentations. LA is LA.

University of Vermont: Probably the closest knit group of residents I saw. Awesome "Bone Room" for the residents. Nice hospital with friendly PD. Burlington is kind of pricey but really pretty. Bundle up.

Virginia Commonwealth: Blue collar program that did not try to hide it. Richmond seemed like a nice city that is close to lots of stuff. Older facilities. Residents seemed to get along well.

University of Michigan: Solid, well-balanced program. Some of the happiest residents I met. Nice benifits since they unionize. Big hospital. Ann Arbor is a cool college town but kinda of pricey for the midwest. Pretty cold for not having any mountains nearby. Good Sports.

University of Florida: Really sweet program with probably the sweetest ortho facility of any I saw. Really cool chair. Renowned tumor. Gainesville is a nice little town that is affordable. Residents seemed really happy to be there. Some of the best benefits of any program since it is so well funded.

University of North Carolina: Solid program with a really cool chair. A unique approach (preceptor) that I would encourage anyone really interested in the program to probably check out first hand with a rotation. Chapel Hill is one cool college town with some great weather.

University of South Florida: New program with only a couple of classes. Chair and PD seemed really personable and passionate about developing the program. The easiest call schedule by far of any place I visited. Get to rotate at Fl Orth Inst with Sanders etc. Tons of potential.

Matched at: University of Rochester
A really solid, well-balanced program in an affordable city near outdoor activities (Adirondacks/Finger Lakes) and major cities (Toronto/NYC). A close group of residents that really seemed to like golfing which was a plus for me. A research powerhouse with #1 in NIH funding for Ortho Dept last year, especially in hard sciences with ample support staff. Level One trauma. Really nice orthopaedic clinic. Very nice chair. Housing very affordable but property taxes pretty high. Orthopaedic plastics on staff. 6 year ACGME accred.


For midwestern students trying to head east or west, I hope this post helps you all as much as they helped me. Play it safe and over-apply, especially with some back ups in the midwest just in case. (Chicago doesn't count.)

I would recommend any 2008 applicants who read this to post as well. Any future Yellowjackets feel free to PM me.

med school - top tier north east
preclinical 9-16 honors (anatomy, cell tissue biology, ect..)
clinical - 4 honors (surgery, medicine, ob gyn, fam) 4 High Pass
Step 1 - 225 Step -2 255 (just got and no body asked)
Honored all ortho rotations (UVA, Maryland, Pitt)
ortho research - multiple projects 1 pub, several presentations, posters, abstracts, recieved NIH grant which funded alot of the research I did
Extracirricular - president surgery interest group, VP SNMA, all kinds of volunteer stuff
LOR - very strong my home chairman, PD at program I rotated at ect..

applied to 40 places, given 14 interview (pitt, UVA, hopkins, gtown, penn, dartmouth, carolinas, temple, penn, cleveland clinic, penn state, emory, NYU, howard)

went to 6 (pitt, uva, gtown, hopkins, carolinas, howard)

1. pitt research - very strong program in every aspect, great resources, amazing faculty Fu, Kang, Gruen, Tarkin, Harner, ect... Affordable city, this place has whole package.

2. pitt 5 year

3. UVA - I loved this place, most comfortable place I have ever been. Faculty are truely great, Dr. Chhabra and Carson are PD and truely bring family vibe to program, mentorship second to none. Attending take real interest. Great facilities, chairman is an amazing dude, young faculty like Dr. Dacus are great, and would be ideal to train and learn from. City small college town, expensive, if fam was here would have been number 1.

4. Carolinas - unbelievable set up, residents treated great, opperate a ton, hand pick cases. PD Frick seemed like a nice guy, all residents where very cool. Place has best of both worlds, community program with academic feel.

5. howard- great tradition, residents become great technicians and are true doctors, dont have all perks hospital is old, but great training and residents

6. Hopkins - it was alright, was hopkins. great reputation, but I did not love the place. Bmore is a rough city, but of course overall if you train here you may not be happy, but you will be set.

7. Gtown - very white collar place, very little trauma, expensive as hell to live around the hospital, very previledged patients. I think this is a place either you love or hate. Residents seemed very happy, however it just was not a good fit for me.

Matched at number 1 pitt research, I am very excited cant wait to start.

I think most important aspect of my match success was being visible eary and often at my home instituion and working hard in the lab. Obviously I dont have great board scores but was able to make up for it with other aspects of application. Interviews are about personality and fit and I had no bad experiences. I wish everyone the best, everyone who truely wants ortho can get it if you are persistant and dedicated. God bless

I don't really feel comfortable posting my whole rank list here or even where I matched, but here's some numbers that might still be of interest.

Med School: Top 20 for primary care, overall ??
Preclinical: 5 honors out of 14??
3rd year: 3/7 honors, rest High Pass
4th year: Honored all ortho rotations and everything else until transcript sent to ERAS, then only pass
Step 1: 233
Step 2: Pending results
1 away rotation
2 ortho research projects, 1 pub after ERAS submitted but before interviews. 2 posters after interview were over.
Applied to: 65
Interviews: 12, attended 10, ranked 10



Unlike most people that have posted so far, I'm your basic average Ortho applicant that matches, average board score, some research, some honors, not AOA. So don't be intimidated by all the big names and numbers you see on here, it's a bit scary and it scared me when I wasn't getting any interviews.

I matched at a great place, wasn't my number 1 but definitely up there on my list. Hey, I'll be an Orthopod and that's all that matters

My advice, go to every interview as if it's the only one you got. I could tell when I interviewed at some not so great programs when certain applicants thought they were too good for the program, don't do that, that's when you have 250+, AOA and don't match. Be happy and do whatever it takes short of lying to convince them you're great for their program, then you can sit down at the end and rank what you want. Programs do the same thing, it's only fair. Remember, the match favors the applicant, so it doesn't matter if you convince some crappy place you wanna go there, just throw them at the bottom of your list and if you match there, it's better than not matching at all in most cases. Congrats to all that matched and good luck to the rest!

I agree with the above post that these posts are not the average applicant so don't freak out after reading them. Check out the NRMP data to compare yourself to find your predictable match success. Good luck to all those future applicants.

Med School: State school in NE
Preclinical grades: Mostly Honors
3rd year: 2 Honors, 4 High pass (Including surgery)
4th Year: 2 Honors in ortho at home and away, 2 honors and 4 high pass in the rest (mostly BS stuff)
USMLE: Step 1: 253; Step 2: 247 (Not sent until after match) Step 2 CS: Pass!!!!!
AOA: Not so much
Research: 1 trauma project (no publications)

Applied to over 60

Offered: GWU, Pitt, Jefferson, St. Luke's, UNC, Temple, Buffalo, Union, Beaumont, LIJ, UMass, Syracuse, SUNY-Downstate, Michigan State, WVU, NY Medical College, Albany

Went on 11 (couldn't schedule more due to conflicting dates): GWU, St. Luke's, Jefferson, UNC, Pitt, Temple, Buffalo, Beaumont, Union, LIJ and UMass

Ranked 13 (UNC and Pitt had 6yr track separately)

I'm lucky I matched at one of my top choices. For future applicants, feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the programs I interviewed at.

School: Private
Preclinical: Almost all honors
Third and Fourth Year: All honors except for one core (it wasn't med/surg). This includes honors in all ortho months
Step 1: 253, Step 2: Awaiting - was never asked about it. CS: PASS
Junior AOA, Gold humanism in medice
Research
other: volunteer work/teaching/service projects/elected class positions/club officer

Applied to approximately 32 - 34 - don't exactly remember - diverse geographically

Went on 18 interviews, not sure how many received - turned down at least four that I can think of off the top of my head

Received calls from two programs telling me that I was "ranked to match" Ended up matching at one of these

Ranked 15 out of 18 interviews

My top programs were

NYU/HJD - really enjoyed interview day. Thought the residents were great. Shock for trauma. Chairman and PD seemed really cool. Great location in Manhattan

Yale - not overly keen on new haven, but felt like I really fit in with the residents there. Felt comfortable immediately.

Wash U - Stlouis is nice, great didactics which is actually a good thing for me. Awesome facilities

Emory - hotlanta, cool group of guys, nice mix of autonomy at Grady with private practice stuff in fancy smancy facilities

I would rather not list the rest - at least right now.

I did not match at the top of my list and my advice to people is that don't underestimate the importance of doing aways at places you really want to be. As there really are bunches of people with big numbers.

Whenever you are going through the process many places will say things such as, "wow you seem like a nice, easygoing guy and youve a great academic record - you are going to be able to go whereever you want." This is part of the game and you can't take it too seriously.

The whole process at its culmination now is very humbling. It is important to maintain perspective and not to be too "greedy" about where you end up - keeping light of the fact that many people would be absolutely delighted to match anywhere into ortho. It is also a reminder that just because someone is junior AOA, high board scores, yada yada yada, doesn't mean that they have a "golden ticket" to their choice of programs.

I’m posting just to balance out the awesome stats of the previous posts since the national Step 1 average for ortho is ~235, not ~245, and someone’s got to lower the mean a little. =) I actually don’t expect this post to be very useful – but perhaps it will give people hope that miracles can happen and show that numbers aren't everything.

Med school: western region public
Preclinical: All P/F
3rd year: 1/6 honors
4th year: Honors in 2 ortho sub-I’s
AOA: Negative
Step 1: 226
Step 2: 230
Research: 1 ortho-related pub (first author) & podium presentation
Extracurriculars: substantive leadership and volunteer work

Applied to: 43
Interviews offered: 4 (2 west coast, 2 east coast)
Interviews made: 4 (would you expect any less? =)
ROL: 6 (two of the programs offered 6-year positions)

Results:
Matched at my #1!
I was stunned with disbelief when I opened the envelope, and even now, I am so thankful because I am so blessed/lucky/fortunate/<insert positive word of choice>

Lessons learned:
- Away rotations: The most important and powerful tool available to you. Do not waste these and use them at places where you’d really like to go. Work your tail off and be the absolute best acting intern possible. Your ideal goal is to have everyone wanting you back: faculty, residents, and ancillary staff. Anecdote: I overlapped with one other AI who did not end up getting an interview due to his poor AI performance (it was clear even to me that he wasn’t trying very hard the whole time) – such an unfortunate waste!
- Apply broadly, especially if your numbers are below average: Looking at my “stats,” I probably should have applied to >70 programs. However, I ended up being picky about location due to personal reasons, and this could have been very costly.
- Research: I think my first author ortho publication was one of the few gems in my application, so I strongly recommend this – find a supportive ortho faculty member and work hard to crank out a pub/presentation.
- Interviews: Make each one as if it’s your only one. Don’t lie, of course, but find ways to convince the faculty/residents that you’re a great fit and would love to train at their program – otherwise, you’re just one other applicant out of 60.

I don’t anticipate providing details about my ROL, but for those who will be applying, feel free to PM with your questions.

Congratulations to all those who matched, and best of luck to future applicants!!

Med school: Midwest avg public program
Preclinical: All honors except Path, Pharm which were near honors
3rd year: 2/6 honors (Gen Surg, OB)
4th year: 3/3 ortho honors
AOA: got the Heisman
Step 1: 240
Step 2: 218 (got back in March)
Research: 3 projects but no pubs or presentations, 1 of which was PI and 1st author
Extracurriculars: tutoring, intramural bball champs, volunteer stuff, club officer

Aways:
Rush - strong name, top notch faculty, good group of residents, decent operative experience, great didactics, great city

NYU-HJD - strong everything, fun residents, great city, cost of living is rough but do-able

Applied to: 59
Interviews offered: 13
Interviews made: 12
ROL: 12

In no particular order:
Stanford - good name, good direction, decent residents, good but expensive location near bay area

Howard - fun residents, suprisingly good city, cool laid back faculty. decent name and facilities

SIU - community, decent residents, not feeling location

UIC - fun residents, great city, not elite name but strong operative experience

NJ-New Brunswick - fun residents, excellent facilities. not feeling location

SUNY Downstate - fun residents, busy, great city, not huge name but suprisingly top notch fellowships

USC - excellent facilities, busy but happy residents, not huge name but decent fellowships, big city, warm weather

Loyola - good residents, facilites and location in CHicago. Trauma heavy

NYU-HJD and Rush - see above

St. Lukes - decent residents, faculty. Great location in Manhattan. not huge name or fellowships.

Case - excellent facilities, research, academics. decent faculty, not feeling location (really a deal breaker for such a good program)

Not #1 but matched at UIC which I think is great fit for me. Most excited about the direction of the program, tight group of residents and affordable big city. Can you say downtown condo!!! yessooo

Congrats to all who made it. Good luck to those behind us.

Just for all those 3rd years who are freaking out reading all these posts with 250's everywhere heres the link for the NRMP data for 2007 with average board scores, etc for the match by specialty.


And believe it or not the average Step I score of those who matched was 234, 30% AOA and average of 2.6 research projects so please don't freak out when reading these posts! Know the facts.

http://www.nrmp.org/data/chartingoutcomes2007.pdf


GOOD LUCK 3rd years and Congrats to all who matched.

Just for all those 3rd years who are freaking out reading all these posts with 250's everywhere heres the link for the NRMP data for 2007 with average board scores, etc for the match by specialty.

Thanks for this... my head was exploding reading these posts!