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Orthogate

  Wednesday, 20 November 2002
  3 Replies
  28 Visits
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hey guys, i know most of you are busy w/interviews and stuff, but i was hoping a few of you
could impart some wisdom to a 3rd year student. I have an elective block at the end of the
year (about 2 mo), and i was wondering how i could best spend it in order to help me get
an ortho spot. I am pretty average candidate i think - i have good boards scores (243),
but pretty mediocre grades (i am guessing mainly HP during my 3rd yr, with maybe 1 or 2
honors). I was wondering if i should spend my elective block doing research somewhere, or
should i start doing my home/away ortho rotations. I have a little research experience
already, but not much - but i don't know if 2mo of research would do anything for me.
I mean even if i worked my ass off and was able to get something submitted for publication,
it certainly wouldn't be accepted by the time i apply for residency. probably the most i could
hope for is a good rec from whoever i work with, plus putting down the experience on my
app. any thoughts guys, i would appreciate any help. thanks,
lucas
23 years ago
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#45901
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lucas,
best thing for you would get something submitted, even just an abstract. this shows you follow through on things. also, do ortho home then a few away rotations. forget about step II (and give me a few of your step I points man). If you get honors in your ortho rotations and get some good comments, you'll have much less difficulty than you might think.

good luck stud!
23 years ago
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#45902
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Hands down most important thing you can do is do a home and away rotation and kick butt on both. If you can squeek some research in there, go for it, but rotations, step I, and good letters are most important as pointed out in the recent JBJS article.

If you are set on a high powered research program, research may help you out a bit, but I wouldn't sacrifice the opportunity to kick butt on ortho rotations for research. I have zero research experience and lower step I than you, but I have 15 offers to date.
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