You run the risk of being "left out in the open" regardless of your stats. And honestly you will most likely get interviews based on your board score. You can't change your rtation grades so theres no sense worrying about it. Your best bet is to do well on your ortho months and keep working on your research. Even if you don't get published you may be at least be able to score a good LOR from the experience.

So no, I would not give up on ortho.

Just out of curiousity- How did you do so well on your boards and only pass your clinicals?

same question as above, and one some committees may ask...

I wouldn't give up by any means... this is only a question of relative strength on your application, but I would do your best to work hard, keep a smile on, and be as personable as possible during the next few rotations. Clinical Honors tend to suggest that you work well with others, and even if you don't get the H but can get some comments about your "teamwork" or "interpersonal skills" into your MSPE it may alleviate some of those questions.

Also, make sure you are showing interest in the subject matter during every rotation... don't lie and tell people "this is what I want to do," but make it clear that you want to learn about what they do and how it could apply to your future as an orthopod. People appreciate it when students care about the rotation. If they think that all you care about is ortho, they might not take time to talk with you, teach you, or get to know you, and that can hurt your grade.

Good day everyone.

I have sort of a similar question. Board score not as high as the original poster (mine is 236), and honored medicine clerkship. But just got general surgery clerkship grade today, and it was only high pass. Granted I'm only halfway through 3rd year, but I'm worried about putting all my effort into orthopedics, but in the end, not being competitive. I want to be completely realistic. Pre-clinical grades were high pass pretty much across the board, no research yet, but planning on getting something in. Those are my only M3 grades so far. But I consider the high pass in surgery a red flag. Will be starting to plan 4th year in the next couple months, and already have a sub-I in ortho scheduled for June. Don't want to organize all of 4th year around matching in ortho if it's not reality.

Thanks so much for your opinion.

i'm a fourth year and was in pretty much same position last year...similar board scores, pretty much high pass across the board,including surgery. a few honors but nothing too impressive. but i got involved in some research and rocked my ortho rotations to get some good letters, and i'm hopeful for the match. i applied broadly but have gotten more that 15 interview offers. now i've still got a ways to go to do well on these, but again, feel like i'm in a decent position. so don't give up!

Thanks! Good luck on the match.

unless you've got some hidden garbage id say don't sweat it too much. Ortho is very tricky and even the best of us may be left unmatched.
Unfortunatley in this business numbers gets your foot in the door.
Rock your aways and go with what you love. >250 and your still debating? is there anything your not telling us here...........
If u want Ortho------go for it. PERIOD.

Thanks for the replies. The grading for our rotations is H/P/F and I got the passes due to barely missing the cutoff on my shelf exams. My evals were great (team player, etc.).

I don't have any red flags on my application but given the highly competitive and sometimes random nature of the ortho match, I wanted to get some more feedback.

Thanks for the input. Look forward to hearing from anyone else that has comments to contribute.