Seems pretty straightforward from my outside perspective. They know what you want, no point in doing anything but being completely honest. What you said already is perfect (about them being where you would want to do a general surgery prelim year). Good luck

Remember, they need workers as well as categorical residents, so if you are up front about your wishes and describe a plan including your ability to be a hard worker in the face of not matching into ortho, then you should be set.

When you think about this, remember what a prelim year is for...its for mainly either 1.) People who don't know what they are going to do for sure and 2.) People in our shoes who need a back up plan. They don't expect the prelim positions to all be filled by future g-surg residents. If you honestly wanted to be a categorical spot, they know thats how you would have applied...I mean thats why ERAS has a space in prelim apps for what you want to specialize in. I applied to a prelim position at my home school, and was very up front during the interview. They were all understanding, and even told me stories of prelims they have had who went on to do ortho. That was also one thing I was very conscious of was to make sure I applied to a program that had a history of taking prelims just in case. I understand your worry over that, I had it initially too, but just remember what the position is for, and realize that most prelim positions are filled in the scramble, and if you apply to one and rank one, and in that horrid case ortho doesn't happen (think positively, it won't) you'll get that prelim position.

hey lil buddy!