i have no idea if one looks better or not. but you may want to consider that if you do a gen surg PGY-1 year, you may be able to slip into an ortho PGY-2 year the following year if there is an opening somewhere. if you do a transition year, this isn't possible as you won't meet the requirements.

As someone who had to face that decision a couple of years back, I'd say a gen surg year is, without question, the right choice. I was able to slip into a pgy2 spot that opened up; had I done a research year or a transitional year, I'd have wasted a year.
My 2 recommendations are to do the prelim year at a place with many spots (more of a chance of people leaving the program or a spot opening up or just having you impress the ortho department enough that they take you) and rotate with the ortho department at all costs, and do it early in the year (august/sept) so they know you and keep seeing you all year...then keep showing up at their grand rounds so they get used to seeing you.
Good luck.

Lots of great previous advice.

You WONT be able to find a PGY-2 spot if you do a transitional year...and it does happen.

Be aware: a year of general surgery sucks, but be prepared to be on your A game, dont slack, work your ass off, because it will come around to kick you in the ass if you are trying to get an ortho spot and you get the rep of being a slacker or arsehole....

Get to know the ortho interns that rotate with you on the surgery service well...they can be some of your best assets. Also, find the time to scrub some of the trauma cases and check out whats going on in the ortho rooms, it pays to show interest, and people will notice.

Get involved in a research project EARLY, and I mean early. Reapplication for next year will come sooner than you think, in fact only a few months after you start you intern year. Get started trying to get a spot IMMEDIATELY after you find out you dont match. Those 3 months before starting an internship can pay off toward next year.

Thanks for the great replies, they helped a lot.

I was just curious why a surgery intern year sucks so bad? I know intern year is tough in general but is a prelim surgery year worse?

And off the subject, what are your thoughts on doing a sub-I before the match? Does that look good on your transcript or is it just good in general cause you learn more? Some 4th years have mentioned that doing a sub-I in medicine or surgery helps a lot...any validity to that?

Thanks again!

docpetey--

what branch are you? i'm AF in the same boat, hoping to do gsurg (my home program makes an effort to meet ortho internship standards and schedule light during interview season.)

ykissin-- are you military as well? if yes, did you have any trouble getting permission to enter a pgy2 spot?

luck to those continuing in the match. y'all this year are just lucky you don't have me to compete with.

cheers.
firegirl

firegirl,

i'm AF as well and from the looks of the recent match it doesn't look like anyone got a civilian deferred gsurg prelim spot, all of the prelim surgery spots were AF. it might seem that if we rank a prelim gsurg year we'll have to do an AF one vs. a civilian deferred transitional spot.

do you know the number of applicants for ortho this past match? at least that way we can gauge if we even have a shot of getting an ortho spot next year (AF or cilivian)?

my best guess is around 30. there were like 17 4th years doing sub-i's (i peeked at the roster when i turned in my paperwork) and 12-15 expected intern/flight surgeons applying. this is purely speculation based on gossip, but i think it's close. so, thats around 20 who didn't match, plus the 15 new applicants next year, minus anyone who throws in the towel or decides to crank out a couple of years of GMO.
regardless, i will be trudging through the application mire again this fall. second times the charm, right?!

cheers.
firegirl

firegirl,

i just pm'd you.