Away elective in Philly

I don't know too many specifics about those programs. However, if Penn is your "reach" program I would definitely suggest doing an away there to get your foot in the door. If you're worried that Penn is the most difficult for you from the obtaining-interviews perspective, then by all means make sure you spend time there. Even with competitive numbers it may help to put your face in at that program, and ask around to people more familiar with the program to see if they prefer rotators come match time. Then you could spend your remaining block at one of the remaining programs you've named.
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Vitaminj,

About a month or two ago there was a very good, and a little heated thread about Philly programs, and particularly Jeff and Penn. Check it out by perusing back in the posts. I agree with IMnailer though that if you really want to be in Philly, and Penn is your 'reach program', then it would be worthwhile to spend time there. Good luck

I am a student at Jeff who matched elsewhere (Phew!), but if I could do it again, I would have scheduled an away at Penn. From a hospital standpoint, Jeff has the best reputation for orthopaedics in Philly (Rothman is one of the ortho gods you'll find scattered throughout the US). However, while all the attendings are awesome, world-class orthopods, and the residents are a good bunch of guys, didactic teaching is seriously lacking at Jeff. As a result, many rotators, including yours truly, felt dumber after finishing the rotation there. You'll work your ass off typically arriving to round at 4:00 am and won't finish your day until 6 or 7 pm. Of course working that much is not a problem as long as you feel someone is taking the time to teach you during the process. You can't really blame them though, when you have ~65-70 patients in house on the joint service and ~20-30 on the spine service, everyone is pretty much spent just taking care of the patients. This is the strength of the Jeff program, you will leave here as an extremely capable surgeon. But the fact that the ratio of work vs education is so skewed in favor of the program, might explain why they had to go to #21 on their match list this year, and why Penn might be a better ortho residency. The bottom line is, when you are talking about great ortho programs like Jeff and Penn it breaks down to where you feel like you fit best. Keep this in mind when you are rotating/interviewing. Good luck.

Student at Penn who happily matched at Penn this year.

The rep issue has been heatedly debated and won't be resolved soon; in other words, they are both great...but different.

So, you should do both if you can to get a good variety if you really want to be in philly.

Here are a few things to consider while doing rotations and applying:

From a strict clinical standpoint, Jeff probably has a few bigger names (Rothman, Osterman etc) now that residents spend less time (voluntarily) with the three B's (volume and rep similar to Rothman; docs previously for Eagles and Flyers).

Academically (research etc), Penn, I think offers more opportunities in and out of the department.

Residency program wise, the Penn program is a relatively gentle one that treats you with respect and gives you good early operative time without the torture or scut. Total volume is prob lower than Jeff but with 1700+ quality cases by end of program, you'll be a fine surgeon. Spine is definitely stronger at Jeff but Penn has better overall coverage with multiple tumor, f&a and a neuro-ortho attending as well as a good emphasis on didactic and non-operative edu. Competition for spots in the res program is intense as Penn matches typically in low to mid teens for 8 spots; this year, I heard we went down to 13.

[Note]

Students are treated well here in all of the 10 or so possible rotations--I was surprised by how much I was encouraged to do--and rotator are virtually guaranteed an interview. Trauma (Born & DeLong or Esterhai) and Peds at CHOP are probably the best rotations for aways because they give you good exposure to the attending(s) (world renown pedi guys at CHOP) but also the residents--all the other services are more preceptorship based.

Good luck and let me know if you want more info.

I actually grew up in the suburbs of Philadelphia but went to med school outside the state. I did interview at Jeff, however, I think I was out of the race from the start since I did not do any aways at this institutions (I probably will never know since I didn't rank this program highly. I matched out west). I feel it is really hard to bust into the Philadelphia scene from the outside since there are so many medical schools with more students applying to ortho than they have spots. I highly reccomend doing multiple rotations in Philadelphia if you want to get back. Another problem comes later if they all have the same interview dates. Good luck.

Thanks orthopaedia for the info I sent you a PM, would love to hear more about your experience.

Thanks again.
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I did rotation at CHOP and was thoroughly impressed. Great residents, great attendings (got a super letter from Dormans), good overall experience. I can't tell you if I could have matched there because I didn't go back for the interview. My wife and I are southerners who just didn't like the town. If you want a fun month and a letter, try to get on at CHOP. Dormans will even sort of sponsor you to write case reports while you're there. Although they are small, they are something to put on the CV.

Good luck.

I know this post died a while ago, but if anyone is still reading it, I was wondering how easy/hard it is to schedule away months at Penn during the summer? Do Penn students take up most of the spots?

It sounds like Trauma or Peds were the preferred electives last year--is this still the case.

Any info would be appreciated.

Ortho-pod:
I just sent you a PM.