still helpful.. but part of the fun of orthopaedic research is intriguing your interviewers and allowing them to talk to you about all sorts of things.. generally, they have less to say about general surgery.. depending on what your research is, of course.
On top of that, you get to encounter ortho faculty that can help you in the long run, whereas gsurg faculty generally don't know anyone in the ortho field and can do little to help you.
-iliiz