Getting Worried: Backup Necessary? Not Looking Very Good.

Welcome to ortho match...

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I don't think very many ortho interviews have gone out at all, so I wouldn't stress just yet, I'm in the same boat you are.

Relax dude...word on the streets is that Nov. 1st is sort of the go-time for ortho interviews. The only people I've heard of with interviews are on this website.

Hang in there.

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I have good stats too and have not received any interviews. I rotated at a top program and met many amazing med. students and only one of them has an interview so far. Not too worried yet
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. I applied to 60 programs as well.

check out the interview 2009 info forum if you haven't yet - limited number of programs have sent out invites. if you're ambitious, could also check out last years interview threat (2008-2009) and you'd see that most interviews don't go out until november. they'll come.

http://www.orthogate.org/forums/viewforum.php?f=15

Only a handful of programs offer interviews in October.

If you only had five or less come Mid december.. then I would start worrying.

But the truth is.. all you need is one place to like you Smile 20 interviews, and no one liking you sucks in comparison to one program liking you, and only having 1 interview Smile

I too am a bit worried, but everything seems to work out in the end. I am taking a non-traditional route. Don't worry, if you pursue Orthopedics, eventually you will get there. Good luck to all of us!

OK, thank you all for the words. Just gonna wait it out I guess.

Yeah, seriously, I wouldn't worry too much. I read somewhere that over 80% of programs have ZERO spots filled for interviews until after the MPSE becomes available.

As a side note, I know a guy who had ZERO interviews until late November, ended up with ~10 and matched. One other guy had 5 before November, then only got 3 more - he also matched.

It's all TOTALLY random. The more people I talk to, the more I realize that as long as you apply to as many programs as you can, go on all the interviews that you can, and rank ALL of your interviews - you'll probably match... don't sweat it unless you're stuck with 5 at the end.

Absolutely. Less than 10% of programs send out invitations before Nov 1. Don't sweat it. (That said... many programs *might* have tentative lists before Nov 1st then use the MSPEs to double-check their lists... and then release them that first week or so)

The best advice given to me was to:
1) make a calendar on a sheet of paper and keep it with you AT ALL TIMES during the month of November
2) have 24-7 access to email (I-Phone, Palm, etc.) and check it on a very frequent and regular basis... some places fill on a first-come-first-serve basis and others send out a fixed list but then have their dates fill-up. Don't get left behind because you didn't check your email from 5am to 6pm. (I know folks who avoided >2hr cases during November so they wouldn't be scrubbed and unable to check email) KNOW WHEN YOUR INTERVIEWS ARE AND SCHEDULE ACCORDINGLY TO MAXIMIZE YOUR NUMBER OF INTERVIEWS. Keeping contact #'s and emails is probably a good idea, too, in case you have to make changes.

Excellent advice Merlin.

Absolutely. Less than 10% of programs send out invitations before Nov 1. Don't sweat it. (That said... many programs *might* have tentative lists before Nov 1st then use the MSPEs to double-check their lists... and then release them that first week or so)

The best advice given to me was to]

To state this much more efficiently- get a smart phone or a personal assistant.

All joking aside, I'm not looking forward to this part of the process

on a side note.. comparing this with last year.. it seems that a lot less programs this year, offered early interviews... this is given the fact that today is the 27th..

Like last year, Mayo, duke, rochester, unc, iowa, etc. etc had sent out their stuff.. but not this year...What gives?

OR maybe most people are not posting interviews offered this year? Just thinking out loud.
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There must have previously been some kind of advantage to sending invitations early that is no longer there. I am speculating that it is because people are applying to, interviewing at, and ranking more places.

How do they calculate the average number of ranks needed to match? Do they use how far down the rank list people match or the average number of ranked programs?

If one is concerned about a backup such as a surgical prelim year, when would you begin to apply for that, and would you use your ortho letters and just right a different personal statement, or are people just planning to scramble.

I was initially thinking of a cat GS backup. I thought about it and realized ORTHO OR BUST. I worked hard for too long.

After doing some research, there are plenty of unfilled positions in gen surgery each year. I would attempt to scramble into one of these spots. I would then reapply for ortho all while looking for ortho openings. I think a handful of spots open up for ortho each year-some programs are granted approval to have more residents and people sometimes drop out.

although there are indeed plenty of categorical gen surg spots available after the match, that really isn't the best route to take. Besides the obvious fact that any gen surg spots that are open are open for a reason (terrible location, bad reputation, etc), once you accept a gen surg spot that program is depending on you being there for 5 years. They will NOT be happy if you try to dump them after one year. Considering you'll need their permission to interview, letters of recommendation, and time off to interview, you don't want to have your boss pissed at you.

A better idea is to apply to, or scramble into, preliminary surgery spots. Those programs recognize you are just there for 1 year and plan to move on afterward. It's also understood that if you work your butt off and make nice with everyone there in both the surgery and ortho departments that you'll have a nice "in" at the ortho program when you apply. The best prelim spots are usually gobbled up through the match, but there are still fortunately enough leftovers for everyone.