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Theodore
Unregistered User
(6/5/00 10:37:38 pm)
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Ranking Tactics
After you have interviewed at various programs do the ortho programs ever respond back w/ any letters or
phone calls expressing interest in you as an applicant? I had a roomate who did anesthesia and he received
these types of responses from programs and this information definitely influenced his rank list.
Kent
Unregistered User
(6/6/00 10:23:20 am)
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Ranking tactics
You friend was fortunate to be in a field that fills about 80% of the spots, so many programs go looking for
good candidates. That's probably why the programs sent him letters, because if you don't fill it creates all
sorts of labor and funding problems. Neurology, Pyschiatry and other areas that don't fill or fill with foreign
medical graduates often will court good candidates. A friend of mine already had his Pathology spot secured
long before the match. However, he did have to go through the Match for appearances sake. Orthopaedics is
the exact opposite. It has virtually a 100% fill and probably about a 20-25% surplus of applicants (those that
didn't match). It's probably not unheard of, but I would imagine that an orthopaedics applicant who got these
letters was either some sort of prodigy sought by the big names or their home program really wanted them to
stay. Anyway, there are all sorts of stories of the superstar that was told by a program that "we're ranking
you first, so if you rank only us then you'll be here." Guess what happens...the fool ranks only that spot and
doesn't match. If you are offered such a proposition, it must be in writing from the program director (and that
still doesn't protect you completely from getting screwed over). People have all sorts of strategies for ranking,
but I followed the two strategies suggested by the NRMP booklet: 1. Rank ALL acceptable programs. In other
fields, you have the luxury of not ranking programs. Not true in orthopaedics. Anyplace is better than no
place. 2. Rank the programs in order of your preference. Don't try to guess how they'll rank you. Put your first
choice first, second choice second and so forth. One thing I did do, however, was to write personalized,
detailed than- you letters to EVERY person I talked with (even if it was 6 people in a group interview, each of
them got a personalized letter). It's time consuming to make a personalized letter, but the majority of the
letter can be similar to each person, just include a paragraph that's specific to them (there's also some sort of
connection between you and them...one guy asked my what my favorite year for the BMW 2002 coupe was
because he'd had several of them. I gave a specific answer that happen to concide with his favorite. Think he
remembered me? Of course. My personal opinion is that a generic, 5-line thank you letter that every
interviewer receives the same copy of doesn't show much effort. This is one of the most important events in
your career, so act like it. After the interview, I'd jot down some notes about what we talked about (as an
older applicant, I got questions about my graduate research, my former job, some off-the-wall stuff, sports,
BMW cars (a hobby), and all sorts of other things). When I wrote my letter, I'd make a specific mention of
some of the topics we talked about and my continued high interest in their programt. The purpose was so that
when they received their letter, I hoped they would think, "I remember this guy...he's the one that has all the
vintage bicycles", or some such thing. There will be lots of people interviewing, so make yourself remembered.
I also included copies of all the papers I had written (three of which won awards), a copy of my manuscript
that was accepted to AJSM, a book chapter I wrote in graduate school, and other things that came up during
the interviews, etc. etc. Now all these copies and postage was fairly expensive, but it's a small, small
investment if it helps get you into a program. The desired end result of all this was that if I had many of the
programs ranking me highly, then the order of MY rank list was more likely to reflect reality. A few weeks
before the match, I sent abrief letter to each program director and chairman giving them my NRMP number, my
continued interest in their program, and the news about my accepted publication to AJSM (this letter is a
great opportuinity to add tidbits of information that happened after the interviews, e.g., my manuscript was
still in the submitted stage on the ERAS application and "accepted" is much cooler!). Make it easy to remember
you, but don't be a pest and call or write several times. I can't say if this actually worked, but I did receive
my first choice. So, I wouldn't count on getting one of those lettes, at least in orthopaedics. If you do, great!
Keep those two rules for ranking in mind and concentrate your efforts on the things that you can potentially
influence. Good luck!
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