Author
Comment
bonehead
Unregistered User
(4/16/00 2:36:54 pm)
Reply
Scrambling
What is the scramble all about. Is it just unmatched candidates trying to secure an open ortho spot?
Kent
Unregistered User
(4/16/00 6:57:54 pm)
Reply
The scramble
Yes, you've got the right idea about the scramble. About two days prior to the official announcement of the
match results (your match day ceremonies or via the internet), all the applicants that did not match are
notified by their Dean's office of their status. You can opt for an early call from the Dean's office or wait until
the official announcement of match status on the internet. For this first round of results, you are told only IF
you matched, not where. You have to wait two days for the WHERE. Anyway, if you're unmatched, then you
get a list of all the programs in the U.S. that have unmatched spots. Note that you are no longer held to your
original specialty choice, i.e., you were unmatched in orthopaedics but you decide to go for one of the
unmatched Anesthesiology spots. The Dean's office helps you get your application materials together, helps
you fax them, and coordinates interviews over the telephone. Programs generally will accept you for an
unmatched spot over the telephone, so don't expect an interview (there isn't time). For some fields, people
can actually do quite well in the Scramble. They can actually end up at a star program that didn't fill and that
was a better program than they were originally competitive enough for. But this strategy only works in fields
that have many unmatched spots like Anesthesiology. If you applied for orthopaedics and didn't match, the
prognosis is fairly dismal. The fill rate is nearly 100%, so there will be only a few spots to scramble for. And
with approximately 549 spots and probably about 700 something ortho hopefuls, there are just too many
people fighting it out for these precious spots. General Surgery, Plastic Surgery, and ENT are a couple other
areas with dismal hope for a scramble spot. So, what do you do if unmatched in orthopaedics? First of all,
don't take it personally. There are always a few dud applicants, but most people are pretty solid. It's just an
unfortunate fact that there are many more qualified applicants than spots in ortho. Second, decide if you
really want to do orthopaedics. If not, then try for a spot in another area. If you are certain you want another
shot at ortho, then the next best thing is to take a Preliminary Surgery spot and work your ass off. Since
every ortho intern has to be whipping boy/girl for general surgery, it's not a complete loss to have already
done a year of general surgery. If you have to repeat the intern year (God forbid), then you'll look like a star.
Often, however, the successful ortho applicant (assuming you matched after spending a year in a prelim
surgery spot) will do a year of research instead of repeating the general surgery year. A lot of good people
have had to do the prelim route and eventually made it into orthopaedics.
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