I went unmatched last year. Have been doing research since finishing clerkships. I would like to try to apply for ortho again this year. I am considering also applying for prelim surgery through the match. My question is this: suppose I apply for an ortho and a prelim surgery at the same hospital. Could this be construed as settling for a something other than ortho and thus hurt my chances at securing an ortho spot?
I'm sure it can be institution-dependent but in general most places will not know that you are applying to the other program. It's pretty challenging to stay on top of the 500 or so applications that we all have in orthopaedic surgery let alone worry about what's happening in our General Surgery department!
Good luck this time around - hope it works out for you.
