I have had the unfortunate experience of not matching this year to the one thing I've wanted to do since highschool. I worked hard all through med school (AOA, 250+), and ranked 13 programs. Some how, as so many people have told me for the past two days, " I slipped through the cracks". Everyone tells me how unusual this is and that I just need to try again next year and I will "for sure" match. However, since all this has happened, how can I believe that? I've done everything possible acedemically to put myself in a good position, and as my mom says to cheer me up "the system failed not me". I want to believe that, I dont want to change specialties, but I dont want to hold on a dream that won't come true. I will hold on though. At least for one more year.
Sorry for the rant, here are my questions.
1. Should I do prelim or research?
I do not feel a prelim year improves my application, but I dont want to miss a PGY 2 spot if one opens. Research is probably the only thing I could improve on my application, but will this actually improve my chances when reapplying.
2. I feel like there is a bad stigma with not matching when reapplying. Will I be getting even less interviews next year becuase people will think he must have not matched for a reason.
I know these questions have been answered before, but now its more personal.
Consider not graduating. Finish classes. Do research and maybe a few more away rotations next year and then go back through the match. Better than prelim or graduating and doing research. Just a thought. Good luck.
I agree with the above post in that if possible, just don't graduate. The reason I say this is because of your second question. The fact is, and I don't necessarily agree with this, my own program decided to not interview anyone who was reapplying, no matter how high his/her board scores. Now I don't know if my program was exclusive in this, but in the 14 or 15 interviews I went on, I only remember two or three guys who were reapplying...and one of those guys was switching from ENT to ortho (obviously I didn't meet everyone though). There isn't a perfect answer for everyone...good luck with everything...wish you the best.
Just received the statistics for the 2008 match and here they are:
Orthopaedic Surgery
160 programs in the US
636 residency positions (up 20 from last year)
1 unmatched position (6-year position in the south)
740 US applicants
932 total applicants
592 US applicants who matched
As you can see, there were 148 US medical students who did not match in Orthopaedics this year. There are unfortunately too many stories about well-qualified students who do indeed "fall through the cracks". Speak with your Dean of Students and your mentors at your school and make sure that there were not any "negatives" with respect to your application. Next, look at your application and figure out where you can "change" it for next year. If you are AOA with 250+, the question is do you have research? If you do not, it would make sense to secure a research year ASAP so that you can actually get working immediately so that when you reapply in August you may actually have something to show for it.
If on the other hand, you already had Orthopaedic research it may make more sense to just get your internship started (gain clinical experience and have recommendation letters attesting to your outstanding clinical attributes).
You've undoubtedly heard anecdotes highlighting success stories following either pathway so ultimately it's a very personal choice. If you're truly committed to this field, you should definitely try again and hopefully it will lead to a successful outcome the next time around. Good luck ---
I'm one of the unlucky US seniors that did not match & decided to go with the prelim surgery year after talking with my home program residency director (i also got the 'sometimes qualified students fall through the crackes' line). My plans are to try and get involved with some ortho research on the side, apply to more programs, and bust my tail over this next year. To me, that seems to be all that I can do to give it my best. Is there anything else that I'm missing? Is there anyway to compensate for not being able to do away rotations?
Dr. Levine,
I'm one of the unlucky US seniors that did not match & decided to go with the prelim surgery year after talking with my home program residency director (i also got the 'sometimes qualified students fall through the crackes' line). My plans are to try and get involved with some ortho research on the side, apply to more programs, and bust my tail over this next year. To me, that seems to be all that I can do to give it my best. Is there anything else that I'm missing? Is there anyway to compensate for not being able to do away rotations?
As we've discussed before on this site there is no sure way or "right" way to do it. I've seen people match after either pathway (research or internship) and unfortunately of course not match after either path. I will say that if you're commiting time to do research you almost have to commit 2 years because by the time you start the research you already are re-applying for residency and you don't have much different to show for it during the process. Doing an internship is advantageous especially if you're in a program that has a large ortho program where there is a history of turnover and then you can slide in perhaps.
Good luck and your perspective is correct - apply to 80 programs (or more); work your tail off in internship and get great support from people who can vouch for your clinical excellence!
