I am a third year DO med student and I have a few questions about what I should do to increase my chances of being accepted in to an orthopedic surgery residency. I am in the top of my class with good board scores, 253 (USMLE) and 750 (COMLEX) but I know an application is much more than just board scores. From what I have read in other forums rotating at programs of interest is a must for DO programs. Is research important to DO programs? Also how far in advance should I be setting up out rotations? Any advice will be very appreciated. Thank you.
you have to rotate at where ever you want to go when you are doing the DO match. Pick your top programs that you want to go to and rotate there. This is by far and away the most important thing in the DO match and most if not all students know where they stand with the programs prior to the match, it's silly but that's how it works with the osteopathic match in ortho.
good luck! FYI your stats are fine, just make sure you are a regular person and someone that a program wants to have around for five years.
Set up rotations at about six months or so before they occur, I would start contacting in Jan/Feb and work from there. Research not that important immho, it's just another thing on the application to talk about though.
Thank you for the advice! I guess the next step is to start researching programs and decide where to do away rotations. One other question, when should I take Level 2? I had planned to take it ~ August of next year. Thanks again.
good luck in the match - sounds like you're more than qualified.
regarding your question about step 2, i would suggest taking it earlier rather than later. it would be best for you to have your score "in hand" before filling out and submitting your application. if you take it in august, this might not happen for you, so i would say the earlier the better. some people try to hide behind a good step 1 score, and take step 2 later in the year when nobody will see it. as a current ortho resident who sometimes reviews applicants, i would advise against this, as you should use everything at your disposal to catapult you over other applicants.
and, on that note, i'd suggest crush and usmleworld for step 2 preparation. best of luck to you!
