Applying to G. Surg and Ortho

Capeman,
My advice to you (and this opinion is mine) is to apply only to ortho programs. In the unfortunate event that you do not match.. you will very easily scramble into a very desirable position. There are a lot of g-surg spots that go unfilled.

I'll give a different take than wildcat...

If your numbers aren't that competitive, and you COULD SEE YOURSELF DOING GEN SURG, it may not be a bad idea to apply to 10-12 gen surg programs...that's all you really need for gen surg. While there are open spots in gen surg that you can scramble into, many of these are preliminary programs. There are certainly categorical programs that are open after the match, but why take this chance if you only need to apply to 10 gen surg programs???

Don't worry about either specialty knowing you're applying for the other. If you don't tell them, they won't know.

Only do this if you can actually see yourself doing gen. surg and DON'T FEEL LIKE APPLYING AGAIN FOR ORTHO IN CASE YOU DON'T MATCH.

If you do decide to apply to both, the only thing I would try to avoid is applying to both programs at the same hospital/university. In the unlikely event that either department finds out you've applied to both, neither will want to talk to you on account of your "indecisiveness."

If you really want to do Ortho, don't apply to both. Yeah, it's only 10 extra apps, but that translates to either $60-250 of lost money (depending on how many programs you apply to total), or 10 extra ortho programs that you COULD HAVE applied to.

And if you REALLY want to do ortho, look at it this way: You could apply ortho, not match, and scramble into a prelim g-surg program and have the OPTION of reapplying ortho the following year. Whereas if you rank a G-surg program, match at that program, then you're pretty much LOCKED IN for the next 5 years. You can't pull back after you've matched. And getting into ortho is pretty much a pipe dream there after. so just thing 1 year lost or 5 years (and a lifetime) lost. It's about having options.

Lastly (and least importantly), we had a female here a couple of years ago apply to both plastics and g-surg. Black monday rolled around (the monday before match day when you find out if you've matched or not) and she got the email that say's "you have been matched." Here she goes on match day all happy and excited thinking she matched plastics and she opens the envelope and it's g-surg. I didn't want to have to deal with that kind of disappointment .

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Capeman,
Make a decision -- if you want to do ortho, commit to giving it a try, lay what you've got out there and see what happens. Bone Jock is right that you can always scramble into something. Life won't end if you don't match, but I can't imagine much worse than spending 5 years much less a lifetime doing bowel repairs, butt pus, and gallbladders if that's not what you really want. While I realize that the likelihood that programs would find out that your ranking 2 specialties is not huge, it DOES happen -- in that most unfortunate circumstance, you're likely not to match in either because no one wants to be anyone's second choice or their fall back career. It's important that programs feel that you are committed. If you want to do ortho, ante up with the rest of us and give it a stab! Good luck!

I agree with Wildcat. If you don't match in Ortho, you can easily scramble into some pretty solid gen surgery programs. If you really want to interview programs in gen surgery and are set at applying to both, I would not apply to both at the same institution. Programs within institutions talk and most ortho programs look down on people that aren't fully committed.

If you do decide to apply to both, here's some advice...We had a 4th year in our class apply to both and luckily he matched in ortho. He did apply to both residencies at the same hospitals. First off, he said since he had applied to a crapload of programs, interview season was very hectic and he may have suffered a bit due to exhaustion. Second, he was very up-front with the g-surg guys that his primary interest was ortho. He also told the ortho guys that his primary interest was ortho but he had applied to g-surg (this covered his butt if the orthopod talked to g-surgeon for some reason or the other). This honesty paid off according to him...

I would not apply/rank both programs at the same time. This looks bad, especially if you do this in the same school. If you match in Ortho, great; if not, do a prelim year by scrambling in a program and then try again after your intership year. :smokin:

He doesn't have to apply to the same schools though.

I agree with the above posts only if they pertain to someone who has his heart set on ortho and would be disappointed doing gen. surg. But to be honest, i get tired of the typical ortho attitude that suggests there's nothing else better in this world than bones and ligaments. I myself found the abdomen to be very interesting...i chose ortho but many of my friends GENUINELY LIKED general surgery. THEY COULD HAVE DONE ORTHO but decided not to. Capeman stated in his post that he "enjoyed surgery" and perhaps that's his calling in life and he doesn't know it right now.

I applied to both gen surg and ortho (not for backup reasons but because I actually could have seen myself doing trauma or cardiothoracic) but throughout my 4th year, I came to the realization that ortho was the field for me. I don't regret the money I spent applying to 10 gen surg programs because it kept my options open all year.

Again, if you actually liked gen. surg (that is not blasphemy guys...many people do despite the hours), then apply for it. But if you think you'd be miserable doing anything other than ortho, then ignore my post and follow the advice given above by the others.

I would have to agree with the majority of my colleagues on this one; General Surg had one of the highest vacancy rates this year. It would seem a scramble would be very easy in the current climate...and cheaper...and less of a headache. Plus, do you really want somthing as fickle and random as the NRMP Match in charge of your speciality choice?