2008 Rank Order/Match List

This is to show a little balance to the big guns posted earlier.

Med School: Strong public school in the West
Grades: Scattered Honors throughout, class ranking average
Boards: 224 Step I: 242 Step II (took it early and had it available) this definitely helped me and it was brought up in most interviews
Research: 1 pub and 1 poster (both were submitted during most interviews, accepted towards the end of the trail)
Applied: 80 (I'm a little neurotic)
Offered: 18
Went to 14 because of scheduling, ranked all 14.

Matched at my #5.

Advice: A strong Step II can help an average Step I. Being well rounded and unique helps. Be willing to interview anywhere and rank everywhere you are willing to go.

Tought this would be a good template for everyone to use to say where they matched

You only rank places you've interviewed at, is that correct?

That last post by Ifish2 points to the undeniable fact that personality, willingness to work REALLY hard and demonstrate teamwork on sub-I's, ability to play well with others, and of course interview strong, are huge assets in this process; I know several people who trumped "average" scores and resumes just because they are great people; they're about to begin their residencies in solid programs in desirable locations. So, yeah, don't lose heart if you aren't golden on paper. However, I think that last post is a little off target in how much he/she minimizes the importance of the traditional numbers/achievements thing. Sure, junior park ranger on the resume is probably stretching it, but I was a little blown away by how often I ran into people on the trail who had done some pretty amazing things--very humbling. I was also humbled by the fact that there is always some applicant sitting at your table in between interviews who turned out to have authored 6 papers in JBJS and had 260+ board scores, and despite that actually seemed like a nice well-adjusted person. Those people are out there in force and make up a pretty high percentage of the applicant pool in my experience. Perhaps it reflected the particular programs I visited, the regions, whatever. The point I want to make is that while personality and attitude is huge, it would be doing yourself a disservice to fool yourself into thinking that this process is less competitive than it is and that a 205 step I is not such a big deal. If you look really average on paper something else better pop out when you show up in person. For every Ifish2 out there who's well on his way in a great program, there are many many more unpublished, below average test takers, who never sat on the throne of any school clubs, but who are nevertheless really nice people, who are currently looking at prelim surgery years or research or whatever. It's frustrating but true. Finally, in looking back over all the prior postings here it doesn't seem to me that all these posts are rotten with arrogance as just mentioned above. People seem pretty candid. If anything I wonder why all the so-called "typical" applicants who probably also fixated on this site during this process last year don't feel obligated to contribute their own experiences in the interview and match process. It hardly seems the fault of the accused "arrogant" applicants that they're the only ones posting. I think if you found this orthogate thing helpful then kick down and contribute. It will only help make the application landscape more representative and thereby more helpful.

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Midwest School Known for primary care
Previous HealthCare background
Step 1: 219
Step 2: 237
AOA- Junior Year & vice-president
Research & applied for publication
Presented Research at International Conference
Superior(A) in all rotations except Surgery (High Sat =

Applied to 35
Offered 13
Attended 12
Ranked 12 (one place ranked twice for 5 & 6 year program & one program not ranked)

Here are the programs I interviewed at in the order I went on the interviews.

1 KU- good program & liked the residents a lot; only drawback is no private practice experience and didn't like the whole teams because you weren't one-on-one with attendings. Didn't like not doing the same things/service for 3 months. Take primary call as 1-3. Great attendings and good to learn from. Lot of residents coming out and doing sports and lot going to same places (Cincinnati & Minneapolis), which concerned me. Also not as many attendings to learn from vs. other programs.

2. Carolinas Medical Center - Unbelievable program - Community program, but more academic than academic programs; unbelievable experience and can operate on anything when done. Charlotte is great city and attendings are great. Get private practice experience.

3. Duke - Liked the program, but although they said that they operate from year 2 on as 1st assist, had heard they didn't. Very academic; Great place to go if you want to go into academia or research. Not a fan of white pants on intern year.

4. Mizzou - Good growing program. Has gone from 2 attendings to 23 in 3 years. Good young attendings but currently, have trouble handing over the knife. Didn't truly mesh with the residents. Also is in Columbia (not lot to do) and question the amount of Trauma they get.

5. UT - Memphis - Great high caliber program. Very/Very busy when on trauma, but rest is not too bad. Start in OR early and sometimes with minimal supervision (just not my style). Not a fan of the Memphis crime!

6. Southern Illinois - Nice program with good lifestyle, but is in Springfield, IL (not much to do either), and question amount of trauma also. Have a night float system which alleviates lot of call (nice)

7. Medical College of Georgia - Program is having its problems. Lost program director and majority of their staff this past year. However, the residents all loved their experience. If ship is righted, will probably be a good program.

8. Greenville Hospital System/U of South Carolina - Great program with private practice and academic feel. Association with Steadman-Hawkins. One on one with attendings. Good residents and lot married. Attendings are lplentifull (20+) and laid back. City is cool with plenty to do and cost of living is low. See all rotations ( maybe not tumor) by end of 3rd year to be able to make good decision on fellowship. Great peds opportunity as the hospital adjoins with Shriners Hospital ( where CMC, & Duke ortho residents go for their peds ). Best interview of any program I interviewed at.

9. Medical College of Wisconsin - Nice program and in cool city (Milwaukee). Lots to do. Older residents were nice and open, but the younger ones were less social. Cold interview (less personal than any other) Great program, but down farther on rank list due to cold interview.

10. Nebraska - Good program. Gets private practice rotations also. Bad things are lacking in official sports until 4th year and as a 5th year on joints service, you retract the whole 3 months. So you never really get a true joints rotation (Department chair is joints guy and won't change). Overall good teaching.

11. U of Florida - Gainesville - Awesome program- Great outpatient facility and great benefits. Nice weather and attendings are awesome and lifestyle isn't horrible. Have night float system also. Got a great vibe from the program, but if interested, they like to take rotators.

12. St. Louis University - Only program I didn't rank- Totally unimpressed by the lack of professionalism and just downright arrogant attitude of residents in program. Got hazed by residents the night before at social gathering (I'm sure the residents are good, but it left a bad taste in my mouth). Also 6 year program without fellowship training. Just extra year to take call and do research for them. No thanks!!


Rank Order in no particialar oder
(#1-6): KU, CMC, Souther Illinois, Greenville Hospital System/ U of S. Carolina, MC of Wisconsin, U of Florida
(#7-12): Duke, UT-Memphis, Mizzou, MC of Georgia, Neraska, Mizzou -6yr
Not ranked : SLU

Matched at Greenville Hospital System/U of South Carolina. I am pumped. It is a great overall program. It will be a great experience and my wife and family are excited to move there. The residents are all great and have already contacted me to meet and help in any way they can.

My list was based on a few things: Program, Cost of Living, Best for my wife, Best for my kids, Perks (health insurance coverage, free food ($ I don't have to spend), conferences, etc.), Friendliness of attendings/residents, Lifestyle (how much I'll get to see my family) & Overall feel.

Also, eventhough step 1 is very important, there are ways around it. Namely, taking step 2 early AND improving significantly. This can prove that it was fluke that step 1 went wrong when everything else points to a great academic career.

Like has been posted before, everyone has their own way to deciding and in the end it is what is best for you! I have a buddy who matched at SLU and is very excited about it. Different Strokes for different folks!!!

Any questions, please feel free to pm me.

I'm also posting for the average or even below average applicant. Average can be a little misleading because usually people mean their Step scores or AOA status. These are important and from what I found Step 1 scores will keep you out of many interviews simply b/c of screening purposes. However, once you attain an interview if you have improved on Step 2, which I suggest you do if Step 1 was low, then they do not really mention it much. I only had one negative comment about Step 1 while interviewing and most of the programs had more to say about the improvement than anything else. So here are my "average" stats

Med school: Southeast avg public program w/ above average reputation of producing students that will be good residents in all specialties
Preclinical: No honors @ our school but in top quarter of class
3rd year: once again no honors @ our school but in top twenty w/ good comments on evaluations
4th year: did very well on my two aways in regards to grades on also did very well at home program
AOA: nope
Step 1: below 210
Step 2: above 250
Research: 3 projects (two ortho and one pediatric surgery) w/ one poster presentation and in publication process of which I was PI and 1st author (pediatric sx research)
Extracurriculars: the usual plus romanian mission trip after 1st year and j.v. football coach during 2nd year, also collegiate athlete

Aways:
Univ. of Arkansas - great group of residents, strong operative experience, good didactics, overall good staff though had just lost great hand attending and not very strong spine (though neither very important in my decision), surprisingly good city

UAB - mixed group of residents, seem to have an agenda over the past few years w/ a set mixture wanted yearly, very strong staff w/ a large number of attendings in each specialty and adding more, somewhat of a divide felt b/w the attendings secondary to recent chairman change, difficult to get interview unless you rotate though possible

Applied to: over 50 secondary to Step 1 score
Interviews offered: 10
Interviews made: 6
ROL: 6

I want to say that I like many others on here believe that personal fit is the most important thing in ranking your list. I also believe it is the most important thing in the programs rank list. Also, as common sense dictates, you need to know what you want to do after residency. My list was based not only on personal fit but also the surgical strength of the chiefs @ the different programs. There is a difference and anyone that says otherwise is probably no being honest. Though I believe you will receive good training at most programs (at least the ones I saw or interviewed with), some are better than others.
That being said, I did match at my #1. I also believe I could have matched at one or two other places on my list though who knows.
If you have any specific questions feel free to PM me and good luck.

Med school: top 10 NE
Preclinical: Pass
Clinical: Mostly H
Ortho: H on 3 ortho sub-Is
Step I 250s, Step II Not Available
Research: Decent number of ortho pubs

Aways: Stanford, Harvard

Apps: 25
Offers: 22
Interviews made: 10

Interviewed at:
Duke, Yale, Harvard, Brown, Columbia, HJD, Wash U, Stanford, Penn, Georgetown

Harvard - Rotated here and loved it from day 1. The bottom line is that this place has an unrivaled tradition and everything that comes with it: world class attendings and teachers, tremendous connections, unlimited resources, and some of the best training on the planet. Harvard has an incredible combination of the big names that write all the books and the talented young guns that are changing the game. Nice mix of the typical patients that just need the typical primary procedure in addition to the patients that failed after 3 previous procedures and are now flying in from XXX to see Warner, Gill, Ring, Rubash, Wood, Bono, Thornhill, etc. (I could go on forever) Despite being ingrained in rich history, the department is incredibly attentive and responsive to resident feedback, often fine-tuning the program to make the most of the resident experience. HCORP is large and seems much akin to being in a fraternity/sorority. The residents are brilliant and really friendly. As for where the residents go for fellowship… you guessed it, wherever the heck they want.

Duke –The "southern slam" is a breakfast special at Denny’s restaurant, but its also one of the best programs in the country nestled in Durham, NC. Great faculty and teachers. If you like the idea of walking out of a Starbucks on 5th Ave. looking across the street, and seeing another Starbucks, Duke aint for you; if however, you’re into southern hospitality, ancillary staff and patients that actually respect and appreciate physicians, and you also have a strange fascination with wearing semi-transparent white pants around in your free time, this is the place. In all seriousness, Duke is a special place and I definitely would have been ecstatic to end up there as well. Words to the wise: if you decide you really like Duke, take a second look and/or let them know how you feel. Otherwise, don’t even bother putting them on your match list.

Yale – Yale may be one of the best kept secrets in orthopaedic training. Don’t tell anyone you heard this from me, but Yale is one of the best programs in the country. Average size program with incredible young faculty. Here’s the kicker: hardly any fellows (just two in spine). You get the operative experience of a community program with the Ivy League rep. Close group of residents that are all awesome. New Haven gets a bad rap, but its a pretty nice small city that’s affordable. Tons of research time. Bottom line is Yale turns out some of the best residents in the country that get some of the best fellowships in the country… and the residents have a good time doing it. Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Wash U – What happens when you hire a brilliant chair and give him tons of money to recruit some of the best orthopedic surgeons from all over the states? Wash U happens. Strong in every field with tremendous facilities. St. Louis was kind of a downer for me, but for the Midwesterners, what could be better. For some reason, many of us medical students on the coasts don’t really have an appreciation for this place, but if you ask your attendings to name some of the “best programs in the country”, Wash U will undoubtedly be on their list.

HJD – Whether you’re aiming to fix joint disease or learn special surgery, you can do it in New York. HJD and HSS are the big programs in the city and both obviously have great reputations. Zuckerman is the man and runs HJD as though he were the general of an army. Loved Zuckerman and loved his army of residents. Any program that asks me during the interview to liken myself to an alcoholic beverage and play leap frog while getting pimped on “which actress is hotter?” certainly has my vote.

Brown – This program likely turns out the best surgeons in the country, but it takes them an extra year to do it. If youre interested in trauma and don’t mind the extra year of being a junior attending, Brown is a pretty sweet program. Nothing bad to say about this place, but just didn’t love the city.

Matched at #1 Harvard

Two invaluable pieces of advice:

1) There is no one best program. There is only the best program for you. There is a reason this process is called the “match”; each applicant has his/her strengths and weaknesses and each program has its own strengths and weaknesses and the most successful relationships are those in which the applicant and program are well “matched”.

2) People are quick to criticize competitive programs. Lebron cant shoot. A-Rod is overpayed. Tebow is all hype. Its all the same. If you want to find out what a program is really like, go and see for yourself.

Another addition for those with more near average stats
Med school: NE top 20 school
Preclinical: Pass in important classes, honors in a few non-important
3rd year: Honors in Surgery, rest HP
4th year: 3/3 ortho honors
AOA: No
Step 1: 234
Step 2: 238 (got back in Feb)
Research: 3 projects, 1 first author pub submitted after match, 2 poster presentations/abstracts
Extracurriculars: intramurals, bar hopping

Aways:
Orlando Regional - I loved the program, fun residents, great early operative experience, good didactics, fun city.

Ochsner Clinic - Also a great program to rotate, faculty and residents loved to teach, good operative experience. New Orleans is a blast.

Applied to: 47
Interviews offered: 8
Interviews made: 7
ROL: 7

Unordered thoughts:

Orlando/Ochsner - noted above

Pitt (5 and 6 yr)- Terrific program, operative experience more top heavy but plenty of cases to go around. Residents are great guys, have a good time in and out of the hospital.

Atlanta Medical Center - Pre-interview dinner showed that the residents definitely know how to kick back. Great operative experience as fas as I could tell. Plenty of traffic in atlanta, but tons of stuff to do

Greenville - Terrific community program, will continue to get bigger/better with Stedman/Hawkins doing stuff there. I loved Greenville and the laid back feel of the city.

Allegheny General - Huge operative experience, interested faculty, good residents. Older hospital but appears to have all you need. A little bit of good natured pimping during the interview.

Palmetto Healthcare/Columbia,SC - Unable to make the interview day I was assigned.

Overall I was very impressed by the community programs and loved the opportunity to operate early coupled with a more laid-back family/fraternity type feel. Matched at my #1 and feel that I would have slipped pretty far down my list or not matched if I hadn't worked hard and impressed during aways. You can match with fewer honors/non-AOA/avg. board scores, but aways will be a major asset. Good luck to all!

so that's it for this year's thread huh?

Thanks for this... my head was exploding reading these posts!

Just for all those 3rd years who are freaking out reading all these posts with 250's everywhere heres the link for the NRMP data for 2007 with average board scores, etc for the match by specialty.


And believe it or not the average Step I score of those who matched was 234, 30% AOA and average of 2.6 research projects so please don't freak out when reading these posts! Know the facts.




GOOD LUCK 3rd years and Congrats to all who matched.

Med school: Midwest avg public program
Preclinical: All honors except Path, Pharm which were near honors
3rd year: 2/6 honors (Gen Surg, OB)
4th year: 3/3 ortho honors
AOA: got the Heisman
Step 1: 240
Step 2: 218 (got back in March)
Research: 3 projects but no pubs or presentations, 1 of which was PI and 1st author
Extracurriculars: tutoring, intramural bball champs, volunteer stuff, club officer

Aways:
Rush - strong name, top notch faculty, good group of residents, decent operative experience, great didactics, great city

NYU-HJD - strong everything, fun residents, great city, cost of living is rough but do-able

Applied to: 59
Interviews offered: 13
Interviews made: 12
ROL: 12

In no particular order:
Stanford - good name, good direction, decent residents, good but expensive location near bay area

Howard - fun residents, suprisingly good city, cool laid back faculty. decent name and facilities

SIU - community, decent residents, not feeling location

UIC - fun residents, great city, not elite name but strong operative experience

NJ-New Brunswick - fun residents, excellent facilities. not feeling location

SUNY Downstate - fun residents, busy, great city, not huge name but suprisingly top notch fellowships

USC - excellent facilities, busy but happy residents, not huge name but decent fellowships, big city, warm weather

Loyola - good residents, facilites and location in CHicago. Trauma heavy

NYU-HJD and Rush - see above

St. Lukes - decent residents, faculty. Great location in Manhattan. not huge name or fellowships.

Case - excellent facilities, research, academics. decent faculty, not feeling location (really a deal breaker for such a good program)

Not #1 but matched at UIC which I think is great fit for me. Most excited about the direction of the program, tight group of residents and affordable big city. Can you say downtown condo!!! yessooo

Congrats to all who made it. Good luck to those behind us.

I’m posting just to balance out the awesome stats of the previous posts since the national Step 1 average for ortho is ~235, not ~245, and someone’s got to lower the mean a little. I actually don’t expect this post to be very useful – but perhaps it will give people hope that miracles can happen and show that numbers aren't everything.

Med school: western region public
Preclinical: All P/F
3rd year: 1/6 honors
4th year: Honors in 2 ortho sub-I’s
AOA: Negative
Step 1: 226
Step 2: 230
Research: 1 ortho-related pub (first author) & podium presentation
Extracurriculars: substantive leadership and volunteer work

Applied to: 43
Interviews offered: 4 (2 west coast, 2 east coast)
Interviews made: 4 (would you expect any less?
ROL: 6 (two of the programs offered 6-year positions)

Results:
Matched at my #1!
I was stunned with disbelief when I opened the envelope, and even now, I am so thankful because I am so blessed/lucky/fortunate/<insert positive word of choice>

Lessons learned:
- Away rotations: The most important and powerful tool available to you. Do not waste these and use them at places where you’d really like to go. Work your tail off and be the absolute best acting intern possible. Your ideal goal is to have everyone wanting you back: faculty, residents, and ancillary staff. Anecdote: I overlapped with one other AI who did not end up getting an interview due to his poor AI performance (it was clear even to me that he wasn’t trying very hard the whole time) – such an unfortunate waste!
- Apply broadly, especially if your numbers are below average: Looking at my “stats,” I probably should have applied to >70 programs. However, I ended up being picky about location due to personal reasons, and this could have been very costly.
- Research: I think my first author ortho publication was one of the few gems in my application, so I strongly recommend this – find a supportive ortho faculty member and work hard to crank out a pub/presentation.
- Interviews: Make each one as if it’s your only one. Don’t lie, of course, but find ways to convince the faculty/residents that you’re a great fit and would love to train at their program – otherwise, you’re just one other applicant out of 60.

I don’t anticipate providing details about my ROL, but for those who will be applying, feel free to PM with your questions.

Congratulations to all those who matched, and best of luck to future applicants!!

School: Private
Preclinical: Almost all honors
Third and Fourth Year: All honors except for one core (it wasn't med/surg). This includes honors in all ortho months
Step 1: 253, Step 2: Awaiting - was never asked about it. CS: PASS
Junior AOA, Gold humanism in medice
Research
other: volunteer work/teaching/service projects/elected class positions/club officer

Applied to approximately 32 - 34 - don't exactly remember - diverse geographically

Went on 18 interviews, not sure how many received - turned down at least four that I can think of off the top of my head

Received calls from two programs telling me that I was "ranked to match" Ended up matching at one of these

Ranked 15 out of 18 interviews

My top programs were

NYU/HJD - really enjoyed interview day. Thought the residents were great. Shock for trauma. Chairman and PD seemed really cool. Great location in Manhattan

Yale - not overly keen on new haven, but felt like I really fit in with the residents there. Felt comfortable immediately.

Wash U - Stlouis is nice, great didactics which is actually a good thing for me. Awesome facilities

Emory - hotlanta, cool group of guys, nice mix of autonomy at Grady with private practice stuff in fancy smancy facilities

I would rather not list the rest - at least right now.

I did not match at the top of my list and my advice to people is that don't underestimate the importance of doing aways at places you really want to be. As there really are bunches of people with big numbers.

Whenever you are going through the process many places will say things such as, "wow you seem like a nice, easygoing guy and youve a great academic record - you are going to be able to go whereever you want." This is part of the game and you can't take it too seriously.

The whole process at its culmination now is very humbling. It is important to maintain perspective and not to be too "greedy" about where you end up - keeping light of the fact that many people would be absolutely delighted to match anywhere into ortho. It is also a reminder that just because someone is junior AOA, high board scores, yada yada yada, doesn't mean that they have a "golden ticket" to their choice of programs.

Med School: State school in NE
Preclinical grades: Mostly Honors
3rd year: 2 Honors, 4 High pass (Including surgery)
4th Year: 2 Honors in ortho at home and away, 2 honors and 4 high pass in the rest (mostly BS stuff)
USMLE: Step 1: 253; Step 2: 247 (Not sent until after match) Step 2 CS: Pass!!!!!
AOA: Not so much
Research: 1 trauma project (no publications)

Applied to over 60

Offered: GWU, Pitt, Jefferson, St. Luke's, UNC, Temple, Buffalo, Union, Beaumont, LIJ, UMass, Syracuse, SUNY-Downstate, Michigan State, WVU, NY Medical College, Albany

Went on 11 (couldn't schedule more due to conflicting dates): GWU, St. Luke's, Jefferson, UNC, Pitt, Temple, Buffalo, Beaumont, Union, LIJ and UMass

Ranked 13 (UNC and Pitt had 6yr track separately)

I'm lucky I matched at one of my top choices. For future applicants, feel free to PM me if you have any questions about the programs I interviewed at.

I agree with the above post that these posts are not the average applicant so don't freak out after reading them. Check out the NRMP data to compare yourself to find your predictable match success. Good luck to all those future applicants.

I don't really feel comfortable posting my whole rank list here or even where I matched, but here's some numbers that might still be of interest.

Med School: Top 20 for primary care, overall ??
Preclinical: 5 honors out of 14??
3rd year: 3/7 honors, rest High Pass
4th year: Honored all ortho rotations and everything else until transcript sent to ERAS, then only pass
Step 1: 233
Step 2: Pending results
1 away rotation
2 ortho research projects, 1 pub after ERAS submitted but before interviews. 2 posters after interview were over.
Applied to: 65
Interviews: 12, attended 10, ranked 10



Unlike most people that have posted so far, I'm your basic average Ortho applicant that matches, average board score, some research, some honors, not AOA. So don't be intimidated by all the big names and numbers you see on here, it's a bit scary and it scared me when I wasn't getting any interviews.

I matched at a great place, wasn't my number 1 but definitely up there on my list. Hey, I'll be an Orthopod and that's all that matters
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My advice, go to every interview as if it's the only one you got. I could tell when I interviewed at some not so great programs when certain applicants thought they were too good for the program, don't do that, that's when you have 250+, AOA and don't match. Be happy and do whatever it takes short of lying to convince them you're great for their program, then you can sit down at the end and rank what you want. Programs do the same thing, it's only fair. Remember, the match favors the applicant, so it doesn't matter if you convince some crappy place you wanna go there, just throw them at the bottom of your list and if you match there, it's better than not matching at all in most cases. Congrats to all that matched and good luck to the rest!

med school - top tier north east
preclinical 9-16 honors (anatomy, cell tissue biology, ect..)
clinical - 4 honors (surgery, medicine, ob gyn, fam) 4 High Pass
Step 1 - 225 Step -2 255 (just got and no body asked)
Honored all ortho rotations (UVA, Maryland, Pitt)
ortho research - multiple projects 1 pub, several presentations, posters, abstracts, recieved NIH grant which funded alot of the research I did
Extracirricular - president surgery interest group, VP SNMA, all kinds of volunteer stuff
LOR - very strong my home chairman, PD at program I rotated at ect..

applied to 40 places, given 14 interview (pitt, UVA, hopkins, gtown, penn, dartmouth, carolinas, temple, penn, cleveland clinic, penn state, emory, NYU, howard)

went to 6 (pitt, uva, gtown, hopkins, carolinas, howard)

1. pitt research - very strong program in every aspect, great resources, amazing faculty Fu, Kang, Gruen, Tarkin, Harner, ect... Affordable city, this place has whole package.

2. pitt 5 year

3. UVA - I loved this place, most comfortable place I have ever been. Faculty are truely great, Dr. Chhabra and Carson are PD and truely bring family vibe to program, mentorship second to none. Attending take real interest. Great facilities, chairman is an amazing dude, young faculty like Dr. Dacus are great, and would be ideal to train and learn from. City small college town, expensive, if fam was here would have been number 1.

4. Carolinas - unbelievable set up, residents treated great, opperate a ton, hand pick cases. PD Frick seemed like a nice guy, all residents where very cool. Place has best of both worlds, community program with academic feel.

5. howard- great tradition, residents become great technicians and are true doctors, dont have all perks hospital is old, but great training and residents

6. Hopkins - it was alright, was hopkins. great reputation, but I did not love the place. Bmore is a rough city, but of course overall if you train here you may not be happy, but you will be set.

7. Gtown - very white collar place, very little trauma, expensive as hell to live around the hospital, very previledged patients. I think this is a place either you love or hate. Residents seemed very happy, however it just was not a good fit for me.

Matched at number 1 pitt research, I am very excited cant wait to start.

I think most important aspect of my match success was being visible eary and often at my home instituion and working hard in the lab. Obviously I dont have great board scores but was able to make up for it with other aspects of application. Interviews are about personality and fit and I had no bad experiences. I wish everyone the best, everyone who truely wants ortho can get it if you are persistant and dedicated. God bless

Found these helpful so I will contribute. Mine is relevant for the Midwestern applicant trying to get to either coast. Hope it helps.


Med School: Midwest State School
Preclinical Grades: 3.9 (ABC system)
3rd and 4th year: 4.0
Boards: Step I 245, Step II 258 <--(mentioned at a couple int in a + light)
Senior AOA
Research: One ns spine pub, basic science undergrad stuff
Extracurriculars: Class President and VP, D-1 athlete in undergrad (talked about often at interviews), 2 international trips in medicine (also brought up a lot). Bunch of other randomness.

Applied to 41 schools. All were OUT of the Midwest but two, and all were universtiy programs. Got 16 offers, went on 13. Ranked all 13 plus research years.

Schools in no particular order (every program I would endorse easily; I would have been happy to train at any one):

University of Washington: very renowned well balanced program with public hospital brutality at harborview and gentlemen's third and fourth year. Operate late. Matsen is the MAN. Great fellowships (really it seemed like everywhere did). Seattle is gorgeous and fun but with high COL and bad traffic.

University of Utah: Very solid program in an outdoor mecca. Some fellows, but residents didn't seem to mind them. Unbelievable ortho center. Friendly leadership. Only 5/25 in program and 47% of SLC is LDS so that shouldn't really stop anyone that would have a problem.

University of Oklahoma: Solid busy clinical program with a nice PD. Very family friendly with great housing. OKC is more fun than one might think esp with the sonics coming to town. (?) Hard working but close group.

Dartmouth: Nice program with some cool outcomes research. Small town but with lots of outdoor activities, and big cities only a couple of hours away. The away rotations in Boston were a turn off. A little expensive. Lots of snow.

OHSU: Lots of young, enthusiastic attendings. Cool city and nice hospital with tram to sweet clinic. Improving from everything I could tell. Nice chair.

USC: Crazy interview day with a ton of applicants. Trauma heavy program. Impressed with the resident presentations. LA is LA.

University of Vermont: Probably the closest knit group of residents I saw. Awesome "Bone Room" for the residents. Nice hospital with friendly PD. Burlington is kind of pricey but really pretty. Bundle up.

Virginia Commonwealth: Blue collar program that did not try to hide it. Richmond seemed like a nice city that is close to lots of stuff. Older facilities. Residents seemed to get along well.

University of Michigan: Solid, well-balanced program. Some of the happiest residents I met. Nice benifits since they unionize. Big hospital. Ann Arbor is a cool college town but kinda of pricey for the midwest. Pretty cold for not having any mountains nearby. Good Sports.

University of Florida: Really sweet program with probably the sweetest ortho facility of any I saw. Really cool chair. Renowned tumor. Gainesville is a nice little town that is affordable. Residents seemed really happy to be there. Some of the best benefits of any program since it is so well funded.

University of North Carolina: Solid program with a really cool chair. A unique approach (preceptor) that I would encourage anyone really interested in the program to probably check out first hand with a rotation. Chapel Hill is one cool college town with some great weather.

University of South Florida: New program with only a couple of classes. Chair and PD seemed really personable and passionate about developing the program. The easiest call schedule by far of any place I visited. Get to rotate at Fl Orth Inst with Sanders etc. Tons of potential.

Matched at: University of Rochester
A really solid, well-balanced program in an affordable city near outdoor activities (Adirondacks/Finger Lakes) and major cities (Toronto/NYC). A close group of residents that really seemed to like golfing which was a plus for me. A research powerhouse with #1 in NIH funding for Ortho Dept last year, especially in hard sciences with ample support staff. Level One trauma. Really nice orthopaedic clinic. Very nice chair. Housing very affordable but property taxes pretty high. Orthopaedic plastics on staff. 6 year ACGME accred.


For midwestern students trying to head east or west, I hope this post helps you all as much as they helped me. Play it safe and over-apply, especially with some back ups in the midwest just in case. (Chicago doesn't count.)

I would recommend any 2008 applicants who read this to post as well. Any future Yellowjackets feel free to PM me.