Are you Competitive for Orthopaedic Surgery?
To ensure the highest chance of Matching, you want as many interviews as possible. When I applied, the magic number of interviews ensuring 90% or higher chance of Matching was 12-14. This means interviews you actually go on and subsequently rank. Not just interview offers. I personally went on 11 interviews and ranked all of them. Less competitive specialties may be different, but for Ortho I honestly think you should rank all your interviews to give yourself the best odds. Unless there’s a program you despised so much that you’d rather not be an Orthopaedic Surgeon than train there…rank everywhere you interview.
So how do you get to that threshold number of interviews?
The first and foremost thing is Step 1. 250+ makes you a competitive applicant. People of course Match with scores in the 240s and even 230s. But to be competitive and receive a high number of interviews, you need to crush Step 1. Really dedicate five to six weeks to knock this out of the park. Step 2 CK is now very important for Ortho. As I said previously, if I could change just one thing it would be taking Step 2 CK before I applied (but my circumstances were different). I’d highly recommend adequately preparing and taking Step 2 CK before applying (shoot for a 250+).
Just like the Big Four I detailed above, your grades, LORs, and research are definitely important. Grades do matter, especially if you get AOA. I personally was not AOA. In fact, of the six Baylor students my year that applied Ortho, no one was AOA and we all still Matched. But many applicants are AOA, and it can be a huge advantage during screening for interview invites, especially at more academic and research oriented programs (more on this below).
But what if I'm not AOA???
LORs can be huge. Ortho is a relatively small community and a lot of people know one another. I experienced this firsthand on the interview trail, as several of my interviewers either knew my LOR writers or had heard of them through research publications. Strive to establish strong relationships with several of your home Ortho faculty so that you can count on strong LORs. And don’t discount the ability of your home Ortho residents to make or break you. You’ll have far more interaction with residents than with faculty during your home Ortho month and night calls, and they have a lot of input in what the faculty write in your LORs. Work hard, help out, be normal and have fun, and don’t act like you know everything. Personality is a much bigger factor than your repository of bone-knowledge.
Research may not be as important for Ortho as it is for Plastic Surgery or Dermatology, but it’s still far above average. More than anything, you should do research to show that you are intellectually curious and understand the research process. More academic-oriented programs will want their residents to publish papers and present posters. Having a strong track record in this area will help you. Of note, your research does not have to be only in Orthopaedics. I had a lot of research projects that were in Space Medicine, because I’m honestly very interested in that. No one is expecting applicants to have first author publications in JBJS (Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery…the Ortho bible). Just have some stuff to put in the research section, and play the numbers game like I explained above.
Away rotations are the final measuring tool. Almost every one of my interviewers asked where I did my aways, and many asked me to compare and contrast the programs and describe what I liked and what I didn’t. I’ll expound more on this below, but aways are basically month-long clerkships at different programs across the country. They serve as a month-long interview at that program, so pick your aways wisely. Additionally, if you get a strong LOR from an away, it shows that in a short time you can build a meaningful relationship with a faculty member and that you can mesh well in a different program. I personally did 3 separate month-long away rotations (average is 2-3), and did not get a LOR from any. I knew my LORs from Baylor would be very strong, and thus didn’t need one from an away. But if you think you clicked with a particular faculty member at an away institution, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to ask for a LOR.