Ortho Interviews and Matching
As I mentioned, the magic number of interviews for Ortho was 12-14 for 90% chance of matching when I applied. Besides having a strong application and doing well on aways, there’s not much you can “do” to ensure more interviews. Some students send letters of interest to programs (basically emails saying how much they’d like to interview and go to that program). There’s mixed feelings on whether these help or not; personally, I didn't send any because I don’t think they do much. But it can't hurt.
Ortho traditionally interviews later in the season than most specialties, with the bulk of interview dates in December and January. Other specialties start interviewing as early as October, so if a lot of your friends are traveling across the country and you’re anxiously staring at your empty email inbox hoping for invites…relax. The reason Ortho interviews are later is to accommodate the large number of away rotators. You don’t want to miss several days while on an away rotation, so this is actually beneficial. My interview invites began filtering in sometime in October and went into January. My first interview was at the end of November and last was at the end of January. Other than my stretch of five interviews in six days, most were spaced out fairly well.
Scheduling interviews: once an invite comes in, respond ASAP. Most programs communicate via email, but a couple places require phone calls for interview confirmation. Regardless of the route, make sure to reply promptly. I think it’s also prudent to schedule as many interviews as early in the season as you can, because this frees up room later when dates are more clustered. If conflicts arise between programs, contact the program coordinators and try your best to pick an alternate date. In some cases, you simply have to choose one program over another. And this is entirely personal preference. If you do have a stretch of back-to-back interviews like I did, skipping the social event the night before is completely fine. The interview itself is the most important thing. After all, I had to skip the social at University of South Florida and still matched there, so don’t stress out about it.
A word on pre-interview socials: Ortho is notorious for having “wild” socials the night before. Not naming any names, but several of my interview socials were nothing short of insane. Lots of drinks, bar hopping, and even strip clubs. You don’t have to partake in anything that compromises your morals. But I’m writing this because it’s a reality that you may experience at some programs. Don’t let it fluster you. Stay relaxed and have fun, but keep control and do your best to gather information about the program. Talk to the residents and ask a ton of questions. In fact, ask residents in different years of training what was the last case they did, and ascertain specifically what role they had (did they actually do the case, or were they simply retracting for a senior or attending). And compare this to your home program, aways, and other interviews to get a feel for how early the residents get to do different types of cases. Remember – you flew across the country to assess where you’ll get phenomenal training over the next five years. Not to take a couple extra shots of cheap vodka with some random resident.
The interviews themselves are varied just like any other specialty. Some are formal question/answer sessions, while others are relaxed group interviews. Regardless, keep one thing in mind: Ortho interviews are largely personality interviews. The fact that you received an invite already means you’re academically qualified on paper. Now the faculty and residents want to see if you’re a normal person who they’ll enjoy working with for five years. Be able to answer the following:
Why Ortho?
Tell me about yourself
What do you do for fun/what hobbies do you have?
Tell me a joke (definitely have 1 clean and 1 dirty joke ready for delivery)
Where do you see yourself in ten years?
Additionally, have a set of questions to ask. Never finish an interview without asking something. It shows lack of interest. After doing my home month and three aways, I realized that several items were important to me in a program. I always asked the following questions (and asked multiple people the same questions to ensure I was getting an honest consensus response):
Are there a lot of Fellows in the program? Do you feel they impinge on resident training by taking cases from them? Or do the residents and Fellows work well together, and the Fellows actually augment resident education?
How early do residents begin operating? (get specifics: ask what role juniors have vs. seniors, the complexity of cases they’re allowed to do, are they double or even triple scrubbed with an attending, etc)
How is night call structured? (night float vs. mixed call pool)
Is there dedicated time for research? Support infrastructure? Funding assistance with grants, help with IRBs, etc? Time off for academic conference presentations?
Are there international elective opportunities?
Post-interview communication: unlike many other specialties, this is pretty common in Ortho. Several Programs Directors and Chairmen specifically told me during the interview to stay in touch and email them as the season continued. I only corresponded with my top three programs, and let them know that I planned to “rank them highly”. Don’t lie and tell multiple places that they are your number one choice. Some people shy away from saying that all together, but if you say it…only tell one place. Additionally, if you have any updates to your application (ex: a manuscript accepted for publication during the interview season), send that to the Program Director/Chairman. And make sure to “cc” the program coordinator, because he/she is the one that’ll ensure it enters your application packet for committee review.
The Rank Order Lists (ROL): like I mentioned in a previous section, rank programs in the true order of your preference. Don’t try and game the system. And honestly, I would rank every single program you interviewed at. Unless you hated a particular place so much that you’d rather not become an Orthopaedic Surgeon than go there…rank everything. Once you submit the ROLs, there’s nothing else to do but wait for the Match. This is a stressful time. The waiting and delayed gratification can get unbearable. But when Match Day arrives and you receive the awesome news, it’ll all be worth it!
I wish you the best of luck!! As long as you work hard and stay actively engaged, it’ll be no time at all until I welcome you into the awesomeness of Orthopaedic Surgery!
You can always contact me for further questions or advice. And if there’s something you’d like to see added to this series, don’t hesitate to reach out.