Should I go for it?

You have more than enough time. Don't worry. The single most important part of your application will be scheduling one to three away rotations and making a good impression on these rotations. You should schedule these at programs you have a realistic chance of matching at. You may want to do one at a community based program which will weigh research experience less heavily.

Your step 1 score is solid. Although lack of research experience and leadership roles in extracurricular activities will give you less of a chance at matching into a large, competitive, academic program.

If you have a strong interest in academics (which you may if you enjoy pediatric orthopaedics), it wouldn't hurt to spend next year doing research and applying the following year. This will allow you to network with faculty, publish some meaningful research, and then schedule away rotations wherever you wish.

Go for it!! Follow your heart or u will forever regret it.
Rock your aways.
Let your PS tell your story.
Apply and interview heavily (throw budget out the window)
and have a just in case back up plan.

Dont settle.

Just another point - you can always apply to both ortho and IM at the same time, if you really think you would be happy in both fields. Just rank all your ortho programs higher than your IM ones, and then if you don't end up in ortho, at least you can be content with knowing you gave it your best shot and it just wasn't meant to be, but you'll end up in IM as a backup.

I know some 4th years at my school who are doing something similar. They told me that if you do try this approach, it would be smart to only apply to one type of program at a given hospital, to avoid any awkwardness. For example....if you want to go to University of Michigan, don't apply there for both ortho and IM. Choose one or the other, just in case the PDs from both departments happen to be buddy-buddy and figure the situation out.

Update on my situation, in case anyone cares:

I spoke with one of the orthopaedic attendings at my school the other day, and he actually asked me if I've ever been to orthogate. Of course, I stupidly answered "no", totally oblivious to the fact that these forums I've been posting on ARE the orthogate forums.

Anyway, I've been thinking a lot about away rotations now. People have been telling me to #1 pick according to geography and #2 pick places you think you might have a shot at. For me, the only place I have a strong preference for is california, since that is where home is for me. I have heard, however, that california programs are generally difficult to get into. I am especially interested in USC, since it is literally 15 minutes away from my parent's house, and it does have 10 spots / year.

I guess my question is, should I do one away rotation in california, even though those programs are notoriously difficult to get into, or should I just forget about cali and go for programs I would have a better shot at? Also, how would I even know what programs I may have a chance it?

I'm just at a lost as to where I should apply, and I know I should apply soon. Any advice with regards to what kinds of places I might be competitive at / where I can find more information about the various programs / how competitive USC actually is would be much much appreciated. Thanks!


P.S.

To wareagle,

I just took my surgery shelf, and I felt what helped me the most was going through case files 2-3 times and using a series of questions called the pestana review a few days before the test. My classmates have been saying pretest was also helpful, but I personally felt the questions in there were sometimes too detailed. Good luck on your shelf, if you haven't taken it already...