not that it matters, but rol's should be in in 48 hours so i'll rant as i see fit unfortunately grades are prob most important. 50% of those who match are AOA . i guess thats almost all honors but iwouldn't know. i doubt the majority of other 50% were far from the top 25% of their class. i would say a good rotaion helps but only 1/2 of those matching rotated at their institution. getting all honors 3rd yr with good rotations may better your chances. talk to the chair and director at your home program if there is a program. they actually pick people , unlike a loser like me who can't get a spot (in a country where avril can win 8 grammy's. it just ain't fair). hopefully they will be forthright with your chances of ortho. if you can only live as an orthopod, good luck and maybe i'll see you next year on the trail.

Check out this article: Bernstein AD, Jazrawi LM, Elbeshbeshy B, Della Valle CJ, Zuckerman JD. Orthopaedic resident-selection criteria. J Bone Joint Surg 2002, 84A: 2090-2096.

That article is money. It's as close as you'll get to what the holy grail is in matching for ortho. Beyond that, it's all voodoo and no one can explain it. Good luck

i'm glad you guys brought up the topic of "the article" i hate to be argumentative but i though it was mostly crap. it is in jbjs, so chairs and directors are reading it. to me the take home was that the system of choosing residents is far from perfect and people are poor judge of character. i'd compare it to heisman winners. they rarely live up to expectations in the real game. some points from the article 1)1 in 6 resident selections was later thought inappropriate (they wish they could throw the fish back) . 1 in 12 thought to be a serious mistake. 2)ranked most important was rotation at hte institution. who can't fake it for a month (me) and only half rotated where they matched so how could that be No. 1 3)class rank, AOA , and deans letter are all in top 10. they're really one in the same 4)politeness and personal appearance 4 & 5. that's just stupid and not believable 5)ethical question 6th? i was never asked one 6)medical school rep 9th. i guess that means they didn't go to the interviewers school. which are the bad ones? 7) 54% matched were AOA 56% rotated where they matched 9)only 22%said interviewees were on equal footing once selected for interview. basically 80%know who they want and the rest are there for show or in case they go down they're list 10)there were 1116 applicants for 554 spots.3 years ago. i don't think directors had any clue it was this competitive.11)lastly the authors recommend testing moral reasoning. so i guess we all should have been ethics majors in college. i don't get it but maybe this is just me being a cynical @#$%^&*. is it just me )

G-love, Dude, you are a bitter man. But before you get p@#$ed off at me for saying that, I'm sure you're entitled because of how the match went for you. While that article isn't perfect by any stretch, I think it's the best window that we have into the criteria that program directors appear to be using. I think a lot of the criteria are lame and it's no wonder they want to throw so many fish back. Some dude on here has it right with his signature "don't hate the playa, hate the game." Anyway, just wanted to ramble on a little. If anyone has any other insights into the minds of program directors and why they choose who they choose, let's hear it.

bitter doesn't even begin to describe. do you know how many conferences or cases i've been in where the junior resident didn't know squat and i'm sitting next to another student who reads and we bite our lips so as not to make them look bad? i seriously don't know how they matched. i know it's not me when i hear the chief say how pathetic the situation was. who was the guy doc holliday shot in "Tombstone"? that's how bitter i am. )

"I'm ya huckleberry!" (In no way do i intend to start another thread of movie quotes...)

The article presents the largest list of things that I have seen, as far as, what might be looked for in an ortho applicant. You don't have to agree with the order and you don't have to like how the applicants are chosen. As far as moral judgement goes. These are things that HOPEFULLY the applicant has learned by the time they reach college. After reading this article, I checked out the book by Rest and the article by Self. There appears to be a better correlation with moral reasoning and future performance as a practicing physician than with any of the other selection criteria. I have taken this moral judgement test before and its not that bad. I just find it hard to believe that anyone at this level would not perform at the top level. I don't know about you, but I've seen pathetic junior residents in every specialty. I am sure that time and experience can change this, as along as the resident is consciencious enough to read about every case and stay on top of things. just my $0.02 worth.

I'm an incoming medical student, can someone tell me how I can - ethically - obtain a free copy of that Ortho-Residency Criteria article? Thanks!

Daas, See the above citation by Handjob. You can find JBJS at you friendly, local health sciences library.

Go to your local medical library and photocopy it or order it from JBJS here: http://www.ejbjs.org/cgi/content/full/8 ... de=jobojos but that is 15$ to access it online. The best bet would be to go to your local medical school library or hospital library and pick up a copy, it is not illegal according to this law: The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photocopies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified in the law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. One of these specified conditions is that the photocopy or other reproduction is not to be "used for any purpose other than private study, scholarship, or research." If a user makes a request for, or later uses, a photocopy or reproduction for purposes in excess of "fair use," that user may be liable for copyright infringement. This institution reserves the right to refuse to accept a copying order if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright When you get into med school, you will realize how many copies of journal articles you will make. If you have probs getting it, I could mail you a copy!

wow, agee thanks alot for the offer! i'll go to my library and try to dig it up...

I think every place looks at different things. I think they are all trying to guess who will be a great resident and a great co-worker. While most have no experience in judging people and fall back on grades etc..., I have met some Directors who do not. I believe that this is because they are better at judging the true character of a person. The truth is that almost any one of us in the top 25% or so have the mental skills to make it in any field we choose. Manual skills is another story and is also important in surgery. I think dedication to the team and the job is number one though.