Author Comment Theodore Unregistered User (6/5/00 10:37:38 pm) Reply Ranking Tactics After you have interviewed at various programs do the ortho programs ever respond back w/ any letters or phone calls expressing interest in you as an applicant? I had a roomate who did anesthesia and he received these types of responses from programs and this information definitely influenced his rank list. Kent Unregistered User (6/6/00 10:23:20 am) Reply Ranking tactics You friend was fortunate to be in a field that fills about 80% of the spots, so many programs go looking for good candidates. That's probably why the programs sent him letters, because if you don't fill it creates all sorts of labor and funding problems. Neurology, Pyschiatry and other areas that don't fill or fill with foreign medical graduates often will court good candidates. A friend of mine already had his Pathology spot secured long before the match. However, he did have to go through the Match for appearances sake. Orthopaedics is the exact opposite. It has virtually a 100% fill and probably about a 20-25% surplus of applicants (those that didn't match). It's probably not unheard of, but I would imagine that an orthopaedics applicant who got these letters was either some sort of prodigy sought by the big names or their home program really wanted them to stay. Anyway, there are all sorts of stories of the superstar that was told by a program that "we're ranking you first, so if you rank only us then you'll be here." Guess what happens...the fool ranks only that spot and doesn't match. If you are offered such a proposition, it must be in writing from the program director (and that still doesn't protect you completely from getting screwed over). People have all sorts of strategies for ranking, but I followed the two strategies suggested by the NRMP booklet: 1. Rank ALL acceptable programs. In other fields, you have the luxury of not ranking programs. Not true in orthopaedics. Anyplace is better than no place. 2. Rank the programs in order of your preference. Don't try to guess how they'll rank you. Put your first choice first, second choice second and so forth. One thing I did do, however, was to write personalized, detailed than- you letters to EVERY person I talked with (even if it was 6 people in a group interview, each of them got a personalized letter). It's time consuming to make a personalized letter, but the majority of the letter can be similar to each person, just include a paragraph that's specific to them (there's also some sort of connection between you and them...one guy asked my what my favorite year for the BMW 2002 coupe was because he'd had several of them. I gave a specific answer that happen to concide with his favorite. Think he remembered me? Of course. My personal opinion is that a generic, 5-line thank you letter that every interviewer receives the same copy of doesn't show much effort. This is one of the most important events in your career, so act like it. After the interview, I'd jot down some notes about what we talked about (as an older applicant, I got questions about my graduate research, my former job, some off-the-wall stuff, sports, BMW cars (a hobby), and all sorts of other things). When I wrote my letter, I'd make a specific mention of some of the topics we talked about and my continued high interest in their programt. The purpose was so that when they received their letter, I hoped they would think, "I remember this guy...he's the one that has all the vintage bicycles", or some such thing. There will be lots of people interviewing, so make yourself remembered. I also included copies of all the papers I had written (three of which won awards), a copy of my manuscript that was accepted to AJSM, a book chapter I wrote in graduate school, and other things that came up during the interviews, etc. etc. Now all these copies and postage was fairly expensive, but it's a small, small investment if it helps get you into a program. The desired end result of all this was that if I had many of the programs ranking me highly, then the order of MY rank list was more likely to reflect reality. A few weeks before the match, I sent abrief letter to each program director and chairman giving them my NRMP number, my continued interest in their program, and the news about my accepted publication to AJSM (this letter is a great opportuinity to add tidbits of information that happened after the interviews, e.g., my manuscript was still in the submitted stage on the ERAS application and "accepted" is much cooler!). Make it easy to remember you, but don't be a pest and call or write several times. I can't say if this actually worked, but I did receive my first choice. So, I wouldn't count on getting one of those lettes, at least in orthopaedics. If you do, great! Keep those two rules for ranking in mind and concentrate your efforts on the things that you can potentially influence. Good luck! =================================