Benefits of Orthopedics Research Year???

Hi all,

I am an M3 at a southern, not-top-40 medical school. I only became interested in Orthopedics recently and I was previously interested in Pediatrics. I am set on this as a career and recently met with my program director to talk about my options going forward.

He advised me to take a year off after my third year and do clinical research in orthopedics . My question is -- will this have a big impact on my application? Can anybody on here speak from experience? Does it help get interviews? Anybody with similar scores and/or similar experiences... I would love to hear from you!

As far as stats go:
1. Step1 239
2. Clerkships: High pass on surgery and medicine, midway through psychiatry now.
3. Research: one peds publication

Having similar stats last year coming from a newish school with no ortho program. I wish I was not stubborn enough to fight against a research year. I did not match last year, partly because I did not have enough research. Out of principle, I said a research year was ridiculous. But Ortho is ridiculously competitive and a year might be necessary for some people. If you are willing to take a year off, I am now recommending it to people. If you could get a few more publications before sept of next year. Maybe not necessary, but won't hurt if you are fine taking that extra year.

You should definitely take a year off and do research. This will help confirm that orthopedic surgery is right for you and give you an opportunity to make your application more competitive. The 2 HPs in Medicine and Surgery combined with the 239 are not deal breakers but they are obviously not going to make you stand out amongst a sea of "superstar" applicants.

So I would strongly encourage you to do a research year.

Good luck -

William N. Levine, MD

I think clinical research in Orthopaedics must and should impact your carrer. For clear info on this, kindly consult the best Orthopaedic Surgeons, they will give the best guide lines.