Starting intern year with Ortho vs. General Surgery?

Is there any downsides to starting with ortho intern year as compared to general surgery. I'm worried that if I start with ortho I will be too rusty with my ortho knowledge/skills when I start my 2nd yr. Or does it not matter at all?

This is a moot point....dont dwell on it...thats my advice....try hard, read, and learn the nuts and bolts....not like you are going to be forgetting how to go complex surgeries as an intern anyway.....

save your worries for something more worthwhile

good luck with residency....

I remember reading on Studentdoctor a while back about kids about to start med school asking whether or not they should start reading up on things prior to their first day of MS1 and the consensus was that it was a waste of time. Does the same thing apply for residency? Is there any point to reading up on things before we start residency? I've got quite a bit of time off, but if its unnecessary I guess I'd rather be drinking beer and golfing/fishing than reading a text book..

I would have as much fun as you can. You're not going to get a big break again until you finish your residency or fellowship. My wife and I went backpacking for a month in Europe. I didn't take any medical books. If you feel the need to read something, then I would consider reading through a book called "On Call". It will help you with the thousands of pages you will get from the nurses about medical issues outside of orthopedics.