Need Current Residents’ Help

Hi All,

Just curious if any current residents can give some insight to my question below:

How often do 4th year medical students match in orthopedics at a program that is 1) out of the region of their medical school (say you are in a decent program in the Northeast but want to go Southeast, Midwest, or West) and 2) a program you did NOT rotate at?

This is assuming you are a reasonably competitive candidate at worst.

Much appreciated.

The likelihood does largely depend on the program; if it is a relatively large program, it is generally less of an issue. There are some programs that are historically known for mainly taking either home students or rotators, but I mainly know the ones in the northeast. If you are interested in particular programs, you can ask around or post on the interview boards to see if folks know a program's reputation re this.
It is certainly not uncommon for students to be able to go to a different part of the country without rotating at a particular place. One of the most important things is emphasizing in your interview why you want to switch to a different part of the country to let them know you didn't just apply to a million programs all over the place.