hey everybody,
As a medstudent I had a tough time picking btw IR and ortho. I thought that they were very close in terms of skills needed to perform procedures (very good understanding of mechanisms of force applied, 3-D imagination of axis applied to different structures, good ability to reconstruct structures in your head). I eventually picked IR because I thought that there was more room for innovation. I did my internship in a solid surgery program to develop my skills early. During internship, I felt that I made a mistake. IR was not what I thought. Most of the time you keep pushing the wire until it goes in where you want. Also, 90% of the IR list were lines. I started radiology residency 2 months ago and my suspicions were confirmed. I want to switch to ortho. I got a couple of questions.
1. What do u think my chances are (IMG, honors in school, really good letters from big names - none for US ortho, USMLEs 265+, 265+ and 250 + in step 3, 5 publications, 2 posters, 1 conference talk but none in ortho)? Would doing a surgery internship and a year in rads give me an edge?
2. I heard that GME funding lasts for 5 years per resident and then it is cut by 1/2. Will that destroy my chances?
3. What do you think my approach should be while applying?
4. Should I quit my residency, risk it all and try to find a research position in ortho?
Thank you so much Boys and Girls, greatly appreciate ur guidance, you are potentially helping me save years of my life.
