Need advice regarding applying Ortho this year or consideration of a different specialty. Im currently in USMD school with a Step 1 of 220-225 doing a research year with a top 10 joint surgeon at HSS with projection of getting >150 research publications/abstracts/posters by the end of this year. I have also failed my internal medicine rotation due to my shelf score, missed cut of by one point, all due to family issues at that time. I retook my internal medicine rotation and scored >85 on shelf and honored it and have HP/H for all third year rotations with strong preclinical grades and recommendations. With my poor step 1 score, recorded failure of IM rotation but heavy research experience and letter/recommendation from a top surgeon in the field (he was past President of AAOS and American Society of Hip and Knee) and who is willing to call PD's for interviews, is it still worth applying for a chance to do ortho? Do I still have a chance to even match?Do you know of any student in the past in a similar situation or with similar stats that was successful in the ortho match? Really need some advice as I am struggling to find a direction.
