Pre-Clinical Years
Introduction
Congratulations on embarking on your medical school adventure! The first few years can be a whirlwind of new experiences — adjusting to a new environment, meeting new classmates, and tackling a demanding workload and expectations. It’s completely normal to feel a mix of excitement and uncertainty, especially when it comes to choosing a specialty. Your first few years are a lot, but don’t worry – you’ve got this!
The preclinical years are the perfect time for exploration. Most students enter medical school without a clear idea of their future specialty, and that’s perfectly okay! The vast majority of people are in the same boat, so don’t let uncertainty get you down. That being said, you may be wondering where to start and what to do if you’re interested in multiple specialties. If orthopedic surgery is on your radar, it’s crucial to get involved early, as it’s no secret that orthopedic surgery is one of the most competitive fields to match. Getting involved in research, mentorship, and networking early may help to keep that door open while you figure out exactly where you fit. You may even find that getting involved in research and mentorship can help you to determine if ortho is right for you.
Networking and Mentorship
Never underestimate the value of building a strong network in any field of interest. Mentorship is a vital component of your medical school experience, providing guidance and support from more senior medical students, residents, and attending physicians. In many ways, getting involved with a good mentor may help you to learn more about your own interests and solidify your path in orthopedics. Below are some valuable resources to help you navigate mentorship, particularly in the context of research and beyond.
General Mentorship Resources
Peer to Peer Mentorship
● MSOS Mentorship Programs: Stay on the lookout for updates on the MSOS mentorship program! MSOS aims to connect 2nd year medical students with a resident or attending mentor in the field of orthopedic surgery.
● Building and Maintaining an Effective Research Mentor-Mentee Relationship: Check out the highlights from this MSOS panel for tips on fostering a successful research mentorship.
● Mentorship Tips from Dr. Amiethab Aiyer: Listen to Dr. Aiyer on the Inside the Match Podcast as he shares insights on finding a mentor and the significance of mentorship in medical training. (38 min)
● Athlete Turned Orthopedic Surgeon Talks About the Importance of Mentorship - The Black Doctor Podcast: This episode of the Black Doctor Podcast discusses the crucial role mentorship plays in the field of orthopedics, specifically for underrepresented students. (38 min)
● Women Working in Male-Dominated Specialties: This article addresses the unique challenges faced by women entering fields like orthopedics. It provides organizations, resources, and advice to help you navigate these hurdles.
In addition to traditional mentor-mentee relationships, peer-to-peer mentorship can be incredibly beneficial during your medical school journey. Engaging with fellow students allows you to share experiences, study strategies, and emotional support. This form of mentorship fosters collaboration and builds a sense of community within your cohort.
● Join Clubs/School-based Organizations of Interest: Extracurricular activities are a great way to connect with your more senior peers. These reciprocal group-learning experiences can help you gain different perspectives and learn from one another’s strengths.
● Study Groups and Collaborative Learning: Forming study groups not only helps reinforce your knowledge but also cultivates a supportive environment where you can ask questions and discuss complex topics with classmates and more senior students.
● Networking Events: Attend networking events organized by your institution or student organizations. These gatherings often facilitate connections among peers and create opportunities for mentorship.
These resources will help you build strong mentorship relationships that can enhance your medical school experience and guide your future career. Remember, mentorship is not just about receiving advice; it’s also about giving back and supporting others in their journeys. Building strong connections now may not only help you in the present, but may also offer benefits many years down the road.
Shadowing
● Shadowing exposes you to the clinical, surgical, and inpatient settings of orthopedic surgery. You can learn about the differences between sub-specialties, build relationships with attendings, and begin to apply what you have learned to patient care.
● Work with your hospital’s orthopedic departments and your school’s orthopedic surgery interest to set up time to shadow. Normally, schools have a pathway to sign up for shadowing, however, this is not always the case. You may not have an ortho department or interest group at your school! Regardless, you can also reach out to surgeons at nearby hospitals and practices to set up shadowing experiences. Cold emailing to ask about shadowing is also another great way to introduce yourself to faculty in the field and get a potential mentorship relationship started.
○ At some institutions, attendings have clinic/OR days at different locations, so if possible, check the attendings’ schedule through the EMR platform for locations and times. This is a good way to streamline shadowing outreach by identifying which date/time/locations works for you in advance of reaching out. Ask older medical students how to do this if you’re unsure! If you don’t have access to the EMR, residents can be a great first point of contact for gaining more information.
○ If you have access to EMR, try to preview what you’ll be shadowing so you have a general idea of what you’re walking into! Using OrthoBullets or a similar resource to familiarize yourself with the procedures or pathologies you’ll be seeing will help you walk in prepared with knowledge and a few thoughtful questions in mind.
● Use older medical students as resources! This cannot be understated. They were in your shoes just a couple years ago - their advice will be some of the most up-to-date you can find. They will have prior experience with attendings and may know who is likely to respond and engage while you are shadowing.
● Keep a record of who you shadowed and what you saw.
● Build relationships with attendings and residents by asking questions related to orthopedic management, careers in orthopedics, and their interests/research opportunities.
● You may get asked “any questions?” at the end of a case, so always try to have a few in your back pocket - this helps to demonstrate interest and engagement.
● See the email template below for an outline of what to say when you reach out to new attendings.
○ Keep in mind it always helps to personalize emails if possible! Good connections to mention include if an older medical student recommended shadowing them, if you saw them give a recent talk, or if you briefly met them at a recent event.
○ Keep it short! You can always explain more about your background and interests when you meet them in person.
● Keep shadowing! Building longitudinal relationships is very important. After your first shadowing session, reach out to thank the attending and inquire about future opportunities in the OR/clinic. This will not only increase your exposure to the field, but may also help to build lasting relationships.
Introduction to the Operating Room
Stepping into the OR can be an exciting yet daunting experience as a new medical student. While you may have participated in surgical shadowing or clinical experiences as a pre-med, many students do not step foot into an OR until their first few years of medical school. To help you navigate this important setting, we have provided some valuable resources to get you started.
● Be Friendly: The more people you get to know in the OR—nurses, residents, anesthesiologists, and scrub technicians—the more support you’ll receive. Building rapport can enhance your learning experience and create a positive atmosphere.
● Introduce yourself! The OR can be a hectic place and many days you may not have the chance to round with the attending or residents prior to the case. Use the time before surgery to introduce yourself to both the resident and attending to let them know that you will be shadowing that day. Ask the resident if there's anything they need to know about the attending's operating and teaching style. You may also want to ask if the attending typically wants students to scrub in. Additionally, ask the resident to walk you through scrubbing in if it is your first time!
● Be Aware of Your Surroundings: Always be mindful of your environment. Understand where you can stand, what equipment is around you, and how to move safely in a sterile environment.
● Pay Attention and Be Respectful: The OR is a professional setting where focus and respect are paramount. Show your attentiveness through body language and engagement.
● Prepare Yourself: Have a general understanding of the procedure you will be observing or participating in. It’s often acceptable to ask the attending physician or resident for more information about the procedures they will perform before you enter the OR. This preparation will not only aid your understanding but also demonstrate your enthusiasm and commitment to learning. Here a few key resources that may helpful in strengthening your knowledge in the OR:
Introduction to the Operating Room Workshop: This workshop is a great first step to familiarize yourself with the OR environment, including protocols, roles, and what to expect during surgical procedures.
Behind the Knife Skills: Check out this series of short videos that teach essential suturing and tying techniques. These skills are fundamental for any aspiring surgeon and will help you feel more prepared for hands-on experiences.
10 Surgical Instruments to Know for Your Ortho Rotation: The Nailed It Ortho article provides a basic list of ten key surgical instruments you’re likely to encounter during your orthopedic rotation. While it’s not exhaustive, it offers a solid starting point to help reduce any overwhelm you might feel when facing unfamiliar tools.
By engaging with these resources, you’ll build a strong foundation for your orthopedic training and gain confidence as you enter the OR. Embrace this opportunity to learn and grow—you're on your way to becoming a skilled medical professional!
Research
● This is the best time to get involved in research!
○ Get involved early – the sooner you build connections in a research setting, the better!
○ Research opportunities are one of the best ways to get and maintain mentorship, while building lasting relationships in an orthopedic setting.
○ Use this time to showcase your strengths. When participating in research work to excel in time management, communication, and being a team player.
○ Our biggest piece of advice - don’t overcommit! Overextending yourself may lead to not following through or performing poorly on projects (quality > quantity).
○ Research has significant value. The time you put into your research projects can directly translate to strong relationships, letters of recommendation down the line, strengthening of your knowledge in the field, and can demonstrate proactivity and a longitudinal interest in orthopedics. All of which help to build a strong application!
● You do not have to reinvent the wheel when starting to brainstorm ideas. Read the literature, see what’s out there! This is one of the best ways to come up with new studies.
○ Read the future directions section of a paper that interests you. Is there any way for you to address that lingering question with your own research?
○ Translate existing research questions from one field or subspecialty into another. Saw a cool retrospective analysis in general surgery? See if you can apply it to ortho! Interesting risk factors for total hip arthroplasty? Check if something similar crops up in total knee arthroplasty!
● Check out our recent panel to hear more about time management strategies when getting involved with research: Tips for Maximizing Your Maximizing Your Time For Research
● Another great resource is this video on maximizing productivity and efficiency in medical school: How I published 18 Research Papers in Medical School
Extracurriculars
● Interest groups are great ways to get to know a specialty. I recommend joining a couple different groups at first to help discern your career path. These groups are great ways to get access to faculty, attend events, and show leadership in occupying a board position.
○ Many schools have surgery interest groups, orthopedic surgery interest groups, and other specialties you may want to explore.
● Bottom line: pursue your interests! Engage in extracurriculars that interest you, whether they are ortho-related or not. Don’t spend your time with activities just because you think it’ll “look good” on your resume. You have very limited free time in medical school, so choose your extracurriculars wisely and make sure it’s something that is truly meaningful to you.
● Join national organizations that interest you
○ Check out the AAOS student membership, SAOAO, RJOS, AWS etc.
○ Also look into affinity group national organizations: PrideOrtho, JRGOS, etc.
○ Check out our Resource Center for more!
● The Ruth Jackson Orthopaedic Society (RJOS) is a national organization supporting women in orthopedics that recently started medical student chapters. See if your school has a chapter, and if not, get one started by filling out this form!
○ Association of Women Surgeons (AWS) also has medical student chapters. Though this group is not ortho-specific, it offers opportunities for leadership and learning as a woman in surgery.
● Volunteering
○ No better way to learn about the needs of your specific community than volunteering! This is a great way to give back and get outside the “bubble” of medical school.
○ Check out if there is a Perry Initiative event near you - this is a fantastic program that introduces medical and high school students to ortho with a focus on empowering women in the field. Med students can participate or volunteer to help with the high school engagement day.
● Leadership
○ Taking on leadership roles can show collaboration, organization, and time management skills!
○ Similar to research commitments, be sure to really evaluate your availability to make sure you have the bandwidth to take on a leadership role
○ Leadership can span your med school career, but some schools do turnover leadership positions to M1s/2s when older students move on to clinical rotations, so these roles may be concentrated in your pre-clinical years!
● Social media
○ Who said scrolling Instagram can’t be productive?? Be sure to follow national organizations, ortho-related accounts, and even your favorite ortho influencers - you never know what might come up that sparks some interest! Events, panels, webinars and more are often advertised on social media so be sure to stay in the loop.
○ Twitter is another important social media platform in the ortho world #orthotwitter! There is a lot of value in creating a professionally oriented Twitter account and is another great way to stay connected and get your name out.
● Apply for an MSOS Committee, obviously - keep an eye out for applications opening in the spring!
Email template for outreach:
Hi Dr. [name],
I hope this email finds you well. My name is [name] and I am a [first/second/etc] year medical student at [school] interested in exploring orthopedics.
[if you have any connection to this attending, i.e. recommendation from an older student, saw them give a talk recently, etc. mention that here!]
I would love to shadow you in [clinic, the OR] to learn more about your practice and [subspecialty]. Please let me know if there are any dates/times at [location/hospital] that would work for you in the next few weeks. Thank you so much for your time!
Best,
[name]