How to Get Orthopaedic Surgery Research Experience as an MS1 or MS2.
You do not need to wait until third year to start building your research profile. Here is how to find ortho research opportunities early and make the most of them.
By the OrthoMatched Team · 6 min read
Why MS1 and MS2 are the best time to start
Counter-intuitively, MS1 and MS2 are better times to pursue research than MS3. Your clinical schedule is more predictable, your evenings and weekends are more available, and you have more time to develop the relationships with faculty that lead to meaningful research involvement. By the time MS3 starts and clinical rotations dominate your schedule, the students who built their research foundation in the first two years are submitting publications while everyone else is starting from scratch.
How to find orthopaedic research opportunities at your home institution
Start with PubMed. Search for publications from orthopaedic surgery faculty at your medical school from the last three years. Identify two or three faculty members whose research interests you. Read their recent papers before reaching out — this signals genuine interest and immediately differentiates you from the dozens of students who send generic cold emails. Your outreach email should be brief, specific, and professional. Mention a specific paper of theirs, explain that you are an MS1 or MS2 interested in orthopaedic surgery, and ask whether they have any opportunities for a medical student to contribute to an ongoing project. Expect a low response rate — email five to ten faculty members and expect one or two responses. That is normal and not a reflection of your candidacy.
What to do if your home institution has limited ortho research
Many medical schools — particularly community-based or osteopathic schools — have limited orthopaedic surgery research infrastructure. If this is your situation you have several options. First, consider reaching out to orthopaedic faculty at nearby academic medical centres — some will work with visiting students on research projects remotely or in person. Second, look for national research opportunities — organisations like the Orthopaedic Research Society and AAOS occasionally have student research programmes. Third, consider a systematic review or meta-analysis — these can be conducted without institutional affiliation, require no patient data, and if well-executed can be published in respectable journals. Your OrthoMatched mentor can advise on which systematic review topics are most likely to be accepted and most valued by programme directors.
What types of research output matter most
Not all research output is weighted equally by orthopaedic surgery programme directors. In rough order of impact: first-author publications in peer-reviewed orthopaedic journals carry the most weight. Co-author publications in peer-reviewed journals are strong. Oral presentations at national conferences such as AAOS are highly valued. Poster presentations at national conferences are solid. Poster presentations at regional or institutional conferences are a good starting point. Case reports are accessible for MS1 and MS2 students and publishable in journals like JBJS Case Connector. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses are achievable without direct clinical involvement and can result in strong publications. The goal by the end of MS2 is to have at least one submitted abstract and ideally one publication in progress.
How to make the most of a research relationship
Getting involved in a research project is only the first step. The students who convert research involvement into strong letters of recommendation and meaningful CV entries are the ones who treat research like a professional commitment. Show up consistently. Meet every deadline. Communicate proactively. Ask intelligent questions. Volunteer for the tasks nobody else wants — data collection, literature reviews, manuscript formatting. Faculty remember the students who made their research easier and more productive. That memory translates into the kind of letter of recommendation that programme directors call strong.
Research Strategy
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