Orthopaedic Surgery Has 17% More Applicants Than Four Years Ago
On the day programs opened ERAS 2027 applications, 1,847 people had applied to orthopaedic surgery, against 1,583 at the same point of ERAS 2023. Programs interviewed 22% of the applicants who signaled them and 0% of those who didn't.
By Rezumab · Data as of
That is a 17% increase, comparing the same day of each cycle. Of the 20 specialties with at least 300 applicants, 17 grew; orthopaedic surgery had the 12th-largest increase. Over full seasons, the change from ERAS 2023 to 2026 was +17%. By applicant type, the same-day change since ERAS 2023 was +11% for MDs, +34% for DOs and +34% for international graduates.
Below are five seasons of AAMC ERAS data for orthopaedic surgery: who applies, how many applications they send, how signals are used and how often programs interviewed applicants who did and didn’t signal them, split by MD, DO and international medical graduate.
The MD share of applicants fell 3 points
In ERAS 2026, 1,958 people applied to orthopaedic surgery. The pool was 69% MD, 21.1% DO and 9.9% international graduates. 65.4% applied to no other specialty, a count that treats required preliminary and transitional years as another specialty.
Applicants are down 0.8% from the same day last year
| Season | All | MD | DO | Intl. grads | Applications |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ERAS 2027so far, vs. same day of 2026 | ▼−0.8% | ▼−0.2% | ▼−1.3% | ▼−5.6% | ▼−6.8% |
| ERAS 2026vs. 2025 | ▲+6.0% | ▲+7.4% | ▲+2.9% | ▲+2.1% | ▼−11.2% |
| ERAS 2025vs. 2024 | ▲+6.7% | ▲+2.8% | ▲+11.7% | ▲+34.6% | ▼−21.1% |
| ERAS 2024vs. 2023 | ▲+4.0% | ▲+0.8% | ▲+17.9% | ▲+3.0% | ▼−17.6% |
The median applicant sends 32 applications, down from 75
By type in ERAS 2026: MDs 32, DOs 31, international graduates 31. The middle half of applicants sent between 30 and 40. The overall median is the 10th lowest of 23 specialties covered here.
On the programs’ side, the median orthopaedic surgery program received 196 applications in ERAS 2026, against 198 in ERAS 2023.
Most applicants a program sees have signaled it
In ERAS 2027, 99% of orthopaedic surgery applicants used signals, and the median signaling applicant used 30.
At the median program, 78% of applicants had signaled it, up from 71% in ERAS 2026. The median program received 247 signals; the busiest tenth received 351 or more.
Signals per applicant by season: 2024: 30 · 2025: 30 · 2026: 30 · 2027: 30.
Without a signal, interviews are rare
Show as table
| Did not signal | Signaled | |
|---|---|---|
| All applicants | 0% | 22% |
| MD | 0% | 26% |
| DO | 0% | 5% |
| Intl. graduates | 0% | 0% |
53% of orthopaedic surgery programs interviewed no one who hadn’t signaled them. At 98% of programs, signaled applicants were interviewed at a higher rate than those who didn’t signal. With rates this low, applications beyond an applicant’s signals rarely turn into interviews.
These are last season’s rates. Track who is sending orthopaedic surgery interview invites this season.
A DO's signal returns 20% of what an MD's does; international graduates who signaled were rarely interviewed
An MD who signaled an orthopaedic surgery program was interviewed at 26% of the median program, the lowest of 21 specialties with interview data. For DOs, orthopaedic surgery ranks the second least DO-friendly of 16.
An international graduate who signaled and an MD who didn’t were both interviewed at essentially zero.
These are outcomes by group, not the effect of belonging to one. The groups differ in exam timing, visa needs and U.S. clinical experience, and none of that is controlled here.
The most common backup is general surgery, chosen by 14%
| Also applied to, ERAS 2026 | Share of applicants |
|---|---|
| General Surgery (categorical) | 14% |
| General Surgery (preliminary)PGY-1 year | 12% |
| Internal Medicine (categorical) | 8% |
| Family Medicine | 6% |
| Transitional YearPGY-1 year | 6% |
| Internal Medicine (preliminary)PGY-1 year | 4% |
Rows marked PGY-1 year are preliminary and transitional programs, which specialties that start at PGY-2 require. Categorical programs in another specialty are the real backup plan.