Clinical electives for international medical students

[Some_one]

Hello everyone, I am an international medical student planning to do my residency in the US. I would like to do some general surgery electives in the US and I am wondering If it is actually possible to find any free elective there.
Any suggestions please?

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[yardyknow2025]

I would suggest going to the website of the program that you want to do an away elective with and see what their requirements for IMGs are. If they are not listed on the website, you can always reach out through email on the section with their contact info. If you are unsure where you want to go, theres a website I use called residencyprogramslist.com if you want to see what residencies are where. I would also talk to the career advisor at your school if you have one, since they have some knowledge as well. Hope this helps.

 

[Some_one]

I would suggest going to the website of the program that you want to do an away elective with and see what their requirements for IMGs are. If they are not listed on the website, you can always reach out through email on the section with their contact info. If you are unsure where you want to go, theres a website I use called residencyprogramslist.com if you want to see what residencies are where. I would also talk to the career advisor at your school if you have one, since they have some knowledge as well. Hope this helps.

Thank you for the website, it is very helpful!

 

[massive1]

You have to do the legwork-- go through the websites for programs in geographically desirable places for you, and see what rotations you can find.

If you can do a few a few surgery rotations, and get good letters, you may have a shot at surgery residency.

IMGs, however, in general only have access to less competitive programs, of which surgery does not have many.

Surgery does however have a "wild card" option, which is to get a prelim position through the Match. You are given a year as the floor slave, and depending on your leadership's view of you, may then be able to get a PGY-2 position (there or elsewhere) to complete the residency.

Doing research for a Surgery Department will get you brownie points if the program is academic, and likely real letters from real surgeons. For god-knows what reason, academic surgery is very into research. Meaning hardcore benchtop lab research, not silly survey-type projects.

There is nothing easy about it, and you can spends years chasing it without getting a categorical spot.