Fellowship as an ECFMG cerified IMG with a General Surgery residency abroad.

[Rocky11209]

Hi there, I am an ECFMG certified IMG who specialized in general surgeon in a foreign country (not US or Canada).

My goal is to get accepted into an ACGME accredited surgery fellowship in the US.

I hear about a lot of surgeons doing a non-acgme fellowship, after which they come back to their own home country and be treated with a lot of respect.

My question is (1) how realistic/common for an ECFMG certified IMG who had a his General Surgery residency done abroad to be accepted into an acgme accredited surgery fellowship in the US (I've seen that completing USMLE 1+2+3 makes me eligible to apply-- am I wrong about that ?)

(2) If that's a realistic scenario (getting eventually accepted into an acgme surgery fellowship)- granted that I am an american citizen, will I be licensed to remain in the US and work in my own acgme-accredited subspecialty after completing the relevant acgme board exams ?


Any input will be greatly appreciated

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[ThoracicGuy]

Unless it's vascular or CT surgery, you have to have general surgery boards to get boarded in the subspecialty.

 

[mikeGR]

I don't know with 100% certainty, but I think it's possible to match into an ACGME-accredited fellowship in your situation. Keep in mind that the programs will likely try to match all US-trained applicants before turning towards foreign-trained applicants, so for a competitive fellowship such a much would be unlikely.

Without having trained in US, you cannot be US board-certified. However, you don't always need to be board-certified to practice medicine and there are special provisions for "limited" independent practice licenses, especially for underserved areas/specialties. Every state medical board has different regulations for licensing so you can start from there.

 

[khaled salah]

Unless it's vascular or CT surgery, you have to have general surgery boards to get boarded in the subspecialty.

what is your opinion on Egyptian medical graduate want to take cardiothoracic residency in us , is it better for him to finish ct residency first in egypt then come to us and look for ct fellowship and continue his career in us , or early come to us and struggle getting general surgery residency then ct or I6 program. what are the pros and cons of each route

 

[ThoracicGuy]

what is your opinion on Egyptian medical graduate want to take cardiothoracic residency in us , is it better for him to finish ct residency first in egypt then come to us and look for ct fellowship and continue his career in us , or early come to us and struggle getting general surgery residency then ct or I6 program. what are the pros and cons of each route

It would be unusual to be able to get a CT Surgery fellowship without US general surgery training. Your chances of coming over and getting an I6 spot would be extremely slim, practically zero. You will also need to take all the Step tests and get ECFMG certification. Not only do you need to pass them, but you will need to pass them well to get a general surgery spot.

Your chances aren't zero, but you have a bunch of work to do to try and get a spot in general surgery. If you can get that, you have a much better chance of finding a CT Surgery fellowship.

 

[khaled salah]

It would be unusual to be able to get a CT Surgery fellowship without US general surgery training. Your chances of coming over and getting an I6 spot would be extremely slim, practically zero. You will also need to take all the Step tests and get ECFMG certification. Not only do you need to pass them, but you will need to pass them well to get a general surgery spot.

Your chances aren't zero, but you have a bunch of work to do to try and get a spot in general surgery. If you can get that, you have a much better chance of finding a CT Surgery fellowship.

1) of course i will take the steps , there are still 2 years till graduation . so what is the chance to get into directly i6 program if i graduate with publications and above average scores . therefore coming to us and involve in research for 3 years for example + usce ... after that will i have a chance to match into this competitive program type ? i know this is a far future , but i have to think of all possible routes from now .
2) what made me think of home residency before coming to us that many doctors from my country made that, they finished home residency in ct surgery then came to us ct fellowship , after that they had to take general surgery residency because I6 programs weren't initiated at that time , so after the separation of the american board of thoracic surgery why should i get general surgery residency after fellowship ?

 

[ThoracicGuy]

There are few positions overall for I6 programs that foreign grads will have a difficult time getting these spots. I wouldn't count on them. So what are your options to become a CT Surgeon?

1. Obtain a General Surgery residency and then get a CT Surgery 2-3 year fellowship
2. Try for a CT Surgery fellowship after you get foreign training. As long as you are ECFMG certified, programs can take you. You can get boarded in CT Surgery without general surgery boards, even with a 2-3 year fellowship. The problem is finding a program that will take you. If the spots are generally getting filled by US residency grads, chances of taking a foreign trained resident is low. If there are spots available, this could be a possibility. There's no way to know how the spots will be in 6 or 7 years.

Personally, I would try to get a US general surgery spot first and only try for the spot as a foreign trained surgeon as a backup.

 

[khaled salah]

There are few positions overall for I6 programs that foreign grads will have a difficult time getting these spots. I wouldn't count on them. So what are your options to become a CT Surgeon?

1. Obtain a General Surgery residency and then get a CT Surgery 2-3 year fellowship
2. Try for a CT Surgery fellowship after you get foreign training. As long as you are ECFMG certified, programs can take you. You can get boarded in CT Surgery without general surgery boards, even with a 2-3 year fellowship. The problem is finding a program that will take you. If the spots are generally getting filled by US residency grads, chances of taking a foreign trained resident is low. If there are spots available, this could be a possibility. There's no way to know how the spots will be in 6 or 7 years.

Personally, I would try to get a US general surgery spot first and only try for the spot as a foreign trained surgeon as a backup.

thanks for your reply ... but in your opinion for one who wants to sub specialize in cardiac track not general thoracic , is spending 5 years in general surgery a waste of time ? or it will give me solid basics regardless track i will choose ??
and for pds , do they prefer foreign trained cardiac surgeon in his home country so he has a lot of experience in the sub specialization or the traditional track of general surgery??

2) the last question can you recommend i6 programs that are known for accepting imgs if they know them by working hard within the department for some years , to consider them in preparation when i search for spots in research and usce , are NYU ,san antonio , uw seatle , cleveland considered the type of programs i mentioned ??

 

[ThoracicGuy]

thanks for your reply ... but in your opinion for one who wants to sub specialize in cardiac track not general thoracic , is spending 5 years in general surgery a waste of time ? or it will give me solid basics regardless track i will choose ??
and for pds , do they prefer foreign trained cardiac surgeon in his home country so he has a lot of experience in the sub specialization or the traditional track of general surgery??

2) the last question can you recommend i6 programs that are known for accepting imgs if they know them by working hard within the department for some years , to consider them in preparation when i search for spots in research and usce , are NYU ,san antonio , uw seatle , cleveland considered the type of programs i mentioned ??

If going through 5 years of general surgery gets you into a CT Surgery training program, it's worth it. PDs are likely to want untrained residents more so there are pretty less bad habits to break.

I don't know of any IMG friendly programs in particular.