IMG willing to change from non clinical specialty in homeland to IM in the US

[diprivanus]

Hello SDNers, I'm new on this forum so I apologize in advance if my post isn't in the right topic or has already been answered (though it didn't seem so in the selection of similar threads i read)!

So here's my question : I'm currently doing a residency in a non clinical specialty in France (medical biology) which is not what I was planning to do first, and I was wandering whether I would have a better chance to match in internal medicine in the U.S. if I changed for a clinical specialty in France (french "médecine générale", which is a kind of mix of internal and family medicine -at least during residency)

The main cons are that I would have less time to study the steps exams (I haven't passed any yet), less publication opportunities, and I would graduate 1 year later in France (I'd be almost 32).

Many many thx in advance, as I don't have much time left to decide!...

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[NotAProgDirector]

I would hazard a guess that with no US nor French clinical experience, you would not get very far in the match.

Doing as well as you can on your USMLE's is very important.

I'd look at it this way: Let's say you don't get a spot in the US. What would you do then? If the answer is practice general medicine in France, then you should head down that road. If the answer is get a research position in the US, try to get some clinical experience while doing research, and then apply again in the US, then building up your research credentials might be the best long term strategy (but might hurt you in the short term, if you're trying to match right away)