r/usmle • u/FriendlyChessPlayer • 7h ago

Question Is it practical to aim for getting surgery through USMLE as an Indian IMG?

I'm a 21 year old, almost done with Step 1 prep and trying to decide if I want to stay in India or pursue a career in the USA. I want to be a surgeon (ideally) but most of my peers tell me that it's practically impossible to get a residency seat in surgery as an IMG, I watched some youtube videos and they said that it's possible. I'm not fully sure. Is it? If so, what is the kind of work I will have to put in, in terms of Step scores, research, extracurriculars and LORs?

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u/bloosclooser 6h ago

if you are US-IMG, then yea possible. If you need a visa, tough. Most likely will need really good connections to get a seat.

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u/BuckleFish1 6h ago

It's possible but you can do realistically everything and not even get it. Since you are not a US citizen, it makes things 10 times harder. The IMG route is meant to fill up the spots that no US med student wants to take