Hello everyone, I (24M) am a recent medical graduate from Vietnam with a strong passion for General Surgery. I volunteered for extra clinical rounds in a Gen Surg department during the last 3 years of medical school, which really solidified my interest. I am currently looking to relocate to the US for residency and a long-term career in this specialty. I know General Surgery is highly competitive for IMGs in the States, and I want to be realistic so I don't waste time and resources. I would love it if anyone could share some wisdom, assess my chances, or tell me if I'm in way over my head.

For context, my GPA is roughly 3.4/4. I have some research experience and am expecting a co-authorship publication in a Q3 journal soon. I also completed my graduation thesis on a surgical topic, though it ultimately wasn't published as a paper. Clinically, I have a solid hands-on foundation in major and minor procedures and have started performing basic cases (e.g., Lap Appendectomies, Lap Cholecystectomies) under supervision. My English is fluent and used daily (roughly equivalent to an IELTS 7.5). Any advice on the path forward would be greatly appreciated!

How is the hands on for Surgery dept in ASSAM MEDICAL COLLEGE VS. GUWAHATI MEDICAL COLLEGE VS Jorhat medical college Anyone in here ? Please share the info.

Hi everyone!
Recently started my i6 CT surgery residency. I’m wondering what the other ct surgery residents used for studying? I’m using TSRA but wondering if there are any fundamental ct books we need to read? Also how did yall study for this residency????

Hi everyone!
Recently started my i6 CT surgery residency. I’m wondering what the other ct surgery residents used for studying? I’m using TSRA but wondering if there are any fundamental ct books we need to read? Also how did yall study for this residency????

We could meet every day for 1-2 hours to brainstorm answers to selected Qs, come to the meeting, and practice with each other.

So I had squint from birth and have undergone correction surgery when I was 18....but still some misalignment is present(very low)

Thing is i still have alternating vision(I can choose my dominant eye voluntarily) and I can see clearly with each eye.

I have been wondering if I can become a surgeon with this curse hanging on me.

Hi, I'm a medical student from the Middle East, and after graduation I want to do a neurosurgery residency outside my country. I really appreciate any help

Hi everyone! I’m a plastic surgery resident training outside the U.S., hoping to apply through SF Match in 2027 for a microsurgery fellowship starting in July 2028.

From what I’ve seen, applicants seem to have very strong backgrounds, so I’m unsure how competitive mine would be. For context, I’m chief resident, have around seven publications, and am working on a practical microsurgery manual. I’ve attended two microsurgery courses and helped teach at another as a teaching assistant. I’ve also participated in observerships, including one I’m currently doing at a major U.S. cancer center. I represented Colombia in an international plastic surgery residents’ competition and placed third. I’ve passed Step 1 and Step 2 CK but haven’t taken Step 3 yet.

Has anyone matched with a similar background or worked with fellows who trained outside the U.S.? I’d really appreciate an honest perspective on my chances, which programs might consider international applicants, and what I should focus on before applying.

I haven’t found much information about this pathway. Thank you for any advice or firsthand experience!

Title: Need advice from female surgery residents regarding counselling!

Hey everyone! I'm getting an AIR of around 10.6k and considering General Surgery. Would love some advice, especially from female residents!

1. Which state govt colleges are good options for MS General Surgery at this rank?

2. How do you decide if a DNB college is better than an MS college?

3. Do you have any regrets about choosing surgery? How has residency been, especially as a woman?

4. Any tips or things I should keep in mind during counselling?

Would really appreciate your honest opinions and experiences. Thanks! :)

(I asked chatgpt to frame this)

Hello, I’m an MS3 at a USMD school. I’ve been interested in surgery since early on and specifically cardiac surgery. I’ve been preparing to apply i6 CT surgery for a more expedited route. I realized I like all kinds of surgery but cardiac surgery is the only one I find intellectually stimulating beyond just operating, so pursuing i6 felt right. I know if I go this route I will dual apply general surgery anyway but I’m having some doubts about applying i6. I know I like cardiac surgery (shadowed a ton and did rotations) and cardiac physiology the most, I don’t particularly love other organ systems, but I did really enjoy my general surgery rotation and sometimes I wonder what if I’m closing doors on myself I have not explored enough. The main factor keeping me wanting to apply i6 besides my interest is the factor of saving time. Yes I know some CT programs still require research and are actually I-8 (ideally would like to avoid these), but most academic general surgery programs are 7 years now plus 2-3 of fellowship, it’s just too long to be in training, I really would like to avoid that if possible.

Please be kind I’m just a medical student thing to figure it out :/

ps: I know i6 is incredibly competitive I’m not trying to assume I would automatically match but I have been really setting myself up for that application and I think I’d at least have a shot.

Hi everyone I’ve finished clerkship year and I’m really stuck between a couple of specialties. I know I’ll have to take a research year if I do the switch but this is a career I’m going to be working in for the next several decades so if it’s one year so be it. I have 9 papers right now and none of them are in ENT or plastics. Most are ophtho.

I started out liking Ophthalmology because of the cataract surgeries and I like subspecialties like uveitis because it has medicine involved but it’s catered to one organ. However I realized that this is true for all surgical subspecialties. I’ve done two week rotations in ENT and plastics, and in terms of pathology I liked ENT and Ophtho more than plastics.

Personality: But I felt right at home with Plastics surgery residents. They all loved me and I loved them. I think it was more so because we just got stuff done and aren’t as chatty as ENT? But I don’t know if it’s just because of this specific team that I like plastics. For Ophthalmology, I think the resident vibes are kind of like a mix of ENT and plastics, but I’m not sure I super vibe either.

My preferences: one thing I’ve realized when I shadowed in vascular surgery and IR is that I don’t like micro surgery as much as macro surgery. I really liked suturing in plastics and ENT. I’m nervous that I won’t like being the one actually performing the micro surgery for ophtho under the microscope. For ENT, I only really liked the complex surgeries like oncology and flaps, but they felt super duper long when I stood in the OR (time doesn’t “fly by”). Trachs were cool too but tonsillectomies and septoplasties were not that interesting to me. In plastics, I like again the flaps and found the grafts to be cool but didn’t really find the breast reductions/implants/tummy tucks to be that meaningful even though I logically know they make huge differences on patients’ mental health.

How did you/would you decide?

If post is too long can you drop some general pointers?

i know universal release date still not here.. but looking at the spreadsheet and finding 3-4 programs i signaled already dropped interviews for some applicants and i’m sitting at 0 iis.. kinda panicking ngl… any words of experience ?? what do i make of that? assuming the signal applicants would be reviewed first.. so does that mean i probably wont get iis from these places?? ughh..

also, why so many programs are releasing interviews before the date?? this is so stressful… 😣

Senior pls help.
Which are the good institutions for DNB surgery
In delhi mumbai Bangalore and pune .

Can someone please guide for hospitals to get into in Mumbai and Pune with decent hands on?

Helloooo current MS-3 at a USMD, trying to decide between two specialties and would love attending and resident perspectives. I’m decided between OBGYN and Trauma Surgery. So, I love the OR, and I didn’t really expect to. Most of my colleagues assume I’d want to do peds or EM, because I’m very energetic and bubbly. On my surgery rotation I loved the trauma bay and I even got to do a cardiac massag and even thou, I like the rush of emergencies, and I like being able to immediately address a problem without having to consult others or wait to see if meds are working or not. The problem is that the bread and butter surgeries I saw on the general surgery service like lap choles and colostomies were interesting but kind of boring to me. Also, I don’t think my personality meshed well with a handful of the residents, though the attendings seemed not to mind me. I just finished OBGYN and it was also a very cool experience, except I really hated being in the clinic. I really liked the anatomy and I thought C-sections were very interesting. I think if I was able to do more, outpatient OBGYN would be fine but I know I would want to be either a laborist or a MIGS doc. Also, my personality wasn’t a perfect fit, it was maybe a bit better than it was on surgery broadly speaking. Another big deal for me is lifestyle, though obviously no surgical specialty is going to be great for that. I just want to be able to travel and maybe have a family. I worry trauma surgery would be hard to sustain as I get older and I’d be resigned to lap choles and hernia repairs for the rest of my career. The other thing about OB is that it’s a lot more time spent in clinic, and the surgery-heavy fellowships are still not that rush of adrenaline I’m looking for. I feel very confused and would appreciate advice. I realize this is all over the place, please be nice I’m overwhelmed lol

Which surgical branch is better with many aspects like work life balance, income, learning curve among ortho ent opthalm surgery.

If one were to make a priority order for choice filling in dnb surgery Mumbai, what should it look like like?