IMG friendly Surgery Residency Programs
Categorical and preliminary general surgery residency chances for IMGs
It is not possible to say that categorical general surgery is IMG-friendly. Preliminary surgery is IMG-friendly but, maybe, it is the most fast way to get out of surgery because the number of PGY-2 PGY-3 positions is very limited and (reduced additional year funding problem) exist if reapply for PGY-1. This approach can be more risky for visa requiring IMGs even if another specialty is the main target.
Previous Match offered 1807 categorical and 1207 preliminary PGY-1 general surgery positions. Around 1750 US MDs and 500 US DOs applied to categorical positions, and 1070 US MDs 300 US DOs applied to preliminary positions. General surgery match is competitive even for U.S. graduates. As result, around 1400 categorical positions were filled by US MDs and DOs, and just around 200 were filled by very competitive IMG applicants.
The situation with preliminary positions is much better for IMGs. Around 600 IMGs applied to preliminary surgery.
Around 330 positions were filled by US graduates during the main match. Around 280 positions were filled by IMGs during the main match.
And around 600 positions left for the SOAP. The match rate is not high, and the number of positions left for the SOAP looks weird but promising for many IMGs as programs looking for strong unmatched candidates. Preliminary positions are risky because of possible problems with visa and lack of opened PGY-2 categorical positions.
The probability of the match for interviewed applicants starts from 10% for candidates with low scores(~225 Step 2) and increases to 37%/60% (Non-US IMGs / US IMGs) for candidates with Step 2 > 260. Just several IMG applicants with scores close to 220 were interviewed.
Top 10 Surgery IMG friendly residencies
Top Surgery IMG friendly states based on PGY-1 main residency Match statistics
Top Surgery IMG friendly by number
- New York (117 IMGs)
- Florida (58 IMGs)
- Texas (37 IMGs)
- Pennsylvania (33 IMGs)
- Michigan (26 IMGs)
- Maryland (21 IMGs)
- Ohio (20 IMGs)
- Arizona (19 IMGs)
- California (19 IMGs)
- New Jersey (16 IMGs)
- Massachusetts (15 IMGs)
- Illinois (14 IMGs)
- Minnesota (12 IMGs)
- Connecticut (11 IMGs)
- Missouri (9 IMGs)
Top Surgery IMG friendly by percent
- New Mexico (55% IMGs)
- Maryland (41% IMGs)
- New York (37% IMGs)
- New Hampshire (36% IMGs)
- Minnesota (30% IMGs)
- Florida (30% IMGs)
- Connecticut (29% IMGs)
- Arizona (29% IMGs)
- West Virginia (25% IMGs)
- Puerto Rico (25% IMGs)
- Utah (25% IMGs)
- Missouri (23% IMGs)
- Michigan (22% IMGs)
- Pennsylvania (22% IMGs)
- Texas (21% IMGs)
Surgery PGY-1 main residency Match percent IMGs by year
Surgery total PGY-1 positions offered and percent of IMGs filled by year
| Year | Positions | IMGs | IMGs % | US IMG % | Non-US IMG % |
| 2026 | 3014 | 503 | 20 | 6 | 14 |
| 2025 | 2972 | 542 | 21 | 7 | 14 |
| 2024 | 2869 | 458 | 18 | 6 | 12 |
| 2023 | 2803 | 431 | 18 | 6 | 12 |
| 2022 | 2772 | 396 | 17 | 6 | 11 |
| 2021 | 2705 | 425 | 19 | 7 | 12 |
| 2020 | 2710 | 420 | 19 | 8 | 11 |
| 2019 | 2555 | 395 | 19 | 8 | 11 |
| 2018 | 2682 | 395 | 17 | 6 | 11 |
| 2017 | 2606 | 383 | 17 | 6 | 11 |