"Brian," a medical student in Egypt, wrote me about obtaining a surgical residency in the US. Due to space limitations, I have edited the email. He will take USMLE Step 1 soon. He has no green card.
He read a previous post of mine about a US citizen international medical graduate (IMG), but still had several questions.
He asked what qualities separate an applicant matching in a categorical position from one matching in a preliminary position?
"Categorical" means, barring any performance or behavior issues, the resident will complete a full 5-year general surgery residency program.
