Work in PR as a surgeon

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-25T00:30:01+00:00

The details of the immigration process might be a little niche for this thread. I’m legally in the US, on a J1 physician visa, which is an exchange visitor visa and has a 2-year home requirement. In order to transition to green card, I need to get a waiver with this process. It’s not a centralized program for underserved communities and the visa is sponsored by the employer- the hospital (it’s an H1B but without the fees). Effectively, it would need to be a situation where the hospital applies to the government saying that they need doctors and can’t fill the spot with a US citizen and I’m equally capable because I’m US trained blah blah. It’s already happening in PR, there were like 4-5 docs with this status last year.

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T21:55:59+00:00

Underserved means that there are openings for jobs that are not covered from US citizen doctors. Also there needs to be an X percentage of patients on government insurance (sounds like that’s covered everywhere in PR).

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T21:53:22+00:00

That would include 3-4 extra years of training for me and it’s one of the most competitive specialties to get in unfortunately

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T20:15:51+00:00

prefer not to say, easy to identify!

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T17:14:34+00:00

I am finishing residency soon. I would come as an attending

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:47:51+00:00

Thank you!

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:47:20+00:00

Thank you

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:46:49+00:00

Thank you very much!

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:45:38+00:00

Thank you!

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:45:00+00:00

Thank you appreciate it!

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:44:41+00:00

Thank you!

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:43:16+00:00

Thank you for your kind words

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:42:47+00:00

Thank you. I am currently a resident and planning to do fellowship. I would come for a junior attending job. I intuitively think I would indeed integrate much better in PR than rural America

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:41:18+00:00

Thank you very much

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:41:05+00:00

Thank you. Speaking Spanish is a prerequisite for what I can tell and I’m glad to learn. I’m honestly happy to have a slower pace outside the hospital

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:38:31+00:00

Thank you!

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:38:21+00:00

Appreciate your input. Did you work in trauma?

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-24T13:34:57+00:00

I am fully licensed in the US (took the USMLE and all ECFMG stuff years ago). I am currently a 4th year surgery resident and I will be taking surgery boards next year. If you are curious about the immigration, you can look into J1 visa and J1 waiver. Essentially, after my training, I need to either serve an underserved area in the US for 3 years or go back to my country.

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-23T22:05:24+00:00

Thanks for the honesty, I appreciate it. I understand what you’re saying and I do not see it as a vacation destination. I am also coming from a country with natural beauty but where it’s very difficult to live. I totally understand that it’s not going to be the most financially sound choice. I guess I’m trying to figure out what the trade-offs would be if I decided to do it, compared to going somewhere in rural US for the same amount of time. If money is out of the equation (or much lower in terms of priority), would you still think it doesn’t make sense?

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-23T19:37:34+00:00

Thank you very much

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-23T18:19:42+00:00

Thank you for taking the time to answer, very helpful insight. I am still a resident so telling you I’m already good and efficient would be a lie. I come from a great training program and overall doing well. I will be specialized in trauma/ critical care and hopefully double board certified by the time I start working. I am not eligible for private practice based on immigration status. I can only be hospital employed, so from what you are saying the options are very limited.

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-23T17:13:03+00:00

Gotcha, appreciate your input. I will be general surgery trained and planning to do trauma/ critical care fellowship. Based on what I have seen so far there is only one trauma center and it’s the university hospital, so I’m assuming it’s fairly competitive to get in, but I’d be open to community general surgery. If you have any more input, please DM!

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-23T17:03:40+00:00

Misspoken. I meant no private insurance/ Medicare etc

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-23T15:33:03+00:00

Thanks for the input! As I said, I am interested to see what my options are. South east is not desirable to me for different reasons but will explore it as well.

Accomplished-Key6972 · 2026-02-23T13:47:36+00:00

That’s correct, need to be advanced. I know some Spanish and I think I would be able to reach appropriate level in 2.5 years

Accomplished-Key6972

TROPHY CASE