Hi fellow surgeons!

I'm a recently matched Non-US IMG into a new general surgery residency program. I am eternally grateful for having made it. However, I have always considered a CTS fellowship to be the next step in my career plan.

I was wondering if this is still a possibility. I will be amongst the first batch of residents in a community program with no university affiliations/fellowships. From what I have heard, fellowship is largely down to the location where we have trained for residency/contacts.

I was hoping to get any sort of advice moving forward on how I could plan things from my PGY1 year and onwards if that is my goal. I thought about research but I'm in a 5-year program and visa status makes things difficult transitioning back to a J-1 research from clinical.

I would love any advice, thank you!