I had a great experience working in Sweden but that is of course very dependent on the hospital and the department you work for. There was much more teamwork and group decision-making in Sweden than the US which I personally like but a lot of doctors (and surgeons in particular) might not like giving up the ability to call the shots on their own. This is a gross generalization but my observation is that Swedish doctors work hard but don’t work themselves to exhaustion as many US doctors do.

I think it would have been much more difficult to get a job if I had not already had friends and colleague here from medical school and my sabbatical, so I think you doing a semester abroad would be very helpful. You might also be able to do a research year abroad during or after residency as another way to bridge the gap. It will be hard to avoid repeating all or some of your specialty training if you want to have it recognized both inside and outside the EU. Best advice I can give there is to make contact with residency directors in both countries who are sympathetic to your goals.

Best of luck to you in your studies and I hope you have a great career.