{"id":25421,"date":"2022-02-16T16:07:04","date_gmt":"2022-02-16T21:07:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/?p=25421"},"modified":"2022-02-16T16:07:07","modified_gmt":"2022-02-16T21:07:07","slug":"need-doctors-importing-not-answer-immigrationreform-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.immigrationreform.com\/2022\/02\/16\/need-doctors-importing-not-answer-immigrationreform-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Do We Really Need Foreign Doctors to Solve the Physician Shortage?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This week the House Judiciary Committee\u2019s subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship held a hearing<\/a> titled \u201cIs There a Doctor in the House? The Role of Immigrant Physicians in the U.S. Healthcare System.\u201d The hearing posed the following question: given America\u2019s doctor shortage, should we do more to import foreign doctors to the United States? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem seems simple on paper. There aren\u2019t enough\ndoctors in the United States \u2013 and particularly in underserved and rural areas.\nWhy wouldn\u2019t we prioritize hiring foreign physicians to close that gap? The\nreal situation is much more complicated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Congress posed this question at various times over the years, including in April 2020 when two Republican senators penned a letter<\/a> arguing for the importation of more foreign nurses to aid in the nation\u2019s battle against COVID-19. At the time, FAIR pointed out<\/a> that the reasons for the nursing shortage were complex, including that \u201cU.S. nursing schools turned away 75,029 qualified applicants from baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs in 2018 with most schools pointing to faculty shortages as a reason for not accepting all qualified applicants.\u201d A report from the Boston Federal Reserve Bank<\/a> also found that importing foreign nurses was hardly the panacea some portrayed it as. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The doctor shortage is similar. Kevin Lynn, the founder of the medical advocacy group Doctors Without Jobs<\/a> (DWJ) argued in testimony before the subcommittee that the real reason for the doctor shortage is a growing reality of qualified U.S. doctors not matching to residency programs. Lynn wrote in his opening statement<\/a> that \u201cthousands of American medical doctors \u2013 U.S. physicians \u2013 have been denied the right to practice medicine. This is one of the most unreported stories, and one of the most ignored situations by our elected officials and medical community leadership in America, including our medical schools and the various governing bodies who purport to represent physicians.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is a shortage of between 20,000 to 60,000 physicians in the U.S., according<\/a> to Unmatched and Unemployed Doctors of America. DWJ also noted<\/a> that in 2021 more than 7,400 medical school graduates who are U.S. citizens and lawful permanent residents did not match to a residency. Without residency, these medical school graduates are not able to practice and cannot earn their medical license. DWJ argues that this mismatch is one of the key drivers to the current doctor shortage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is another angle to this problem as well. In the hearing, a number of representatives made note of the lack of doctors and physicians in rural or otherwise underserved communities. Again, on paper it may appear to make sense to place foreign physicians in these localities. But it just isn\u2019t that simple, especially considering that foreign doctors admitted under immigrant visas could, and likely would, become citizens one day. Would they stay in the same locality, or venture out to larger metropolitan areas to earn more money and pursue other opportunities? This same tired line of thinking inspired the EB-5 investor visa. Supporters point to the program\u2019s supposed promise to infuse foreign capital into investment projects in \u201ctargeted employment areas<\/a>\u201d that could revitalize struggling localities. This almost never happens, and many EB-5 investors prop up their businesses in already thriving areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is to say that the root causes are deeper than there\nnot being enough foreign doctors, and it would be na\u00efve to imagine that foreign\ndoctors would stay in these underserved communities after becoming a citizen\nand being free to move somewhere else for more opportunities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problem is complex, and a simple band aid solution of\nimporting even more foreign physicians will do nothing to solve this problem.\nIt will require a multifaceted approach involving improving the matching process\nfor U.S. medical school graduates and prioritizing the development of medical\ncareer opportunities in underserved areas. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This week the House Judiciary Committee\u2019s subcommittee on Immigration and Citizenship held a hearing titled \u201cIs There a Doctor in the House? The Role of Immigrant Physicians in the U.S. Healthcare System.\u201d The hearing posed the following question: given America\u2019s doctor shortage, should we do more to import foreign doctors to the United States? The<\/p>\n

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