White Papers August 15, 2017

International Medical Graduates: Qualifications & Other Considerations

Approximately a quarter of all physicians practicing in America today are international medical graduates — and in some specialties, it's almost half. In hematology and internal medicine, the percentage is 40 percent and higher, and in nephrology it's almost 50 percent.

So explain the authors of a new Staff Care white paper exploring the role of international medical graduates in today's healthcare workforce. Writing that international medical graduates "continue to play an important role in healthcare delivery," the authors note that America's current physician shortage "would be appreciably larger if not for" the presence of these often underappreciated healthcare professionals.

The white paper proceeds to outline the stringent requirements that international medical graduates face in becoming licensed to practice in the United States, pointing out that, even though America's residency programs "have more positions than there are U.S. medical school graduates to fill them," only about half of international applicants are actually matched.

For more insight into why international medical graduates may be underutilized in a healthcare system in need of more qualified professionals, as well as an exploration of where these graduates are coming from and what's motivating them to work in the U.S.

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