Fighting Prejudice and Absorbing Refugees From Nazism: The National Committee for the Resettlement of Foreign Physicians, 1939-1945.

Abstract

In the 1930s and 1940s, the medical profession reacted with hostility and erected formidable barriers to refugee physicians from Nazi-dominated Europe who sought to practice medicine in the United States. Yet, refugee physicians ultimately succeeded, with 77% of them working as doctors by 1945 and 98.6% by 1947. Although physician skills are readily transferable, and the United States had a genuine need for doctors after World War II drew 55 000 physicians into the military, refugee physicians' success can be attributed to the courageous physician leaders who lobbied on their behalf and the creation of the National Committee for the Resettlement of Foreign Physicians-an organization that helped immigrant physicians pass licensing examinations, identify locations for employment, and overcome barriers to integration into American society.