Abstract
BackgroundTo describe the supply, distribution, and characteristics of international medical graduates (IMGs) in family medicine who provide patient care in the U.S.MethodsA cross-sectional study design, using descriptive statistics on combined data from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates and the American Medical Association, including medical school attended, country of medical school, and citizenship when entering medical school.ResultsIn total, 118,817 physicians in family medicine were identified, with IMGs representing 23.8% (n = 28,227) of the U.S. patient care workforce. Of all 9579 residents in family medicine, 36.0% (n = 3452) are IMGS. In total, 35.9% of IMGs attended medical school in the Caribbean (n = 10,136); 19.9% in South-Central Asia (n = 5607) and 9.1% in South-Eastern Asia (n = 2565). The most common countries of medical school training were Dominica, Mexico, and Sint Maarten. Of all IMGs in family medicine who attended medical school in the Caribbean, 74.5% were U.S. citizens. In total, 40.5% of all IMGs in family medicine held U.S. citizenship at entry to medical school. IMGs comprise almost 40% of the family medicine workforce in Florida, New Jersey and New York.ConclusionsIMGs play an important role in the U.S. family medicine workforce. Many IMGs are U.S. citizens who studied abroad and then returned to the U.S. for graduate training. Given the shortage of family physicians, and the large number of IMGs in graduate training programs, IMGs will continue to play a role in the U.S. physician workforce for some time to come. Many factors, including the supply of residency training positions, could eventually restrict the number of IMGs entering the U.S., including those contributing to family practice.
Highlights
To describe the supply, distribution, and characteristics of international medical graduates (IMGs) in family medicine who provide patient care in the U.S
The 2017 American Medical Association (AMA) Masterfile, which primarily reflects the status of the workforce at the end of 2016, includes 907,731 physicians who are in the U.S and involved in patient care activities, including full-time hospital staff, individuals in office-based practice, residents, and doctors doing locum tenens
For those physicians involved in patient care for whom a self-designated practice specialty was available (96.1%), including IMGs, MDs and DOs, there are 118,817 in family medicine-designated practice specialties
Summary
Distribution, and characteristics of international medical graduates (IMGs) in family medicine who provide patient care in the U.S. The number of international medical graduates (IMGs) practicing in the United States (U.S.) has steadily increased over the past fifty years, from 10% in 1963 [1] to currently about one-quarter of all physicians in active practice [2]. While requirements may vary by jurisdiction, all graduates, regardless of country of medical school training, must complete a minimum of 1 year of GME to obtain an unrestricted license to practice medicine. Given the availability of GME positions, and the need for physicians, the U.S has historically relied on IMGs to fill residency positions [6, 7].
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