U.S. Immigration Policy and American Medical Research: The Scientific Contributions of Foreign Medical Graduates
Authors: Dhruv Khullar, Daniel M. Blumenthal, Andrew R. Olenski, Anupam B. Jena
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2017)

Ideas and Opinions17 October 2017U.S. Immigration Policy and American Medical Research: The Scientific Contributions of Foreign Medical GraduatesDhruv Khullar, MD, MPP, Daniel M. Blumenthal, MD, MBA, Andrew R. Olenski, BS, and Anupam B. Jena, MD, PhDDhruv Khullar, MD, MPPFrom Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University, New York, New York; Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Daniel M. Blumenthal, MD, MBAFrom Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University, New York, New York; Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts., Andrew R. Olenski, BSFrom Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University, New York, New York; Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts., and Anupam B. Jena, MD, PhDFrom Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University, New York, New York; Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M17-1304 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Recently proposed changes to U.S. immigration policy, such as President Donald J. Trump's executive order suspending the entry of persons from several Muslim-majority countries and stricter regulations on work visas, have raised moral, legal, and geopolitical questions for the United States. They also have engendered clinical and biomedical research concerns for the U.S. medical community.Policies that threaten the long-standing ability of foreign medical graduates (FMGs) to train and practice in the United States have prompted heightened recognition of the important role these physicians play in the U.S. health care system. Foreign medical graduates make up nearly a quarter of ...References1. Pinsky WW. The importance of international medical graduates in the United States. Ann Intern Med. 2017;166:840-1. [PMID: 28265642]. doi:10.7326/M17-0505 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Armstrong K, Anderson ME, Carethers JM, Loscalzo J, Parmacek MS, Wachter RM, et al. International exchange and American medicine. N Engl J Med. 2017;376:e40. [PMID: 28146413] doi:10.1056/NEJMp1701339 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Tsugawa Y, Jena AB, Orav EJ, Jha AK. Quality of care delivered by general internists in US hospitals who graduated from foreign versus US medical schools: observational study. 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Alam A, Matelski JJ, Goldberg HR, Liu JJ, Klemensberg J, Bell CM. The characteristics of international medical graduates who have been disciplined by professional regulatory colleges in Canada: a retrospective cohort study. Acad Med. 2017;92:244-9. [PMID: 27603039] doi:10.1097/ACM.0000000000001356 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar8. Mullan F. The metrics of the physician brain drain. N Engl J Med. 2005;353:1810-8. [PMID: 16251537] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Majeed MH, Ali AA, Saeed F. International medical graduates: from brain drain to potential gain. Int J Med Educ. 2017;8:37-8. [PMID: 28161694] doi:10.5116/ijme.5869.008a CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From Weill Cornell Medical College and Columbia University, New York, New York; Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; and National Bureau of Economic Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts.Grant Support: Dr. Jena was supported by the Office of the Director, NIH (NIH Early Independence Award, grant 1DP5OD017897-01). Dr. Blumenthal is supported by the John S. LaDue Memorial Fellowship at Harvard Medical School.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M17-1304.Corresponding Author: Anupam B. Jena, MD, PhD, Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, 180 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115; e-mail, [email protected]med.harvard.edu.Current Author Addresses: Dr. Khullar: Weill Cornell Medical Center, 402 East 67th Street, New York, NY 10065.Dr. Blumenthal: Cardiology Division, Massachusetts General Hospital, 55 Fruit Street, Yawkey Building, Suite 5B, Boston, MA 02114.Mr. Olenski: Department of Economics, Columbia University, 420 West 118th Street, New York, NY 10027.Dr. Jena: Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School, 180 Longwood Avenue, Boston, MA 02115.Author Contributions: Conception and design: D. Khullar, D.M. Blumenthal, A.B. Jena.Analysis and interpretation of the data: D. Khullar, D.M. Blumenthal, A.R. Olenski, A.B. Jena.Drafting of the article: D. Khullar, D.M. Blumenthal, A.B. Jena.Critical revision for important intellectual content: D. Khullar, D.M. Blumenthal, A.R. Olenski, A.B. Jena.Final approval of the article: D. Khullar, D.M. Blumenthal, A.R. Olenski, A.B. Jena.Provision of study materials or patients: D.M. Blumenthal.Statistical expertise: A.R. Olenski, A.B. Jena.Obtaining of funding: A.B. Jena.Administrative, technical, or logistic support: A.R. Olenski, A.B. Jena.Collection and assembly of data: D.M. Blumenthal, A.B. Jena.This article was published at Annals.org on 26 September 2017. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoAnnals On Call - The Importance of International Medical Graduates Robert M. Centor , George M. Abraham , and Anupam B. 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