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Published Online: 18 September 2009

International Medical Graduates Make Widespread Contributions

According to a 2005 report from the University of Washington's Center for Health Workforce Studies, 9 out of 10 foreign-trained physicians practicing medicine in the United States—that is, international medical graduates (IMGs)—were foreign born. (The rest were U.S. born.) Thus data about IMGs mostly concern foreign-born physicians and provide valuable insights into their role in American medicine.
According to data from the AMA, there were 902,053 physicians in the United States in 2006. Of these physicians, 228,665 (25 percent) were IMGs.
According to 2006 and 2007 AMA data, 20 percent of IMGs received their medical degrees in India, 9 percent in the Philippines, 6 percent in Mexico, 5 percent in Pakistan, and 3 percent in the Dominican Republic. Altogether they received medical degrees from 127 countries.
According to 2008 AMA data, 37 percent of IMGs practiced internal medicine, 31 percent psychiatry, 28 percent anesthesiology, and 28 percent pediatrics; the largest number is located in New Jersey, followed by New York, Florida, and Illinois.
According to APA's Division of Education, the percentage of U.S. psychiatry residents who are IMGs has dropped from 40 percent in 1999 to 31 percent in 2008.
According to APA's Department of Membership, the percentage of APA members who are IMGs has stayed steady in the past decade—25 percent in 1999 and 26 percent now.
Foreign-born IMGs “come from vastly different cultural, linguistic, and medical-education backgrounds than do their American counterparts,” an article in the January-February 2007 Academic Psychiatry noted.“ They play a key role in the delivery of health care, especially to underserved populations.” ▪

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Published online: 18 September 2009
Published in print: September 18, 2009

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