美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Travel Ban Spotlights U.S. Dependence On Foreign-Born Doctors

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Roughly one in every four doctors that work in the United States comes from a foreign medical school. President Trump's travel ban, while suspended for now, puts a spotlight 1 on these physicians who often serve in areas where there just aren't enough doctors. Lauren Silverman from member station KERA in Dallas reports.

SIMON: Patients at Christus Pediatrics in Alexandria, La., were some of the friendliest people Dr. Muhammad Tauseef ever worked with. They'd drive long distances to see him and often bring gifts.

MUHAMMAD TAUSEEF: It's a small town, so they will sometimes bring you chicken, bring the eggs and homemade cakes.

LAUREN SILVERMAN, BYLINE 2: One woman even brought him a puppy 3.

TAUSEEF: That was really nice.

SILVERMAN: Tauseef is from Pakistan. After going to a top medical school there, he applied 4 to come to the U.S. to train as a pediatrician. It's a path thousands of foreign-born medical students follow every year - a path that's been around for more than a half-century. And like most foreign-born physicians, Tauseef came on a J1 visa. That meant after training, he had two options - return to Pakistan or work for three years in an area the government has identified as having a provider shortage 5. He chose to work with mostly uninsured kids in Alexandria, La.

TAUSEEF: That was a challenge, but on a personal level, it was rewarding, as well, that you are taking care of people who there aren't many to take care for.

ANDREW GURMAN: International Medical graduates have been a resource to provide medical care to areas that don't otherwise have access to physicians.

SILVERMAN: Andrew Gurman is president of the American Medical Association. He says the U.S. has a persistent 6 primary care shortage, particularly in rural areas.

GURMAN: With the current uncertainty 7 about those physicians' immigration status, we don't know whether or not these areas are going to receive care.

SILVERMAN: And the care is top-notch. A study just published in the journal BMJ shows Medicare patients treated by doctors from foreign medical schools get just as good care and sometimes better than those treated by U.S. medical graduates. Today, there are about 280,000 international medical graduates in the U.S., and about one in four doctors practicing here. Some are U.S. citizens who've gone abroad for medical school, but most aren't.

GURMAN: They don't all have permanent visas, so a lot of them are concerned about what their status is going to be - whether they can stay, whether they can go home to visit family and still come back. And the communities that they serve have similar questions.

SILVERMAN: The uncertainty is hitting medical schools at a tough time. Dr. Salahuddin Kazi is in charge of recruiting 8 top students from across the world for the University of Texas Southwestern's residency program.

SALAHUDDIN KAZI: Typically, we have 3,000 people applying for our 61 positions. Of those 3,000, at least half of them are international medical graduates.

SILVERMAN: Applicants 9 find out their program match in March and start working in June. That gives them about 90 days to get a visa. Kazi worries this year that won't be long enough and that students from countries included in the travel ban won't be let in.

KAZI: And that, you know, would create hardship for the hospital, for us and for our remaining residents.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Inaudible).

SILVERMAN: Patients here at Los Barrios Unidos Community Clinic in Dallas rely on foreign-born doctors. Remember pediatrician Dr. Tauseef? After he left Louisiana, he got a job here.

TAUSEEF: So this is our pediatric building that we're entering.

SILVERMAN: Six of the 30 physicians who work at this clinic are from other countries. Tauseef says they're all educated to do the same thing.

TAUSEEF: As a physician, being a foreign medical graduate, U.S. medical graduate, a Muslim doctor, a non-Muslim we are trained to look for signs and symptoms. We do not look at anybody's color. We are not trained to look at anybody's religion or ethnicity.

SILVERMAN: Tauseef, who's been in America for 13 years, will apply for U.S. citizenship 10 next month. For NPR News, I'm Lauren Silverman in Dallas.

SIMON: This story is part of a reporting partnership 11 with NPR, KERA and Kaiser Health News.