Trump's visa restrictions keep foreign medical residents out of US hospitals
Trump administration
. These measures have delayed or blocked the entry of
international medical graduates
scheduled to begin residencies on July 1, as per a report by The New York Times.
Foreign medical residents
are a key part of the American healthcare system, especially in safety-net hospitals that serve low-income communities. Each July, hospitals rely on new residents to replace outgoing doctors. But this year, visa suspensions and new rules, including enhanced social media vetting and travel bans have left many hospitals in uncertainty.
'If international medical graduates can't start their medical residencies on time on July 1, the ramifications are so far-reaching that it is really unconscionable,' said Kimberly Pierce Burke of the Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Centers to the NYT. 'If they don't come, that leaves a hole in the patient care team.'
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On May 27, the
Trump
administration suspended new interviews for J-1 visas, used by most international residents. The
State Department
lifted the pause on Wednesday, but it remains unclear how quickly appointments can resume. Meanwhile, foreign doctors from 19 restricted countries must now seek a 'national interest exception' to enter the US.
(Join our
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for all the latest updates)
Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn is one of many institutions that depend heavily on noncitizen medical residents. 'We just don't know what the impact will be,' said Dr. Christos Paras, who oversees the residency program. Brookdale fills about 90% of its internal medicine slots with international graduates. Two residents have already been blocked from entering.
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'If I am missing two or three people, I can go out and get the spots filled,' said Dr. Conrad Fischer, who directs the program. 'But next year, we're not talking about missing two or three- we're talking about missing thousands.'
As per the NYT report, nationwide, more than 15,500 international doctors were matched to US residency programs in 2024. One in six residents in teaching hospitals is a foreign-trained doctor, often working long hours in primary care roles that US graduates tend to avoid. With about 40,000 residency slots but only 28,000 US medical graduates, foreign residents help fill a critical shortage. Hospitals that fail to meet training staff requirements risk losing Medicare funds and accreditation.
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Reducing exposure to harmful particles is not only a climate and development imperative but also a national responsibility to safeguard women's well-being and secure the health of future generations. We cannot continue to ignore the silent damage caused by toxic air on women's reproductive health. Authored by: Manisha Mishra- Assistant Professor, School of Climate Change and Sustainability , Azim Premji University, Bengaluru, India, and Nidhi Shukla- Doctoral Research Scholar, Department of Population Health Sciences, Centre for Environmental Health and Sustainability, University of Leicester , UK. How air pollution impacts our body
