Hundreds of international doctors stuck in visa limbo

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, one in five U.S. physicians was born and educated overseas. In addition, doctors from other countries make up one in six medical residents and specializing fellows at U.S. teaching hospitals.

This year, over 6,600 international doctors were accepted for medical residencies in the United States. However, due to recent changes in visa applications and travel restrictions for certain countries, hundreds of international doctors are now at risk of being unable to enter the country for their residencies.

Trump in late May suspended new interview appointments for foreign individuals to apply for J-1 visas, which are used for cultural or educational exchange programs. Most overseas medical residents use J-1 visas to come to the United States.

Although the State Department later said embassies or consulates could resume visa interviews if applicants made their social media accounts public, many doctors said their embassies had not yet reopened slots. Other doctors have been told at visa appointments that their applications require additional vetting.

"Due to these new rules, we don't know what they will ask," said Artur Polechshuk, a physician from Serbia who was matched to a pediatric residency program in West Virginia alongside his fiancée Kseniia Tonkoshkurova. "When you are in a really stressful situation, you fear to be in this small percentage of people who were declined."

"Sometimes I want to give up, to be honest," said one doctor who is from a country affected by the travel ban. "I'm tired. I have studied a lot. I have spent a lot of money."

Although many residency programs are trying to reserve spots while people continue the visa process, their spots are not guaranteed. Residency programs cannot outright revoke a spot, but they can apply for a waiver with the National Resident Matching Program that would release them from their commitment to a doctor to find a replacement. They can also defer a doctor's spot to the next year.  

Currently, two international doctors with residency spots at Brookdale have been barred from entering the country. "If I am missing two or three people, I can go out and get the spots filled," said Conrad Fischer, director of Brookdale's residency program. "But next year, we're not talking about missing two or three — we're talking about missing thousands."

In addition, Fischer said the visa ban could make it harder for hospitals to attract talented doctors to their residency programs next year.

"We need the help of people who are making these decisions at the State Department and other places to understand the full impacts of the policies," Fischer said.

In an op-ed in STAT, Tom Price, an orthopedic surgeon and former HHS Secretary, said Congress should create more flexible visa programs that would allow international medical students to stay and work in the United States more easily.

"It's time for Congress to create pathways for would-be doctors to learn in our schools and work in our hospitals," Price wrote. "From primary care physicians to pediatricians to oncologists, we need our doctors in every stage of life. If they're trained here, committed to staying here, and ready to serve our communities, we need to make room for them — no matter where they're from."