Foreign Medical Residents Fill Critical Positions at US Hospitals, But Are Running Into Visa Issues
'I don't want to give up,' said a permanent Canadian resident who matched to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Harrisburg but had her visa denied because she is a citizen of Afghanistan. She requested to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal. 'But the situation also seems so helpless.'
Initially, the medical community was worried that hundreds of positions–many in hospitals in low-income or rural areas of the US–could be affected. The pause on interviews for J-1 visas for approved work or study-related programs was lifted in mid-June. The national nonprofit that facilitates the residency match process said the visa situation is resolving, but it will take weeks to know with confidence how many medical residents have had the start of their careers derailed because they got their visa too late or were blocked by President Donald Trump's travel ban on 12 countries, according to people who coordinate the residents' training. Four foreign medical residents told the AP that US embassies have been slow to open up interview slots–and some have not opened any.
'You lose out on the time you could have used to treat patients,' said one resident from Pakistan who matched to an internal medicine program in Massachusetts and requested to remain anonymous for fear of reprisal.
Thousands of foreign medical residents fill gaps in US hospitals. The US is projected to face a physician shortage in the next 11 years, per the Association of American Medical Colleges, and foreign medical residents fill critical gaps in the health care system. More than 6,600 foreign-born international medical residents matched into US programs in 2025–the highest on record–and another 300 filled positions that were vacant after the match process was complete. Not all of those residents were affected by visa issues or the travel ban on foreign nationals from countries including Afghanistan, Haiti, and Sudan. International medical graduates often take jobs in places where US medical trainees tend not to go, said Donna Lamb, president of the National Resident Matching Program.
'It's not just that they're coming in and they want to work in big flashy centers on the coast,' Lamb said. 'They're truly providing health care for all of America.'
Foreign medical residents work in specialties that US applicants aren't as eager to apply to. For example, international candidates make up almost 40 percent of residents in internal medicine, which specializes in the prevention and treatment of chronic conditions like diabetes and heart disease. 'The residents are the backbone of the entire hospital,' said Dr. Zaid al-Rashid from Brookdale University Hospital and Medical Center in New York, which has medical residents from almost every continent. Most received their visas prior to the pause, but a few were caught up in delays. Two residents from India who spoke on condition of anonymity have not been able to get an appointment at any US embassies there despite the J-1 visa pause being lifted. Another resident from Egypt just secured a visa appointment for mid-August but is worried her program may not be willing to wait for her. She's already paid her security deposit for an apartment in Texas to live during her residency.
'I don't know when this situation will be resolved,' said the resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, adding she hasn't been eating or sleeping well.
In California, leaders at two graduate medical education programs said they have a small number of residents caught up in J-1 visa delays. Both spoke on condition of anonymity due to concerns for the doctors who are still trying to get visas. A residency leader at one large health care system said two doctors in its 150-resident program are delayed, adding they could start late or defer to next year. A 135-person program at a California public health system told the AP that one resident has yet to arrive, though he was finally scheduled for a visa interview. 'We are not going to breathe easy until he's here in our hospital,' the second leader said. As of Wednesday, Lamb's matching program had received fewer than 20 requests to defer or cancel residency contracts.
Worried about losing their spots if they defer, many foreign medical residents may keep trying to get to the US and start their residencies late, said Dr. Sabesan Karuppiah, a past member of the American Medical Association's International Medical Graduates Governing Council and former director of a large residency program. Some hospitals may struggle at this point to replace the residents who don't make it, leaving fewer people to care for the same number of patients, said Kimberly Pierce Burke, executive director of the Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Centers.
Foreign medical trainees who've made it into the US remain on edge about their situations, Karuppiah said. 'I can tell you the word on the street is: 'Do not leave the country,'' he said, adding that people are missing out on important events, seeing sick parents, or even getting married. 'Everybody's scared to just leave not knowing what's going to happen.'
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Al Arabiya
an hour ago
- Al Arabiya
8 children taken to hospitals after seizure-like symptoms at Harvard Square church concert
Eight children at a church near Harvard University, where a French youth choir was holding a concert, suffered seizure-like symptoms and were taken to hospitals, officials said. The symptoms were not life-threatening, the Cambridge Fire Department said in a news release. About 70 other people in attendance at the concert Tuesday evening at St. Paul's Parish in Harvard Square were not affected. Crews first received a call about a child suffering from a seizure. When firefighters arrived, the child was sitting outside of the church but was not actively having a seizure, Fire Chief Thomas Cahill said. That quickly escalated into seven other people having seizure-like symptoms, Cahill told WCVB-TV. The department's hazmat team completed a thorough survey of the St. Paul buildings, utilizing several air sampling meters to ensure that no hazardous conditions were present, the news release said. Results were negative, and the buildings were ventilated. St. Paul's Facebook Page said a French youth choir, the Chœur d'Enfants d'Île-de-France, was offering a free concert at the church on Tuesday night as part of its 2025 US tour. Founded in 1970, the youth choir has traveled extensively and performed with some of the world's top conductors and soloists, St. Paul's said. The concert will feature an exciting mix of sacred and secular repertoire, as well as popular French songs. Messages seeking comment were emailed to St. Paul's and to the Harvard Catholic Center, the Catholic chaplaincy for Harvard University students and other academic institutions in the area.
Al Arabiya
5 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Taliban Say Efforts to Release a British Couple From Afghan Prison Not Yet Complete
The Taliban said Wednesday that efforts to free a British couple from an Afghan prison are not yet complete and denied that their rights were being violated despite concerns from their families and UN officials. Peter and Barbie Reynolds, who are in their 70s, were arrested in early February after being taken from their home in central Bamiyan province to the capital Kabul. The husband and wife run an organization that provides education and training programs. Family members in the UK have said they are being mistreated and held on undisclosed charges. UN human rights experts on Monday called for the couples' release, warning their physical and mental health was deteriorating rapidly and that they were at risk of irreparable harm or even death. The Taliban's Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi rejected concerns about rights violations. 'They are in constant contact with their families,' Muttaqi told reporters at a media briefing in Kabul. 'Consular services are available. Efforts are underway to secure their release. These steps have not yet been completed. Their human rights are being respected. They are being given full access to treatment, contact, and accommodation.' He did not say what steps were being taken to secure their release. According to the UN experts, the couples' spell in detention included time in a maximum-security facility and later in underground cells without sunlight before being moved to above-ground cells at the General Directorate of Intelligence in Kabul. Peter needs heart medication, and during his detention has had two eye infections and intermittent tremors in his head and down his left arm. He recently collapsed, the experts added, while Barbie suffers from anemia and remains weak. Officials from the UK Foreign Ministry visited the couple on July 17, family members said. 'Peter and Barbie have no bed or furniture and sleep on a mattress on the floor,' the family said in a statement Sunday. 'Peter's face is red, peeling, and bleeding, likely due to the return of skin cancer that urgently needs removing. We, their four adult children, have written privately to the Taliban leadership twice pleading for them to uphold their beliefs of compassion, mercy, fairness, and human dignity,' the children added.
Al Arabiya
7 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
UN experts urge Taliban to release elderly British couple in Afghanistan
UN experts warned Monday that an elderly British couple detained for months by the Taliban authority in Afghanistan could die without access to medical treatment and demanded their immediate release. Peter Reynolds, 80 and his wife Barbie, 75, have been 'arbitrarily detained in Afghanistan without charges' since February, the five independent United Nations experts said. The two, who married in Kabul in 1970 and have lived continuously in Afghanistan for nearly two decades, 'have been held for over five months, including in a maximum-security facility for several months and later in underground cells, without sunlight', the experts said. 'Their physical and mental health is deteriorating rapidly,' they said, warning that 'without access to adequate medical care, they are at risk of irreparable harm or even death.' The experts, including the UN special rapporteurs on torture, on the rights of older people and on the rights situation in Afghanistan, pointed out that Peter Reynolds needs heart medication after suffering a mini-stroke two years ago. He has also suffered two eye infections, has had intermittent tremors in his head and down his left arm, and recently collapsed, while his wife Barbie suffers from anemia, is weak and frail and has reported that her feet have become numb, they said. 'Our first demand is their immediate transfer to a civilian hospital for medical treatment,' said the experts, who are mandated by the UN Human Rights Council but who do not speak on behalf of the United Nations. The Reynolds, who have run school training programs in Afghanistan country for 18 years, were detained with visiting Chinese-American friend Faye Hall and their Afghan translator, as they travelled to their home in central Bamiyan province. Hall, a US citizen, was released at the end of March not long after a rare visit by US officials to Kabul and the removal of millions of dollars of bounties on multiple Taliban leaders. But the Reynolds remain in detention. 'We see no reason why this older couple should be detained at all and have requested an immediate review of the grounds of their detention,' the experts said. 'It is inhumane to keep them locked up in such degrading conditions and more worrying when their health is so fragile.'
