U.S. MDs welcome International Medical Graduates (IMGs)

When the ink was dry on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA, or TLC in Spanish), a list of 30 or so professionals could receive work visas to travel relatively freely among the U.S., Canada and Mexico. This list included a range of health professionals, including physical and occupational therapists, nutritionists, and registered nurses. Physicians were conspicuously limited to only teaching or research...no practicing.

I've always assumed that U.S. physicians lobbied to exclude Mexican physicians from the list, in order to protect their own salaries and job opportunities. Today, it appears that either physicians' sentiment toward foreign MDs working in the U.S. has undergone a sea change, or I am overly cynical.

The American Medical Association (AMA) news magazine published an article praising the work of Jose Ramon de la Pena, and his excellent Welcome Back system of support programs for IMGs. Graduates - foreign MDs who are now licensed and with work visas in the U.S. - are highlighted and praised for their diverse language and cultural skills.

This opening is welcome news. Our own MedicoRN graduates now have Green Cards (sponsored by the Institute of California as part of our innovative MedicoRN program), and some are studying for the USMLE exams in order to enter a medical residency.

Bienvenida a la apertura! 

Link to the AMA News Article