I am a U.S. citizen and graduated from a well-known medical program, UAG School of Medicine (UAG SOM). To date, I have not been given the opportunity to enter into a federally funded residency program in the United States. Without a residency training position, I’m not able to practice medicine and obtain a health care provider license number, nor can I pay back my federal government loans.
I passed the United States Medical Licensing Exams (USMLE) in order to become eligible to enter a federally funded residency training program. I’ve spent more than $10,000 applying to residency programs in order to get a job, post medical school, so I can provide for my family and pay my federal loans. Today, I owe approximately $400,000 in federal loans. Every year federal loan interest piles on due to me being jobless/left without a federal residency training position.
I am just one of the thousands of American doctors who has not been accepted into federal training positions, while foreign doctors have been given residency positions over Americans. In other nations, native doctors are given preference. But in 2020 alone, more than 4,000 doctors were issued visas to begin federal residency training positions.
Meanwhile, just shy of 6,000 Americans were denied federal training positions. There are many downsides to this situation. Other countries lose on their investment of their medical graduates, and many of the sending countries have doctor shortages. American medical graduate are left jobless. From the standpoint of patients, many American patients prefer a native medical doctor for a variety of sound reasons.
The ECFMG says there is a doctor shortage in the U.S. when there is no doctor shortage. They do this because they make millions of dollars every year from foreign doctors through fees to the ECFMG.
We need to give American doctors a fighting chance at residency, employment and dignity. I want to provide my daughter and family a decent future.