27% of U.S. physicians are internationally trained with 65,000 unlicensed IMGs in the country. AMOpportunities connects international medical trainees with clinical rotations in the United States and has a solution to our healthcare shortages. You can learn more at https://www.amopportunities.org

We believe that an answer to the impending physician shortage in the United States and at present the global pandemic of COVID-19, necessitates U.S.-based international medical graduates. As such, we petition the United States healthcare system to allow IMGs to assist U.S. hospitals in any capacity. We're asking you to sign our petition to demonstrate your support and show the U.S. government and healthcare system the need for the expertise of IMGs.

Our country is struggling to provide much-needed healthcare to the victims of COVID-19, which has infected more than one million U.S. citizens. 

Already, U.S. hospitals are calling on retired healthcare professionals and medical students to lend their support. Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey recently signed Executive Order No. 112 authorizing the Division of Consumer Affairs to grant temporary licenses to doctors licensed in foreign countries. The rest of the country must follow suit.

The 65,000 unlicensed IMGs in the U.S. are the answer to strengthening the healthcare workforce and ensuring we slow the spread of COVID-19 and eventually eradicate the virus. 

IMGs are limited to work by policy, geography, and cost. Many of them are unlicensed due to the lack of residency positions available. These 65,000 IMGs have medical degrees, and many have passed their board licensing exams, however these qualified near physicians cannot secure the necessary residency slots and thus can’t practice.

In New York, IMGs that have completed three years of graduate medical education in a postgraduate training program accredited by the ACGME or the AOA can provide patient care services even if they’re unlicensed. This petition goes one step further.

We ask all state officials and medical boards to pass policies that allow IMGs who are ECFMG certified to assist under the supervision of a licensed physician, regardless of whether they have completed any U.S. postgraduate training.

The untapped knowledge and expertise of IMGs are precisely what frontline healthcare workers need to fight COVID-19. Join us as we petition the government and U.S. healthcare system to invite IMGs in the U.S. to lend their extensive medical experience. We all need to do our part to confront the uncertain time we find ourselves in.  

Thank you for your support.  

AMOpportunities 

https://www.amopportunities.org

Here are other ways you can help us gain support for IMGs in the United States to practice in the U.S. during COVID-19.

1.   Encourage your state to create an International Medical Assistance Program for a pathway to practicing in the U.S., similar to what Minnesota has done for IMGs. Washington is pushing similar action. You can see what other states have done to push a pathway for IMGs here.

2.   Encourage universities to create programs that strengthen IMGs’ likelihood in matching into U.S. residency positions, similar to this program at UCLA.

3.   Rural care has the greatest need of care from IMGs, and many live outside of major metropolitan areas, making it easier for them to practice in rural cities. Again, Minnesota has been working toward that same cause. You can also find more information here.