{"id":48633,"date":"2020-09-22T17:47:46","date_gmt":"2020-09-22T16:47:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/?p=48633"},"modified":"2020-09-25T15:12:29","modified_gmt":"2020-09-25T14:12:29","slug":"mushtaq-bhat-immigrant-doctors-are-eager-to-serve-but-us-immigration-policy-wont-let-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/09\/22\/mushtaq-bhat-immigrant-doctors-are-eager-to-serve-but-us-immigration-policy-wont-let-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Mushtaq Bhat: Immigrant doctors are eager to serve, but US immigration policy won\u2019t let us"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"standfirst\">America&#8217;s visa restrictions are frustrating for immigrant physicians, but downright dangerous for the US, writes Mushtaq Bhat<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-48638 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/files\/2020\/09\/Mushtaq-Bhat-.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"127\" height=\"148\" \/>When New York called on doctors to help during their surge of covid-19 cases in April, I wasn\u2019t allowed to go. Then last month, when Houston began transferring patients to Dallas, the city where I live, because they were running out of beds, I couldn\u2019t extend my hours to help. I\u2019ve been practicing internal medicine in the United States for a decade, but as long as I\u2019m on my current H-1B visa, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I can only work a limited number of shifts for one employer. The rest of the time I sit at home and feel helpless. Meanwhile, our downtown hospitals are in such desperate need that they\u2019re bringing in doctors from other states<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It shouldn\u2019t be this way, but an estimated<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.motherjones.com\/coronavirus-updates\/2020\/06\/immigrant-h1b-doctors-coronavirus-green-card\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">12 000 physicians with H-1B visas<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> are stuck in a similar situation. According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.upwardlyglobal.org\/all-news\/upwardly-global-applauds-six-states-welcoming-internationally-trained-healthcare-workers-to-front-lines-of-covid-19-response\/\">a recent survey of immigrant healthcare professionals<\/a>, over 93% would be willing to serve on the frontlines of the pandemic if given the opportunity. But many of them will be held back from acting on that desire to help.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The problem is twofold. Firstly, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">only 7% of green cards can go to citizens of any single country each year. My green card application was accepted in 2015, but since I\u2019m from India, <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">approval<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/blog\/150-year-wait-indian-immigrants-advanced-degrees\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">could in theory take 150 years<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Secondly, the White House<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/presidential-actions\/proclamation-suspending-entry-aliens-present-risk-u-s-labor-market-following-coronavirus-outbreak\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">recently banned<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> thousands of international doctors who were poised to start American residency programs from entering the country. There are not enough American medical students to fill those spots, so<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/hospitals-are-suddenly-short-of-young-doctors-because-of-trumps-visa-ban\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">hospitals are increasingly short staffed.<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">That\u2019s frustrating for immigrants like me, but it\u2019s downright dangerous for the US. This country has a severe shortage of healthcare workers and it\u2019s only predicted to get worse, with the Association of American Medical Colleges estimating the US could face a <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aamc.org\/news-insights\/press-releases\/new-aamc-report-confirms-growing-physician-shortage\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">shortage of 139 000 physicians by 2033<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In 2015,<\/span><a href=\"http:\/\/research.newamericaneconomy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/09\/lifesupport929-1.pdf\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Texas, where I practice, had 20 counties without a single working physician<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u2014more counties than any other state in the nation, according to New American Economy, and 63 counties<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.texasagriculture.gov\/Portals\/0\/Publications\/ER\/2018%20Rural%20Policy%20Plan%20Report.pdf\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">don\u2019t have a hospital<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">With physicians retiring and no new doctors to take their place, hospitals are often forced to close. Since 2010, 120 rural hospitals have closed in the US, with<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.beckershospitalreview.com\/finance\/state-by-state-breakdown-of-120-rural-hospital-closures.html\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">20 of those in Texas<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">. Internationally trained physicians are often more likely to work in<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.newamericaneconomy.org\/issues\/healthcare\/\"> <span style=\"font-weight: 400\">rural, underserved areas<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, but we\u2019re unable to fill all these gaps, especially as visa rules tighten. This means many people are being deprived of medical care, especially during such a vulnerable time as this pandemic.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I love this country and am eager to become a citizen. After living in Buffalo, New York for eight years, my wife and I moved to Dallas in 2018, bought a home, and enrolled our kids in school. It never crossed our minds that we would get stuck in this immigration quagmire. If we\u2019d known, we likely would have chosen a different country\u2014<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/stuartanderson\/2020\/02\/03\/indians-immigrating-to-canada-at-an-astonishing-rate\/#3fd79ff82b5f\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">something well educated Indian immigrants are increasingly doing.<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">My family also depends on my visa, so if I were to get covid-19 and die, they could be deported. I <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">gave my wife a folder with all my important information in case something happens to me. She\u2019d have to sell our home and leave within a month, or risk being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Two of our children were babies when they came here and don\u2019t know anyone in India. The other two were born here and are American citizens. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It\u2019s a scary time for us. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">I\u2019m on the frontlines and risking my life, yet I have no protection.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We love the US, but my wife and I often ask ourselves, is this where we want to stay? If we\u2019d been born in another country, we\u2019d have citizenship by now. It makes no sense. <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are banners outside my hospital saying, \u201cheroes work here,\u201d but I don\u2019t want to be a hero. I just want the same protection and ability to do my job as everyone else.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Mushtaq Bhat<\/strong> is an internal medicine physician with Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><strong>Competing interests<\/strong>: None declared.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Acknowledgement:<\/strong>\u00a0Thanks to the non-profit organization New American Economy for their assistance with the article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>America&#8217;s visa restrictions are frustrating for immigrant physicians, but downright dangerous for the US, writes Mushtaq Bhat [&#8230;]<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"btn btn-secondary understrap-read-more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/bmj\/2020\/09\/22\/mushtaq-bhat-immigrant-doctors-are-eager-to-serve-but-us-immigration-policy-wont-let-us\/\">More&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":48634,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1357],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-us-health-care"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - 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