The History of International Medical Graduate Physicians in Psychiatry and Medicine in the United States: A Perspective

Abstract

International medical graduate (IMG) physicians have been a significant part of medicine in the United States since the late 1940s. This chapter will examine the history of IMG physicians against the backdrop of the creation and evolution of graduate medical education in the United States, the contributions made by the Education Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates, and IMG physicians' role in the development of public psychiatry. This chapter will also trace how postcolonial socioeconomic changes and consequent medical educational developments in diverse countries throughout the world have affected the migration of their physicians. Finally, the workforce controversies will be mentioned, with special emphasis on the "gap-filling" role of IMG physicians in American psychiatry. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved)