INTERNATIONAL PHYSICIANS IN THE US: PERSPECTIVES OF INDIAN PHYSICIANS

Vibha Bhalla, Bowling Green State University

Physician migration to the U.S. began with the passage of the Hart-Cellar Act, and continues unabated. In 2020, immigrant physicians accounted for a quarter of U.S. physicians and approximately two-thirds provide services to underserved and vulnerable population in the U.S., predominantly people of color. Physicians from India comprise the largest group of international physicians. Largescale physician migration resulted in a new discourse in the 1970s which viewed international physicians as a problems and questioned their medical education and patient care skills. Although medical journals delineated the problems associated with foreign-born physician, little however is known about international physicians’ perspectives. This paper, using Indian-born physicians, aims to fill this lacuna. It provides perspectives of Indian physicians on the ways negative discourse on international physicians affected their career trajectory? What did it mean to be considered a problem and what challenges immigrant physicians faced as a result of stereotypes of providing inferior care?

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 83. Migrant, Ethnic and National Identity Formation and Knowledge Production