Physician Migration to the United States

THERE are now nearly 47,000 foreign-trained physicians who have permanent residency status and are licensed to practice medicine in the United States.1In the past 20 years, the number of foreign medical graduates (FMG) receiving license to practice increased from an annual rate of 300 in 1950 to 3,000 in 1970.1Thus, in 1970, twenty-seven percent of the 11,000 new licentiates in the United States were FMG as compared to 5% of 6,000 new physicians granted licenses in 1950.1Now almost one-third of all US house staff are FMG.1The extensive role played by the FMG in the health care system of the United States has been discussed from the point of view of the receiving country in a recent article by Dublin.2Our study addresses the issue from the viewpoint of one of the major donating countries. At present Iran ranks fifth among all