1123 



TABLE 15.— FOREIGN PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS ADMITTED TO THE UNITED STATES, FISCAL YEARS 1953-70 



Physicians and Nonimmigrant Exchange visitor 



surgeons admitted physicians and physicians and 



to the United States surgeons adjusted surgeons adjusted 



Year^ as immigrants to immigrant status to immigrant status 



1953 



1954 



1955 



1956 



1957 



1958 



1959 



1960 



1961 



1962 



1963 



1%4 



1965 



1966 



1967 



1968 



1969 



1970 



> The 1st column indicates all such immigrants by year since 1953. The 2d column is the yearly total of all foreign physi- 

 cians changed from nonimmigrant to immigrant status during each year since 1965, the earliest year for which such data 

 areavailabTe. These numbers are also part of the yearly immigrant totals of the 1st column. The 3rd column shows those 

 changing from exchange visitor— the largest nomimmigrant category— to immigrant status (also since 1965). These num- 

 bers are also part of the totals in the 1st and 2d columns. 



) Not available. 



Source: Rosemary Stevens, and Joan Vermeuien, "Foreign Trained Physicians and American Medicine," U.S. Depart- 

 ment of Health, Education, and Welfare, Bureau of Health Manpower Education, Division of Manpower Intelligence, June 

 1972, p. 98. (National Science Foundation, from data of the I mmigration and Naturalization Service.) 



The LDCs of Asia, Africa, and Latin America are heavily repre- 

 sented in the AMA statistics on FMGs for 1970. (See Tables 14, 16, 

 and 18.) Africa is listed with 1,126 (2 percent) , Asia, 21,002 (36.7 per- 

 cent), and Latin America 9,929 (17.4 percent). Altogether the LDCs 

 representing an FMG population of 32,157 of the total 57,217 or 56.1 

 percent. European FMGs number 24,756 (43.3 percent), and those 

 from Oceania, 404 (0.7 percent). High on the list of countries from 

 the LDCs are the Philippines with 7,352 ; India, 3,957 ; South Korea, 

 2,095 ; Mexico, 1,831 ; Iran, 1,631, anci Thailand, 1,098. Those foreign 

 countries where English is the predominant language were represented 

 by only 4,377 FMGs or 7.6 percent of the t()tal FMG population."*^ The 

 language factor is important in considerations of competence and abil- 

 ity to pass the ECFMG examination. 



a» Ibid., p. 5. 



