1125 



DATA FROM THE STEV'ENS-VT.RMEULEN STUDY ON FMG's 



The growing prevalence of FMGs in American medicine, notably 

 from the LDCs, is apparent in the many evaluative judgments made 

 in the Stevens- Vermeulen study. For example, one of every six M.D.s 

 now practicing in the United States is a graduate of a foreign medical 

 school; if Canadian graduates are included, the proportion rises to 

 almost one-fifth.206 i^joj-e foreign physicians (10,540) were admitted 

 to the United States in 1971 than were graduated from American 

 medical schools (8,974) in the same year. (See Table 20.) There is 

 now one FMG to every two graduates of American schools serving in 

 hospital house staffs in approved graduate educational positions. 

 About one-half of the candidates for state licensing examinations are 

 now FMGs ; in some States it is as high as 75 percent.^'o' Almost 20,000 

 FMGs were in graduate educational positions in American hospitals 

 and universities in 1970-71. Of these about 3,000 were interns, 13,000 

 residents and 3,000 in other traditional training positions.^^^ In 1950- 

 51, FMGs represented only 10 percent of interns and 9 percent of 

 residents in U.S. hospitals. The figures for 1970-71 were 29 percent 

 and 33 percent respectivelv.-"^ Finally, the dominant trend is clearly 

 toward more FMGs from'^the LDCs. The majority of ECFMG cer- 

 tificates (granted after passing the required examination in order to 

 practice) now being granted to foreign medical graduates are from 

 the LDCs. The largest single group awarded in 1970 was to graduates 

 from schools in India (791) ; others with large numbers represented 

 were the Philippines (366), Korea (229), and Egypt (228). ^^ 



DATA ON MEDICAL IMMIGRANTS AND NONIMMIGRANTS 



As noted above, FMGs, along with their fellow scientists and engi- 

 neers, enter the United States under two categories, namely, immigrant 

 and nonimmigrant. The latter includes exchange visitors, scholars, and 

 foreign students. The status of nonimmigrant can be adjusted to per- 

 manent residence after a 2-year interval of residing outside the United 

 States. After April 1970, this requirement could be waived if the At- 

 torney General found that it would impose undue hardship on the 

 alien or his family or if the foreign country of the alien's nationality 

 or last residence states in writing it would not object to such a 

 waiver.^^^ 



In the fiscal year 1970, 3,200 foreign physicians were admitted to the 

 United States as immigrants. (See Table 8 and Figure 4.) A record 

 1,700 were from this continent. Preliminary data for 1971 shows a fig- 

 ure of 5,700, well above the prior record of 3,300 in 1967. The LDCs 

 were strongly represented in this category, with 41 percent of the total 



2^ Ibid., p. 96. 



2"" Stevens and Vermeulen. op. cit., p. xi and p. 96. Also, U.S. Congress, House, Committee 

 on Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Oversight of HEW Health Programs, Hearing before 

 the Subcommittee on Public Health and Environment, 93d Cong., 1st sess., 1973, p. 55. 

 (Hereafter cited as, Hearings, House Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee, Over- 

 sight of HEW Health Programx, 1973.) 



^"^ Stevens and Vermeulen, op. cit., p. 6. 



aoeibid., p. 6. 



210 Ibid., pp. 33-34. 



-" NSF, Survey of Scientists, Engineers , and Physicians from Abroad, 1972, p. 16. 



