The United States boasts an extensive modern medical network teeming with well-educated physicians and workers. It is a premier medical community that welcomes the best in every field, fostering a diverse environment with healing and medical progression at the forefront.

A specific field that attracts medical professionals from all backgrounds and walks of life is pediatrics. To examine more thoroughly the specific statistics of international medical graduates currently providing pediatric care in the United States, researchers conducted a study. The goal was to gain a clearer picture of the supply, distribution, and characteristics of those who fit this description.

The Study and Results

To conduct this study, data from the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates and the 2019 Physician Masterfile of the American Medical Association was used. Through the examination of the data, 92,806 total pediatric physicians were recognized. This number represents nearly 10% of all United States physicians. General pediatricians accounted for over half of the 92,806.

Of the 92.806 pediatric physicians (general and subspecialists combined) identified in this study, international medical graduates accounted for nearly one-fourth (23.2%). Of those, 22.1% are citizens of the United States who obtained their degree in another country.

15.4% of citizens who attended a non-U.S. medical school did so in the Caribbean. Perhaps even more surprising is the fact that 15 non-US schools account for nearly 30% of all international medical graduates currently practicing pediatrics in the United States.

Compared to United States medical school graduates, international medical graduates are more frequently engaged in solo practice as opposed to group or hospital-based practice.

What it Means

Designed to provide a more in-depth overview of the United State’s pediatric workforce and the contribution of international medical graduates therein, this study did just that. Several interesting insights were gained through this quantitative lens, including the fact that many international medical graduates are citizens of the United States who leave for medical school and return for further training and work.

There are numerous factors that currently affect these numbers and will continue to do so in the future, including the number of open residency training positions. In order to gain a more thorough understanding of the workforce’s composition and distribution, as well as its potential impact on pediatric patient care, future longitudinal studies are necessary.