An Informed Transition? International Medical GraduatesSettling in the United States and Canada

摘要

International medical graduates (IMGs) are medicalrnprofessionals who have immigrated to the United Statesrn(US) or Canada (Ca) in hopes of integrating into the laborrnmarket. IMGs can be a very helpful resource supplying arndiverse background and expertise to the medical system inrnthe host country [Chen et al., 2010]. However, immigrationrnand integration into a new country can be difficultrnprocesses due to differences in cultural norms, informationrnsources, and information dissemination. In this study, werninvestigate the nature of information in the livedrnexperiences of IMGs as they make a new life forrnthemselves and their families in either the US or Canada.rnBy so doing, we contribute to the limited body of researchrnon this population by providing an informationalrnperspective. Semi-structured interviews were conductedrnwith 20 IMGs residing in the US or Canada. Our findingsrnindicate that IMGs spend an inordinate amount of timernsearching for occupational and employment-relatedrninformation, which includes information about retrainingrnand residency programs, along with varied strategies tornmake sense of the new information landscapes. IMGs usernvarious strategies to identify signposts and becomernconversant in the new landscape. Despite the limitedrnsample, it becomes clear that one’s ability to becomernliterate in these new information environments leads tornmore positive outcomes (i.e., integrating the labor market,rnoverall well-being, belonging).