Over the past 30 years, the number of international medical graduates in the physician workforce has steadily increased. Many entered the United States on visas that allowed them to stay in the United States if they agreed to work in an underserved area for 3 years following residency (13). During the last decade, however, the number of international medical graduates on these visas declined by 47% as use of less-restrictive temporary specialized worker visas increased. The declining number of international medical graduates serving in underserved areas has made recruiting physicians in these areas more difficult. In order to examine the overall role of international medical graduates in providing office-based medical care, this Data Brief compares patient and physician characteristics for office-based international medical graduates with those of U.S. medical graduates.
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