Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) President Mike Sevilla, MD, has written to Ohio’s Congressional delegation in support of the Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act (S. 3599 and H.R. 6788), federal legislation supported by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) as a good incremental step in addressing the current shortage of primary care physicians during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The letter states, “Family physicians are acutely aware of the current shortage of primary care physicians across the country and the important role International Medical Graduates (IMGs) play in addressing this shortage. Particularly during the COVID-19 crisis, the ability to recapture 15,000 unused employment-based physician immigrant visas from prior fiscal years would enable our U.S. physicians to have the support they need and our U.S. patients to have the care they deserve.”
In the letter, OAFP urges Congress to reauthorize and improve the broader, valuable Conrad 30 J-1 visa waiver program to help alleviate ongoing physician shortages and ensure the long term health care needs of communities across our country are met.
Currently, resident physicians from other countries working in the U.S. on J-1 visa waivers are required to return to their home country after their residency has ended for two years before they can apply for another visa or green card. The Conrad 30 program allows these physicians to remain in the U.S. without having to return home if they agree to practice in an underserved area for three years. Many communities, including rural and low-income urban districts, have problems meeting their patient care needs and depend on the physicians in this program to provide health care services.