Medical organizations respond to Trump’s immigration order
Additionally, IMGs, naturalized citizens, and legal residents make up a significant portion of the health care workforce in hospitals and practices across the country. More than 25% of current practicing physicians are IMGs, with cardiology ranking among the top when broken down by medical specialty. Policies that bring the immigration status of those already here into question, while also limiting the ability of others to legally train in the United States going forward, will only serve to exacerbate the already existing cardiovascular workforce shortage, especially in rural America. Such policies also threaten the care continuum of patients who rely on these providers for their medical care.”
American College of Physicians
“The executive order could deny entry or reentry to tens of thousands more persons, including medical students and physicians who are being trained in the United States and/or are delivering direct patient care. ... It also creates a precedent for barring entry of IMGs based on their religion and country of origin. ... Approximately 30% of ACP members are IMGs.”
American Gastroenterological Association
Science and illness ignore borders and political divides. That is why AGA is concerned that the recent U.S. executive order on immigration could limit scientific exchange, delay patient care and impair medical training.
AGA is committed to diversity, which we define as inclusive of race, ethnicity and national origin. Diversity within training programs and laboratories in the United States built today’s practice of gastroenterology. Scientists from around the world publish in our journals, work in our laboratories, train in our programs and present data at Digestive Disease Week. This exchange leads to better patient care, and very sick patients travel to the United States from around the world for the best digestive health care.
AGA adds our support to a growing number of medical institutions urging the administration to consider the devastating impact of the executive order on the health of the nation that will result from turning away patients, health professionals, and researchers. The recent immigration policy is clearly detrimental to America’s leadership role in advancing health care, and to the standing of the United States within the international community.
American Society of Clinical Oncology
ASCO is deeply concerned about the potential impact of the recent executive order on cancer research, patient care, and international scientific collaboration.
Our more than 40,000 members in 148 countries lead the charge to conquer cancer in all its forms and in every nation. Tens of thousands of people from more than 100 countries participate in our scientific meetings to exchange advances and ideas to improve patient care. Millions of cancer survivors are alive today because of the progress made possible by scientific collaboration. Progress against this disease will falter if the close-knit global community of cancer care providers is divided by policies that bar members of certain nationalities from entering the United States to conduct research, care for people with cancer, or participate in scientific and medical conferences.
American Society of Hematology
We express our deep concern about the Administration’s executive order that has denied U.S. entry to people who bring unique expertise to the practice of medicine and the conduct of cancer and biomedical research. Our nation depends on the contributions of the greatest minds from around the world to maintain the high quality of our biomedical research enterprise and health care services.
The benefits of scientific collaborations are amplified by our diversity. Limiting the exchange of ideas, practices, and data across cultures has the potential to significantly retard scientific progress and adversely affect public health. Any loss of researchers and physicians will render the United States less competitive over time, and our traditionally strong research institutions and the patients they serve will be negatively affected.
We remain deeply concerned that restricting travel will prohibit participation in scientific meetings, where cutting-edge science and treatment methods are often first introduced. These in-person meetings and other global exchanges are vitally important because they provide unparalleled opportunities for collaborations and information-sharing. Such scientific and medical meetings are absolutely essential to the conquest of cancer and blood diseases.
(Statement issued on behalf of ASH, American Association for Cancer Research, Association of American Cancer Institutes, American Society for Radiation Oncology, The American Society for Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, and LUNGevity Foundation.)
The text of the executive order can be found on the White House website.
Updated 2/2/17 to include the position of the American Gastroenterological Association.
dfulton@frontlinemedcom.com
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