FOREIGN-TRAINED DOCTORS will soon be able to practice medicine again through a new law that will help the state address its severe primary care physician shortage.
The Physician Pathway Act is tucked inside the economic development bill Gov. Maura Healey signed last month, and it will help internationally trained physicians acquire medical licenses by eliminating barriers like repeating residency programs in the United States.
Members of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, lawmakers and physicians gathered on Monday to celebrate the policy. Sen. Jason Lewis, a Winchester Democrat, and Reps. Jack Lewis, a Framingham Democrat, and Mindy Domb, an Amherst Democrat, all sponsored the bill.
“My hope is that this new law will be a model that we can now use to create pathways to licensure and practice for other types of health professions,” Lewis said at the event. “It will strengthen our physician workforce here in the Commonwealth, with more multilingual, culturally competent, skilled doctors treating patients, especially in underserved communities.”
Health care organizations and advocates couldn’t outline at the event how many internationally trained doctors would become licensed, but a MIRA spokesperson said that they already estimate hundreds of foreign doctors will utilize the program.
The physicians will be required to practice at health care facilities in rural and underserved communities for three years to acquire a full licensure.
The pathway provides a mentorship alternative to the residency requirement, which these physicians already completed in their home countries.
Amy Grunder, director of legislative affairs for MIRA, said the physician training system was designed to train recent medical school graduates.
“Ironically, the more experience you have as a physician, and the further out you are from your graduation date, the less likely you are to get a residency,” Grunder said to Boston.com.
Grunder said MIRA has been working on legislation like this since 2014.
Dr. Saira Asjad, a Pakistani-trained doctor, said at the press conference on Monday she plans to use the new law to resume practicing medicine.
“I am thrilled that I will finally be able to put my knowledge, skills, and experience to use in helping the state address [the shortage],” she said. “Massachusetts residents deserve the highest-quality health care, and I hope to help deliver that care very shortly.”
Despite Massachusetts having one of the highest physician-to-population ratios in the nation, the distribution is not even.
In 2018, There were 670 patients for every one physician in Suffolk County and there were 1,590 patients for every one physician in Plymouth County, according to the Department of Public Health.
The federal government designated more than 130 cities and towns as “health professional shortage areas” because of a lack of primary care, dental and mental health care providers, according to a 2022 report from the Special Commission on Foreign-Trained Medical Professionals.
The law is based on this report’s findings that recommended that the state license internationally trained physicians to improve medical services in rural and underserved communities, according to the press release.
“This new law positions Massachusetts as a national leader on expanding opportunities for immigrants, attracting talents to the state and bolstering access to health care: A win-win for all,” Emmanuel Owusu, executive director of the African Bridge Network said at the press conference.
Massachusetts became the first state in 2023 to file a piece of legislation that would provide permanent medical licensure by removing the residency training requirement for foreign-trained physicians. It will now join nine other states that have enacted similar legislation during the same period, according to MIRA.
Advocates hope this legislation will help alleviate the physician shortage in the state and bring foreign-trained physicians to Massachusetts.
In the state, 22 percent of internationally trained physicians and 18 percent of nurses are unemployed, employed part-time or no longer work in the health care force entirely, according to the Special Commission report.
The state Board of Registration in Medicine needs to develop regulations that it will implement with participating health care centers before it can be officially launched.
Advocates expect this process to take as long as a year, according to MIRA.
Michael Curry, CEO of Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, said at the press conference that hundreds of people will get access to primary care through this program.
“So the reality is we want to make sure these foreign-trained physicians have access to these rural communities,” Curry said. “We want to have tools like this in our toolbelt to hire, recruit, retain these phenomenal physicians that are coming from across the world.”
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