International Medical Graduate Physician Training in American Psychiatry: Where We Are and Where We Are Going

Abstract

In the physician workforce of the United States, international graduates are disproportionately overrepresented in psychiatric facilities and also in general geographic locations where graduates of medical schools in the United States and Canada are less likely to practice. To enter psychiatric environments in the United States and Canada, international trainees require considerable knowledge about how programs have historically regarded international applicants and how the training of cultures, values, and ethical practices will work in the programs to which they are accepted. To practice education that is centered on international medical graduate physicians, academic faculty members need to know local hiring regulations and be familiar with the quality of medical schools from which applicants apply. Such education also requires considerable cultural sensitivity to help less-acculturated trainees master psychiatry competencies and the cultural contexts in which they train. This chapter will help prepare interested learners, faculty members, and other stakeholders to better achieve quality outcomes in postgraduate psychiatric education and training for international physicians.