Mississippi Revises Recruitment of Foreign-Born Physicians To Fill ‘Critical’ Specialist Shortage

Mississippi has restructured the way it recruits foreign-born doctors as a way to bring more specialists to rural areas that have a "critical shortage" of doctors, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger reports (Berry, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 10/15). Under the J-1 visa program, foreign-born medical students are permitted to study at U.S. medical schools. After completion of the programs, they must return to their home nations for two years before applying for an immigrant visa, permanent residence in the United States or an additional nonimmigrant visa. However, certain government agencies, including state health departments, can request a waiver of the two-year home residence requirement for physicians who agree to practice in underserved areas for three to five years (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 9/27). The Missisippi Department of Health each year allows 20 foreign-born physicians to participate in the program. In the past, 16 of those slots were reserved for primary care physicians and four for specialists including neurosurgeons, nephrologists, oncologists, gastroenterologists, radiologists and cardiologists, but the state now allows up to 15 specialists to apply for the visa waivers. In another change, the program now screens doctors to ensure they are needed in a particular area, the Clarion-Ledger reports. In previous years, physicians applying to the program would select an area that did not have a doctor shortage. According to the American Medical Association, Mississippi has fewer doctors per capita than 48 other states, the Clarion-Ledger reports. The state lost almost 8% of its practicing physicians in the past year because of increasing medical malpractice insurance rates, state health officer Dr. Ed Thompson said. Last week, Gov. Ronnie Musgrove (D) signed legislation capping awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, which are thought by some to have increased the cost of malpractice insurance premiums, as part of an effort to convince doctors to remain in the state (Berry, Jackson Clarion-Ledger, 10/15).