AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, MD, issued the following statement regarding the amicus brief filed today urging the Supreme Court to reinstate the nationwide injunction against the Trump Administration Proclamation 9645 that indefinitely bars individuals from entering the United States on the basis of their nationality:
“Today the Association of American Medical Colleges, joined by 34 organizations representing a wide range of health care professions and medical specialties, filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to reinstate the injunction against this harmful travel ban proclamation.
International health professionals provide essential care in teaching hospitals and their communities, particularly for rural and underserved populations. Their contributions to patient care in the face of a worsening physician shortage are vital to our health care system, and their work in medical research and global health initiatives helps prevent, prepare for, and manage an array of public health threats ranging from pandemics to cancer.
Teaching hospitals, which are on the front lines of patient care, biomedical research, and large-scale health threats—such as the Boston Marathon bombing, the Ebola virus, natural disasters, and mass shootings—rely heavily on non-U.S. physicians, scientists, and other health professionals. Excluding talented physicians and scientists based solely on their nationality jeopardizes patient care and medical discoveries and compromises the health security of the nation.”
The Association of American Medical Colleges is a not-for-profit association dedicated to transforming health care through innovative medical education, cutting-edge patient care, and groundbreaking medical research. Its members are all 154 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 51 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 80 academic societies. Through these institutions and organizations, the AAMC serves the leaders of America’s medical schools and teaching hospitals and their more than 173,000 full-time faculty members, 89,000 medical students, 129,000 resident physicians, and more than 60,000 graduate students and postdoctoral researchers in the biomedical sciences.