AAMC (Association of American Medical Colleges) President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, MD, issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s proclamation on immigration:
“Yesterday’s proclamation eases restrictions on individuals from most of the previously affected countries who hold visas commonly used for medical education and training, and includes education, professional training, and urgent medical need as potential grounds for waivers. These international exchanges benefit the health security of all U.S. citizens.
However, highly qualified aspiring and practicing physicians and scientists may still face barriers to entry, including potentially inconsistent waiver decisions. To address this concern, medical schools and teaching hospitals urge the administration to make categorical exceptions for medical students, medical residents, physicians, and scientists as well as those attending medical and scientific conferences in the United States.”
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.