Becoming doctors again in the United States: An intersectional approach to understanding women refugee physicians

Abstract

Although International Medical Graduates (IMGs) make up close to one quarter of practicing physicians in the US, formal and informal barriers to gaining a US medical license are high. Previous research has identified a number of such obstacles including linguistic and cultural impediments, subtle and overt prejudice, bias, and discrimination, as well as formal and informal hurdles in the admission process for residency positions. For purposes of US medical licensure qualifications and record-keeping, all IMGs are lumped together. However, IMGs are not homogeneous. Studies of the licensure process typically distinguish between US citizens who go to medical school outside the US (USIMGs) and non-US citizens who prepare to complete their medical training in a US residency (non-USIMGs) but this distinction conceals significant differences among non-USIMGs. This paper contributes to the growing body of literature that explores differences among the trajectories of would-be physicians who are non-US citizens by focusing on women physicians who are both non-USIMGs and forced to flee from their homelands (Refugee Physicians). It applies an intersectional lens to understand ways in which gender, forced migration, and medical licensure in the US are interrelated factors constraining the decisions of non-USIMGs. Drawing upon a larger qualitative study of 18 men and 10 women Refugee Physicians in the United States this paper focuses on the experiences of the 10 women and asks: how does gender matter in Refugee Physicians’ navigation of the medical licensure system and migration?