美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Travel Ban Spotlights U.S. Dependence On Foreign-Born Doctors

 

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

Roughly one in every four doctors that work in the United States comes from a foreign medical school. President Trump's travel ban, while suspended for now, puts a spotlight¹ on these physicians who often serve in areas where there just aren't enough doctors. Lauren Silverman from member station KERA in Dallas reports.

SIMON: Patients at Christus Pediatrics in Alexandria, La., were some of the friendliest people Dr. Muhammad Tauseef ever worked with. They'd drive long distances to see him and often bring gifts.

MUHAMMAD TAUSEEF: It's a small town, so they will sometimes bring you chicken, bring the eggs and homemade cakes.

LAUREN SILVERMAN, BYLINE²: One woman even brought him a puppy³.

TAUSEEF: That was really nice.

SILVERMAN: Tauseef is from Pakistan. After going to a top medical school there, he applied⁴ to come to the U.S. to train as a pediatrician. It's a path thousands of foreign-born medical students follow every year - a path that's been around for more than a half-century. And like most foreign-born physicians, Tauseef came on a J1 visa. That meant after training, he had two options - return to Pakistan or work for three years in an area the government has identified as having a provider shortage⁵. He chose to work with mostly uninsured kids in Alexandria, La.

TAUSEEF: That was a challenge, but on a personal level, it was rewarding, as well, that you are taking care of people who there aren't many to take care for.

ANDREW GURMAN: International Medical graduates have been a resource to provide medical care to areas that don't otherwise have access to physicians.

SILVERMAN: Andrew Gurman is president of the American Medical Association. He says the U.S. has a persistent⁶ primary care shortage, particularly in rural areas.

GURMAN: With the current uncertainty⁷ about those physicians' immigration status, we don't know whether or not these areas are going to receive care.

SILVERMAN: And the care is top-notch. A study just published in the journal BMJ shows Medicare patients treated by doctors from foreign medical schools get just as good care and sometimes better than those treated by U.S. medical graduates. Today, there are about 280,000 international medical graduates in the U.S., and about one in four doctors practicing here. Some are U.S. citizens who've gone abroad for medical school, but most aren't.

GURMAN: They don't all have permanent visas, so a lot of them are concerned about what their status is going to be - whether they can stay, whether they can go home to visit family and still come back. And the communities that they serve have similar questions.

SILVERMAN: The uncertainty is hitting medical schools at a tough time. Dr. Salahuddin Kazi is in charge of recruiting⁸ top students from across the world for the University of Texas Southwestern's residency program.

SALAHUDDIN KAZI: Typically, we have 3,000 people applying for our 61 positions. Of those 3,000, at least half of them are international medical graduates.

SILVERMAN: Applicants⁹ find out their program match in March and start working in June. That gives them about 90 days to get a visa. Kazi worries this year that won't be long enough and that students from countries included in the travel ban won't be let in.

KAZI: And that, you know, would create hardship for the hospital, for us and for our remaining residents.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Inaudible).

SILVERMAN: Patients here at Los Barrios Unidos Community Clinic in Dallas rely on foreign-born doctors. Remember pediatrician Dr. Tauseef? After he left Louisiana, he got a job here.

TAUSEEF: So this is our pediatric building that we're entering.

SILVERMAN: Six of the 30 physicians who work at this clinic are from other countries. Tauseef says they're all educated to do the same thing.

TAUSEEF: As a physician, being a foreign medical graduate, U.S. medical graduate, a Muslim doctor, a non-Muslim we are trained to look for signs and symptoms. We do not look at anybody's color. We are not trained to look at anybody's religion or ethnicity.

SILVERMAN: Tauseef, who's been in America for 13 years, will apply for U.S. citizenship¹⁰ next month. For NPR News, I'm Lauren Silverman in Dallas.

SIMON: This story is part of a reporting partnership¹¹ with NPR, KERA and Kaiser Health News.

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 puppy   

n.小狗，幼犬

参考例句：

• You must school your puppy to obey you.你要训练你的小狗服从你。
• Their lively puppy frisks all over the house.他们的小狗在屋里到处欢快地蹦跳。

4 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

5 shortage   

n.缺少，缺乏，不足

参考例句：

• The city is suffering a desperate shortage of water.这个城市严重缺水。
• The heart of the problem is a shortage of funds.问题的关键是缺乏经费。

6 persistent   

adj.坚持不懈的，执意的；持续的

参考例句：

• Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
• She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤，使她很难为情。

7 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

8 recruiting   

招聘( recruit的现在分词 )； 吸收某人为新成员； 动员…（提供帮助）； 雇用

参考例句：

• We are recruiting a sales manager with responsibility for the European market. 我们正在招聘负责欧洲市场的销售经理。
• "Hoist the recruiting flag and hungry men will come. “插起招军旗，就有吃粮人。”

9 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

10 citizenship   

n.市民权，公民权，国民的义务(身份)

参考例句：

• He was born in Sweden,but he doesn't have Swedish citizenship.他在瑞典出生，但没有瑞典公民身分。
• Ten years later,she chose to take Australian citizenship.十年后，她选择了澳大利亚国籍。

11 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。