Faculty authors discuss books at International Book Blitz - Harvard Gazette

"Starting in the 1960s, she said, professionals from foreign countries, particularly in Asia and Africa, were recruited to work in the U.S. "Lawmakers feared that these emergent post-colonial Asian and African nations would get seduced by the communist sphere of influence instead of joining the United States," she said. This fear coincided with the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the desegregation of hospitals due to the Civil Rights Movement, compounding the need for physicians."

""For the last 60 years, roughly a quarter of the physicians in the United States have been immigrants who disproportionately work as primary care providers in America's neglected urban and rural communities.""

"However, these medical professionals faced racism from a medical establishment "weary of these non-white professionals with accented English who were claiming the status and authority of a physician.""

"Examining both the individual experience of such caregivers and the larger social movements that have both bolstered and sought to exclude them, Alam said that her book makes the case for "bold, coordinated, comprehensive reform of both healthcare and immigration to secure reliable medical care for everybody""

Immigrant physicians have supported healthcare in underserved urban and rural areas for about six decades. Beginning in the 1960s, professionals from foreign countries, especially in Asia and Africa, were recruited to work in the United States. Their recruitment coincided with Medicare and Medicaid creation and hospital desegregation, increasing demand for physicians. Over the last 60 years, roughly a quarter of U.S. physicians have been immigrants, and they disproportionately work as primary care providers in neglected communities. Despite their role, they often faced racism from a medical establishment that was weary of non-white professionals with accented English claiming physician authority. The need for reform is tied to both healthcare and immigration to secure reliable medical care for everyone.

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