India-born attorney and former Trump administration official Harmeet K. Dhillon has called out the condition of US medical education, describing it as “broken” in a recent post on X. In voicing support for foreign-trained doctors and the H-1B visa program, Dhillon’s remarks have refocused attention on the nation’s ongoing shortage of physicians.

Drawing on her personal experience, Dhillon said her father “was the only orthopedic surgeon for over 15 years in a rural North Carolina farming county,” an example she used to show how immigrant doctors fill critical healthcare gaps. She urged against “scapegoating” foreign-trained physicians and blamed the shortage partly on “ideological and admissions failures” in the US medical system.

Her views were echoed by Republican Congressman Greg Murphy, who said, “H1-B visas are critical for helping alleviate the severe physician shortage this nation faces. We cannot train enough American doctors fast enough,” as reported by The Times of India.



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The role of international medical graduates

International medical graduates (IMGs) make up about one-quarter of the US physician workforce and are essential to primary care and rural services. Removing them from the workforce would cause immediate strain, particularly in underserved areas. However, health policy experts warn that heavy reliance on IMGs raises ethical concerns about recruiting from countries already facing their own healthcare shortages.

Structural gaps in medical training

While US medical schools are regarded globally for their quality, the system faces deep structural constraints. The number of Medicare-funded residency positions, mandatory for medical graduates to begin practicing, has been capped since 1997 under federal budget rules.

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), this leaves hundreds of qualified graduates without placements each year, despite earning MD degrees, TOI reported.

The financial burden is another challenge. AAMC data from 2022 shows that the median debt for medical school graduates was $200,000. Heavy debt often pushes graduates toward higher-paying specialities, leaving primary care and rural medicine with fewer doctors.

Experts say expanding medical school admissions without increasing residency slots will not resolve the shortage. The AAMC’s April 2025 report projects significant physician shortfalls over the next decade unless residency capacity grows in line with student numbers.

Policy options on the table

According to Times of India report, analysts suggest a multi-pronged approach to address the crisis:

• Expand residency positions by increasing Medicare funding and encouraging hospitals to add training capacity
• Offer targeted incentives such as loan forgiveness, competitive pay, and administrative support for doctors in shortage areas
• Align admissions with workforce needs so that increases in medical school capacity are matched by residency and clinical placements
• Reform advocates also stress that updating medical curricula to address modern healthcare challenges must go hand-in-hand with preserving high clinical standards.

Dhillon’s comments have linked immigration policy with healthcare reform, underlining a reality that experts agree on, fixing America’s doctor shortage will require coordinated changes to education, funding, and workforce planning, not just increasing the number of medical students.

(With TOI inputs)