Background: Physician shortage and healthcare access is a serious issue especially in a rural state like Arkansas and the dearth of physicians has further worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many US trained International Medical Graduates (IMGs) serve the underserved communities of Arkansas to fill in the physician gap. However, the uncertainties surrounding immigration policies, especially immigration backlog has added significant challenges to the physicians and the rural communities served by them.
Methods: The objective of this study is to understand the role of immigrant physicians in the state of Arkansas and the immigration related challenges they are facing during the COVID-19 pandemic. A survey was created using the data collection platform “Survey Monkey” and sent to IMG physicians practicing on a VISA in the state of Arkansas.
Results: 80% of the physicians practice in primary care specialties like Internal Medicine, pediatrics or family medicine. 60 % practice in a Medically Underserved Area (MUA) or Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSA). About 60% practice in a “front line” COVID-19 specialty and 90.0% of them were involved in direct care of COVID-19 infected or suspected patients. 48% of them have their immigration petition for permanent residency approved but most of the physicians in this sample (88.5%) were in a “immigration backlog.” 87% of them were the primary VISA holders of their families. 73.9% expressed the concern that their families face hardship due to their unemployment or disability during the pandemic. 66.7 % of them were worried that their families are at a risk of deportation in light of the primary VISA holder’s disability or death. 92.3% of them reported that VISA related restrictions limited them from providing additional coverage in these places.
Conclusions: IMG physicians play a valuable role in taking care of the underserved population of Arkansas and fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The challenges surrounding the immigration backlog are contributing to significant hardships for the physicians and their families and remain a hurdle to expand healthcare access to the medically underserved communities during the pandemic.
