Lack of Rapid Visa Processing Leaves Foreign Doctors Stuck

Getting international medical graduates into medically underserved areas may be harder this year because of a slowdown in visa processing.

Under the Conrad 30 program, foreign physicians who complete their medical residencies in the U.S. on J-1 visas can get a waiver allowing them to start working right away rather than first going back to their home countries to fulfill a two-year home residency requirement before returning to the U.S. The trade-off is they have to practice in a rural or medically underserved area.

The program isn’t large but can have a big impact in small, rural communities, Davis Patterson, ...