Trump’s immigration ban casts pall over ‘Match Day’

Hospitals are feeling pressure to reject medical student candidates from other countries, as they may be barred from entering the U.S. under the Trump administration’s immigration ban.

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The ban has cast a pall over the upcoming “Match Day” plans, as foreign-born applicants are left on edge as to whether they’ll be accepted into residency programs.

Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., chief executive of the Association of American Medical Colleges, said the ban gives many hospitals the “impossible choice” of deciding between hiring the best candidates, regardless of their nationality, and ensuring that a pool of residents is available to treat patients, according to an article from The Boston Globe

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“We don’t know how programs are going to react, and it’s part of why everybody is very stressed and very on edge right now,” Kelly Thibert, D.O., president of the American Medical Student Association, told the publication.

AAMC reports that 1 in 5 U.S. doctors are foreign-born, according to the article.

A number of physicians and professional organizations have taken a public stand on the ban, which could profoundly impact the healthcare industry. Doctors from a number of health systems in the U.S., including, for instance, the Cleveland Clinic, have been barred from entering the country under the original ban.

The executive order was put on hold by a federal judge, but Trump is expected to sign a revised version soon.

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Hospitals in Massachusetts are particularly worried about the impacts that the ban could have on their physicians, as the state hosts some of the nation’s largest teaching hospitals and a number of smaller community facilities that all rely on foreign doctors, according to The Globe. At Boston Children’s Hospital, for example, they’re keeping some qualified doctors on their match lists and awaiting Trump’s updated travel ban, reports NECNTV, to avoid rejecting potential candidates.