Dear AAEM/RSA Member and Members of the Emergency Medicine Community,
The American Academy of Emergency Medicine Resident and Student Association (AAEM/RSA) is an accessible, collaborative organization that fosters innovation, education and advocacy for residents and medical students in emergency medicine.
On Friday, January 27, President Donald Trump signed an Executive Order (EO) entitled, “Protecting the Nation from Foreign Terrorist Entry into the United States.” The implications of this EO on medical students, residents and our patient populations are being researched by RSA.
RSA recognizes there are a number foreign medical students and residents who are impacted by this EO. In 2014–2015, the United States had 21.7% more residency slots than 4th year medical students. Thus, 846 entry-level residency positions were filled by International Medical Graduates (both citizens and non-citizens). According to the ACGME, more than 1,800 foreign residents in the U.S. are from medical schools located in countries named in the EO.
In addition, there are over 10,000 licensed physicians practicing in the United States who graduated medical school in one of the seven countries in the EO. Many of these physicians are serving in our low resource communities. The loss of these physicians would greatly worsen the physician shortage, and negatively impact our patients’ access to health care.
RSA will continue to support diversity, inclusion and collaboration among all regardless of race, religion, or ethnicity. We will support you, without prejudice, in your developing resilience and perseverance through medical school and residency.
Sincerely,
The AAEM/RSA Board of Directors
Approved February 9, 2017