241 What Have IMGs Contributed to USA

International Medical Graduates, Community Health Workers, and Access to Care in the U.S.

On The Pediatric Lounge, hosts discuss with Dr. Ilan Sharps, a pediatrician at AltaMed in California (serving about 600,000 patients across 70+ clinics), how promotores de salud/community health workers support care by translating medical information culturally and linguistically, connecting families to resources, addressing barriers like food insecurity, safe spaces for exercise, transportation, and improving outcomes and costs through programs such as CalAIM and risk-based funding. They explore follow-up challenges for asymptomatic conditions (e.g., early type 1 diabetes screening) and how telehealth and home monitoring can reduce unnecessary visits while maintaining engagement. The conversation then focuses on international medical graduates (about 25% of the U.S. physician workforce), their role in underserved primary care communities, visa and licensing barriers, discrimination in training and hiring, balancing “brain drain” concerns, and developing safe pathways that verify competency while meeting U.S. workforce needs.

00:00 Podcast Intro and Guest
01:12 AltaMed Role and Reach
02:37 Access and Urgent Care Options
03:45 Promotoras Explained
07:48 Funding and ROI
09:37 Lifestyle Support for Diabetes
11:53 Getting Patients to Follow Up
15:55 Telehealth and Removing Barriers
18:33 Immigrants and IMG Contributions
23:05 Brain Drain and Underserved Care
25:38 Healthier Workforce Case
27:03 IMGs Fill Primary Care
29:05 Primary Care Shortages
30:18 Public Health Models Abroad
31:57 Mexico Doctor Oversupply
33:14 Mexican Physician Program
34:50 Quality And Fair Exams
38:02 Licensing Barriers Worldwide
41:55 IMG Exploitation And Bias
45:49 Building Better Pipelines
46:37 IMGs To Admire
50:14 Parting Thoughts And Wrap