Immigration Ban Throws Medical Students’ ‘Match Day’ Into Disarray
March 17 is the day when students find out if and where they’ve “matched” for a residency program, but for those from countries targeted by President Donald Trump's immigration ban, the future is uncertain. Meanwhile, the scientific community is protesting the executive order through boycotts of conferences and journals.
Stat:
Trump’s Immigration Order ‘Causing Havoc’ Ahead Of Match Day
That’s when thousands of students at medical schools in the United States and around the world find out if and where they’ve “matched” for a residency program, where they will begin to practice as doctors for the first time and further develop their skills. But Trump’s executive order on immigration, issued on national security grounds, has thrown the process into disarray. Some physicians-in-training have been left wondering if they will be allowed into the country to start their programs, while hospitals are weighing whether to risk reserving coveted spots for students who might not be able to fill them. (Joseph and Boodman, 2/2)
Kaiser Health News:
Trump’s Immigration Ban Fuels Fear For Some Young Doctors Whose Jobs May Be In Limbo
President Donald Trump’s executive order on immigration, which sparked protests abroad and in the U.S., is also raising fears about the impact on international medical students vying for training programs at U.S. hospitals, as well as young doctors in training from affected countries who are already working here. Medical residency assignments will be announced in six weeks. The Association of American Medical Colleges, which represents medical schools and teaching hospitals, has identified 260 applicants who could be affected. (Heredia Rodriguez, 2/2)
Stat:
Scientists Protest Immigration Ban With Boycotts Of Journals, Conferences
In the days since the executive order was announced, more than 4,500 international academics have signed a pledge to boycott US-based conferences, of which there are hundreds every year. “We question the intellectual integrity of these spaces and the dialogues they are designed to encourage while Muslim colleagues are explicitly excluded from them,” the authors of the pledge write. And more than 18,000 academics — most of them from the US — have signed a letter denouncing the ban. (Oransky and Marcus, 2/1)
ProPublica:
Trump’s Executive Order Strands Brooklyn Doctor In Sudan
On Saturday morning, Dr. Kamal Fadlalla traveled more than two hours from his family’s home in Wad Madani, Sudan, to the country’s capital of Khartoum to board a flight back to the United States. For Fadlalla, a second-year resident in internal medicine at Interfaith Medical Center in Brooklyn, this was to be an early ending to his first trip back to his home country since he started in his training program 20 months ago. (Charles Ornstein, 1/29)
And in other news on the president —
Stat:
Trump Is Keeping Obama's White House Doctor For Now
President Trump will keep, for the time being, the same White House doctor who had cared for former President Barack Obama since 2013. Dr. Ronny Jackson, a rear admiral in the US Navy, will continue to serve as physician to the president, White House press secretary Sean Spicer told STAT. Jackson was appointed as the lead White House doctor by Obama in July 2013. He had previously served in the White House Medical Unit under Obama and George W. Bush. (Scott, 2/2)