IMG physicians can ease looming shortage

Doctors are doctors, regardless of where they hail from. But as the baby boomer generation threatens to add to a growing physician shortage, U.S. healthcare facilities are turning to international medical graduates (IMG) to fill the voids.

Nearly one-quarter of all practicing physicians in the United States are IMGs, according to an article published in the July/August 2007 Health Affairs.

Recent studies report similar findings, says David N. Gans, vice president of practice management resources at the Englewood, CO–based MGMA.