An Untapped Pool of Critical U.S. Health-Care Workers in a Time of Pandemic
As the U.S. health-care system sags under the strain of the COVID-19 pandemic, health-care workers are not only on the frontlines fighting the virus, they are also some of the most at-risk individuals, making it more essential than ever to have sufficient numbers of qualified health professionals. While 1.5 million immigrants and refugees are already working in the U.S. health-care system, an additional 263,000 immigrants and refugees in the U.S. with health-related college degrees are working in low-skilled jobs or are out of work. As retired physicians are called back to work and medical students fast tracked to graduation, underutilized immigrant health professionals remain an untapped resource that could prove critical in this time of crisis. This infographic offers a quick summary of some of the key findings that can be found in this commentary.
Migration Policy Institute. (2020, April). An Untapped Pool of Critical U.S. Health-Care Workers in a Time of Pandemic. https://www.migrationpolicy.org/content/untapped-pool-critical-us-health-care-workers-time-pandemic