Residency at Risk: Policy Barriers Facing Clinicians, with Shari Erickson, MPH

As the United States faces ongoing physician shortages—particularly in underserved and rural areas—international medical graduates (IMGs) play a critical role in sustaining the healthcare workforce. However, pending federal travel restrictions threaten to undermine this pipeline at a pivotal moment. A significant portion of matched internal medicine residents are foreign-born, and new immigration policies could prevent many from entering the country in time to begin residency training. Beyond jeopardizing workforce stability, these restrictions risk leaving critical care gaps in regions already facing provider scarcity, threatening continuity of care, program operations, and public health access nationwide.

Many clinicians and organizations, including the American College of Physicians (ACP), are concerned by a number of recent health policy issues, including travel restrictions, and are advocating for these issues to be addressed. Shari Erickson, MPH, Chief Advocacy Officer and Senior Vice President, Governmental Affairs and Public Policy, ACP, participated in a panel at the American College of Physicians (ACP) Internal Medicine (IM) Meeting 2025, held April 3-5, in New Orleans, Louisiana, discussing some of these key issues.

HCPLive spoke with Erickson to learn more about some of the high priority health policy issues outlined during the panel and how these issues will impact clinicans and patients.

“[These restrictions] will have a huge impact on our membership… to the program directors, the residency programs who now have open slots that really depended on these individuals to come in and fill these slots, and also, of course, all the patients in the areas of the country that really depend on, whether they realize it or not, international medical graduates to provide their care,” Erickson said.

Erickson has no disclosures to report.

REFERENCE

Erickson S, Lyons G, Outland B. Hot Issues in Health Policy 2025. Presented at: ACP IM Meeting 2025; April 3-5; New Orleans, Louisiana.