Intealth® President and CEO Eric S. Holmboe, MD issued the following statement in response to the June 4, 2025, Presidential Proclamation implementing Executive Order 14161, “Protecting the United States From Foreign Terrorists and Other National Security and Public Safety Threats,” which would prohibit entry to the United States of physicians from Afghanistan, Burma (Myanmar), Chad, Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen and limit the entry of physicians from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan, and Venezuela.
“Physicians from other countries make up one in six medical residents and fellows at U.S. teaching hospitals and are critical to providing quality health care to patients across rural and underserved communities across the United States, including American veterans. We urge the administration and Department of State to recognize this critical national interest as they implement Executive Order 14161 and to exempt physicians from these travel restrictions.”
This executive action comes at a crucial moment, as foreign national physicians selected by U.S. training programs are preparing to enter the country to begin training and help address essential patient care needs. Teaching hospitals and the patients they treat rely on predictable and efficient visa processes, without pauses or delays, that allow incoming trainees to interview at consulates and start their programs on time, typically on or around the July 1 start of the academic year.
Intealth is committed to working closely with the administration, the U.S. Department of State, and the Department of Homeland Security to ensure that physicians entering the United States to provide supervised patient care continue to be thoroughly vetted and meet the highest standards of qualification.
Physicians from other countries who enter the U.S. health care system undergo a rigorous evaluation of their qualifications and are screened by Intealth against the U.S. Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List, which includes individuals involved in terrorism and narcotics trafficking. As part of the evaluation process, they must obtain ECFMG® Certification, which verifies that their medical education meets U.S. standards and ensures their readiness for accredited residency and fellowship training. These safeguards help maintain the integrity of U.S. training programs and ensure the best and brightest are prioritized for admission.
In March, 6,653 medical residents from outside the United States matched to first-year U.S. residency programs. Many of these residents may be impacted by the executive action as they try to join their U.S. training programs. Intealth has already approved sponsorship for many physicians from countries restricted under the Presidential Proclamation, as part of our role as a BridgeUSA J-1 visa sponsor. Failure of the expected number of these new physicians to reach U.S. graduate medical education training programs this year would be detrimental to patient care at many teaching hospitals across the country.
We are pleased the Presidential Proclamation directs the Department of State in coordination with the Secretary of Homeland Security to exempt from the suspension and limitation on entry individuals who would serve a U.S. national interest. We encourage these agencies to use this authority to ensure that highly qualified physicians from the listed countries are able to continue contributing to the U.S. health care system, as was recognized under prior Trump administration travel restrictions, when the admission of physicians was deemed to be in the national interest to address critical health care needs and support patient care nationwide.
Given their vital role in the U.S. health care system, the significant impact their absence would have on both teaching hospitals and patients, and the rigorous evaluation process they undergo before being allowed to train in the United States, it is crucial that physicians be exempted from the recently announced travel restrictions and permitted to begin their residency programs as scheduled. Intealth remains available as a trusted partner to support the Department of State in its implementation of exemptions for mission-critical physicians so Americans across the country have consistent, high-quality medical care.
About Intealth
Intealth is a private, nonprofit organization that brings together the expertise and resources for advancing quality in health care education worldwide in order to improve health care for all. Through strategic integration of its divisions, ECFMG and FAIMER®, Intealth offers a flexible and multi-layered portfolio of services. These services enhance and support the education and training of health care professionals, verify their qualifications required to practice, and inform the development of health workforce policies around the world. By leveraging these combined competencies, Intealth powers innovation in areas critical to the health professions. Learn more at www.intealth.org.
