Study finds public has conflicting views on state licensure of internationally trained surgeons without U.S. residency

A new study by researchers at Corewell Health East William Beaumont University Hospital in Royal Oak, Mich., posed this question: “What are the public’s attitudes toward recent U.S. state laws permitting internationally trained surgeons to practice without completing U.S.-based residency training?”

The study, published in JAMA Surgery, found that while the majority of Americans support the licensing, they also would likely steer clear of those same surgeons for their own procedures.

The researchers surveyed 1,066 U.S. adults. They found that 85% of them supported state licensure of internationally trained surgeons to “address surgical workforce shortages.” But the researchers also found that 78% of those surveyed were “less likely to personally select an internationally trained surgeon for their own care.”

They found that support for licensure was strongest when the practice was “restricted to underserved areas” and when training occurred in countries “such as Canada, the United Kingdom, Germany, or Australia.”

“Public support for licensure of internationally trained surgeons appears to be attributed to perceived necessity rather than personal trust, suggesting that policies need to pair workforce expansion with transparent disclosure and safeguards to maintain patient confidence,” the researchers wrote.

Access the full study here.