Addressing Physician Shortages Starts with English Upskilling

Photo from Accuray @accuray at Unsplash

Unless systems change, the U.S. will face a critical shortage of up to 139,000 physicians by 2033. The shortfall is distressing – and potentially deadly. Addressing the gap will require us to champion untapped pools of health workers. Let’s start with the 263,000 immigrant and refugee adults with health-related degrees, who are unemployed or underemployed  in the U.S. workforce. 

Among these unemployed and unemployed health workers are International Medical Graduates (IMGs), immigrants and refugees who have extensive medical training and clinical experience – along with the multilingual skills and cross-cultural savvy consistently linked to positive patient health outcomes. However, to re-license to practice medicine in the U.S., IMGs face a wide range of systemic barriers, including limited opportunities to learn career-aligned English. 

English proficiency can catalyze IMGs’ opportunities, but access to appropriate instruction is exceptionally limited. Of the 13 million adult English learners in the U.S. workforce, just 4% currently are connected to any form of English instruction. Furthermore, most of our nation’s existing course offerings rely on outdated, ineffective curricula, focusing on grammar drills and linguistic theory, rather than the real-life communication and content that is relevant to adult learners’ lives and livelihoods.  

It’s time to champion immigrant and refugee talent in healthcare – and that includes expanding pathways for internationally trained physicians to acquire both the English and career skills to re-license in the U.S. 

EnGen can help. 

With 300-plus courses – including a growing list of healthcare-related offerings – EnGen can seamlessly support IMGs interested in re-licensing as doctors, or in exploring other high-demand work opportunities in the U.S. health sector. 

EnGen’s English for Internationally Trained Professionals supports immigrants with international credentials and experience – including IMGs – in  navigating the U.S. job search process, including learning about cultural norms and legal requirements around hiring, positioning their international experience and credentials, and developing new skills – including English proficiency. 

The course offers IMGs a critical foundation to support the often labyrinthine process of re-licensing to practice medicine in this country, preparing learners with language skills necessary to pass U.S. medical licensing exams, polish interview skills for hospital residencies, and access other post-graduate training opportunities. 

EnGen also offers comprehensive courses like English for the NCLEX, supporting learners in preparing for U.S. nursing exams. Additional offerings in Allied Healthcare, Phlebotomy, Pharmacy Tech, and HIPPA provide on-ramps to in-demand jobs, filling critical health workforce gaps and offering pathways to economic and career mobility. 

With 92% of EnGen learners demonstrating improved English proficiency, EnGen is committed to offering effective language upskilling at the scale needed to serve the U.S. health system. From Austin to Dallas to Miami, EnGen partners with a growing network of community colleges to offer career-aligned instruction in adult education classrooms. And via partnerships with state-wide health systems like MaineHealth, EnGen is advancing health workers’ job prospects and economic mobility. EnGen’s mobile-first platform can be accessed on-site or at home. 

It’s time to ensure that nearly 300,000 unemployed and underemployed immigrant health workers, including IMGs, can move off the sidelines and into the frontlines of our nation's health system. Championing this untapped talent pool’s ambitions to serve as doctors – along with nurses, therapists, pharmacists, and health techs – will save lives. 

See how EnGen can benefit IMGs and immigrant health workers in your classroom or company. Schedule a demo with one of our workforce development experts.