PHILADELPHIA, Sept. 9, 2018 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Doctors without Jobs announced today the start of a nationwide campaign to bring attention to the number of U.S. doctors not working, even in what's been widely reported in the media as an era of doctor shortages, expected to worsen in the years ahead.

"Each year in recent years, more than 1,000 current U.S. graduates of medical schools, and graduates from prior years, do not land a residency in a teaching hospital," said Kevin Lynn, founder of Doctors without Jobs. "Without a residency, a doctor cannot practice medicine. Today, too many doctors who have graduated from medical school in good standing – having completed at least eight years of advanced education – are being shut out of their calling to heal."

In addition to not working in their profession after completing a challenging, multi-year educational commitment, a majority of medical school graduates carry sizable debt for their schooling. The median debt load for U.S. medical school graduates in the 2017-2018 school year was $195k, per an Association of American Medical Colleges survey. Factoring in lost opportunity, the full cost of attending medical school is about $800k, according to the online site, Best Medical Degrees.

To build awareness of the number of physicians who should be part of America's medical community, but aren't, Doctors without Jobs will run print ads on newsstands and digital ad boards this month in New York City and Philadelphia. The ads are strategically placed in proximity to teaching hospitals.



The ad copy reads: "Doctor Shortage? Thousands of U.S. medical students graduate without a residency. No residency = no license = no job," and then directs readers to http://www.DoctorsWithoutJobs.org. As part of the campaign, Doctors without Jobs will conduct other ongoing communications outreach.

One of the initial project goals is to engage with doctors who have not found residencies, learn their stories and share them to start building a community which can help advocate for the changes needed to shift this situation.

"The common belief is that a medical school graduate is going to practice as a doctor, without exception," said Lynn. "Many people will be incredulous that there are doctors – not a handful, but many – who aren't able to practice medicine.

"The first step for Doctors without Jobs is to help educate people that this is an issue – that there's a tremendous misallocation of resources when we train doctors, but don't utilize their skills," added Lynn.

"Our next step will be to develop a community that can help look for solutions and work with the appropriate medical organizations and others so that all doctors who are qualified to practice medicine can."

More information

Video: One Doctor's Quest for Residency: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU1F55H7En4&t=5s

Website: https://doctorswithoutjobs.org

About Doctors without Jobs:

Doctors without Jobs explores why some U.S. citizen medical school graduates in good standing do not match to residencies and seeks to build awareness of the issue and find solutions. It is a project of Progressives for Immigration Reform, a nonprofit 501(c)(3).

Contact

Kevin Lynn, Executive Director

Progressives for Immigration Reform

626.825.1331 | klynn@pfirdc.org

SOURCE Doctors without Jobs