Graduates of foreign medical schools in American psychiatry

Members of the American Psychiatric Association who graduated from foreign medical schools, currently 25 percent of APA membership, are increasingly integrating themselves into the mainstream of American psychiatry. Nevertheless, an APA survey of members who are foreign medical graduates (FMGs) conducted in 1984 indicates that FMGs continue to pass the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology examination and to be awarded APA fellowships at a significantly lower rate than their U.S.-trained counterparts. Solutions to these disparities have been increasingly sought by the leaders of APA, especially those of the association's areas II, IV, and V, where FMGs are concentrated. The higher percentage of women among FMGs than among U.S.-trained psychiatrists and the increasing presence of Americans and Canadians among FMGs are likely to enhance pressure to solve the problems of FMGs.