Barriers Facing Undocumented Medical Students Without DACA

Despite predictions that the United States will experience a growing physician shortage in the coming decades, there remains a population of would-be clinicians who are barred from becoming licensed physicians because of their immigration status. Undocumented medical students who do not have Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) status have to overcome many barriers to gain admittance to medical school, but because they lack work authorization in the United States, they are unable to enter residency training. In this article, the authors highlight the implications of this dilemma for academic medicine. After detailing the experiences of an undocumented medical student, they examine the historical and policy background of this barrier to licensure and board certification. The authors consider the most immediate option available to academic medical institutions: to create a viable training program that is an alternative to residency. Such an alternative training program would need to be equivalent in quality to an accredited residency program and enable its trainees to become board-certified but not be a form of employment. Finally, the authors conclude with a call for academic medicine to engage in advocacy in support of legislative solutions for undocumented young people.