AAIHR Position Statement

AAIHR and its member organizations:

Recognize the basic human right of individual healthcare professionals to exercise their freedom of choice to migrate, and to enjoy the benefits of multi-cultural practice, career advancement and professional opportunities, and improved quality of life for themselves and their families.

Affirm the many potential benefits of international recruitment to American healthcare organizations and patients in America, including the alleviation of chronic and growing US healthcare worker shortages and the provision of culturally sensitive healthcare for America’s growing multicultural patient population.

Recognize the potential benefits to source countries of ethical and socially responsible recruitment of healthcare professionals. Remittances by migrating expatriate healthcare professionals often help fund the source country’s health system, replenish the supply of healthcare workers, and improve the quality of life for the migrating professional’s family members.

Acknowledge the potential adverse effect that international migration may have on health care quality in countries seriously depleted of their healthcare professional workforce, and commit to conducting international healthcare recruitment in an ethical and globally responsible manner.

Recognize the benefits of circular migration and support initiatives that encourage healthcare professionals to return to their home countries for periods of service.

Denounce unethical behavior by any party in the international recruitment process. Recruiters, employers, and healthcare professionals have a mutual responsibility to protect one another from false information, misleading claims, withholding of relevant information, and exploitation. Each party has a responsibility to represent themselves accurately, to deal with the other parties honestly and forthrightly, and to honor their contractual obligations.

Support lawful immigration of healthcare professionals from foreign countries to work in the U.S. provided they meet all federal qualifications for entry and practice.

Call for governments and regulatory organizations to implement fair, humane, and sensible policies and processes for international healthcare recruitment that respect the issues and concerns of the migrating healthcare professionals, their prospective employers, and the health systems in their home countries and their destination countries.