IMG status and race or ethnicity, though, measure different things. An IMG may be Black, Hispanic/Latino, Asian, White, or from another racial or ethnic background, and many physicians from historically underrepresented racial and ethnic groups are U.S.-trained. Keeping these two categories separate helps clarify where New York’s workforce gaps actually lie.
The racial and ethnic gap remains significant. New York’s Center for Health Workforce Studies reported that in the mid-2000s, underrepresented minorities accounted for approximately 10% of the state’s physician workforce while representing roughly 30–35% of the population. More recent data show the disparity has not closed: a 2023 New York State Department of Health announcement found that more than 30% of New York’s population was Black or Hispanic, compared with just 12% of physicians.
So the real question isn’t whether New York’s physician workforce is diverse in the aggregate. It’s whether that workforce reflects the specific communities it serves, and whether physicians from historically underrepresented backgrounds have equitable opportunities to enter and advance in medicine.
Representation matters concretely. Physicians from underrepresented groups are more likely to practice primary care, work in hospitals and clinics, serve Medicaid patients, and practice in federally designated shortage areas, according to research from New York’s Center for Health Workforce Studies — and a workforce that better reflects the population also strengthens communication, cultural understanding, and patient trust along the way.
New York faces two workforce priorities that don’t compete with each other so much as run in parallel. One is building effective, fair pathways for internationally trained physicians to practice and contribute to patient care. The other is strengthening the educational and professional pipeline for the racial and ethnic groups still underrepresented in medicine — from early mentorship and medical school access, through residency, faculty development, and leadership roles.
New York’s physician workforce is already diverse by one measure and inequitable by another, and both facts are true at once. Recognizing what IMGs contribute while addressing racial and ethnic underrepresentation isn’t a matter of choosing a side — it’s what it will take to build a workforce that actually reflects the people of New York.
The data on both fronts already exists. What’s missing is a policy agenda that treats IMG licensure reform and pipeline investment for underrepresented minority physicians as two parts of the same project, funded and tracked together rather than as separate line items competing for the same limited attention.
MSSNY’s Call to Action
True workforce equity requires pursuing two parallel legislative and institutional priorities:
- Licensure Modernization: Expanding fair, efficient pathways for internationally trained physicians to enter the New York medical system.
- Pipeline Reinforcement: Securing robust, unified state funding for pipeline programs—from early mentorship through medical school tuition support and regional residency development.
We must advocate for a holistic state health policy that funds and tracks IMG licensure reform and minority pipeline initiatives as interconnected pieces of a single workforce strategy.
References
- Association of American Medical Colleges. U.S. Physician Workforce Data Dashboard: 2025 Key Findings. 2024 physician workforce data.
- Association of American Medical Colleges. State Physician Workforce Data Report. 2021; 2020 data.
- Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, SUNY. Annual New York Physician Workforce Profile. 2006.
- Center for Health Workforce Studies, University at Albany, SUNY. A Profile of New York’s Underrepresented Minority Physicians.
- New York State Department of Health. “Governor Hochul Announces More Than $4.6 Million to Expand Access to Health Care, Eliminate Health Care Disparities for New Yorkers.” December 5, 2023.
- New York State physician workforce research on practice in Health Professional Shortage Areas.
Dr Chandra is a General Adult and Forensic Psychiatrist and Senior Medical Director, USSNY/ Intensive Crisis Stabilization Center, CNG, NY.
