Curing Tennessee’s doctor shortage: Law paves way for international physicians to practice in state

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A Tennessee law that went into effect July 1 aims to treat the state’s doctor shortage by allowing licensed physicians from other countries to practice in Tennessee without having to repeat their residency training in the U.S., which often takes years.

Tennessee became the first state in the U.S. to pass this kind of law in 2023. At the time, the sponsor of the legislation, Rep. Sabi “Doc” Kumar (R-Springfield), told lawmakers 92 out of TN’s 95 counties have doctor shortages.

A 2020 study estimated Tennessee will be short nearly 6,000 doctors by 2030 based on the state’s population growth.

“A lot more doctors are retiring than new ones are being produced to replace them, and there are a lot of bottlenecks,” Dr. Jeffrey Singer, a practicing surgeon and senior fellow at the Cato Institute said.

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Dr. Singer told News 2 the growing, aging population and the monopoly responsible for accrediting medical schools and residency programs are also to blame for the nation’s doctor shortage.

Meanwhile, many internationally-licensed and experienced doctors in the state were previously barred from practicing medicine until they repeated their residency training in the U.S.

“Some are motivated enough to do that, but that’s an awful big ask, especially having someone go back and be a student when they’re at the point in their career where they could be teaching students. They may be at this point older, they may have a family to support, so they end up doing different things,” Singer said. “Why are we letting this talent go to waste?”

Under Tennessee’s new law, certain international doctors are no longer required to repeat their residency training and are permitted to temporarily practice in the state under the supervision of a hospital with an accredited residency program for two years before being granted their unrestricted license. The physicians must have a certificate from a medical school with a curriculum found to be acceptable by the board, be in good standing with their country’s licensing board, completed a residency or similar post-graduate medical training program, practiced three out of the past five years, be a U.S. citizen, and fluent in English, among other requirements.

“These are qualified physicians who have proven their competency by serving in an approved medical institution as well as taking the exams,” Rep. Kumar (R-Springfield) said.

“These [laws] are a good way of taking advantage of talented people who are willing and able to provide health services to a population where the average wait time just to see a primary care physician for the first time in this country is about 26 days,” Dr. Singer said.

While the impact of the law depends on the number of international doctors who take advantage in Tennessee, Singer told News 2 the legislation has the ability to help the areas with the highest need.

“Experience has shown also that when you have doctors who have immigrated from other countries, obviously they follow demand, so if there is a big demand in a rural, underserved area, there’s more opportunity for them to find work too,” Singer said. “There will be a much greater opportunity for those underserved areas to get more healthcare providers in those areas.”

After Tennessee passed the legislation in 2023, many other states, including Alabama, Florida, and Virginia followed suit.

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During the same legislative session, Gov. Bill Lee also signed a law allowing medical school graduates who haven’t matched in residency programs to work as assistant physicians.

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