Summary: GAO discussed its November 1980 report on U.S. citizens studying medicine abroad. To gather information for its report, GAO visited six foreign medical schools in the Caribbean, Mexico, and Europe and obtained information on admission standards, curriculum content, and faculty credentials. Because many U.S. citizen foreign medical school students obtained part or all of their undergraduate clinical training in U.S. hospitals, GAO visited nine hospitals in three states and reviewed the clinical training programs offered U.S. citizen foreign medical school students. GAO found that: (1) none of the foreign medical schools it visited offered a medical education comparable to that available in the United States because of deficiencies in admission requirements, facilities and equipment, faculty, curriculum, or clinical training; and (2) the type, length, and extent of undergraduate clinical training received by U.S. citizen foreign medical school students at most U.S. hospitals it visited varied greatly and generally was not comparable to that provided to U.S. medical school students. GAO also commented on: (1) the methods that U.S. citizens educated at foreign medical schools can use to practice medicine in the United States; (2) the difficulty state licensing boards have in assessing the adequacy of a candidate's medical education; and (3) the federal financing assistance available for U.S. citizens studying medicine abroad. GAO recommended that: (1) more appropriate mechanisms be developed to ensure that all students who attend foreign medical schools demonstrate that their medical knowledge and skills are comparable to those of their U.S.-trained counterparts; and (2) steps be taken to address the difficulties associated with the practice of U.S. citizen foreign medical school students receiving part or all of their undergraduate clinical training in U.S. hospitals. GAO noted that a new examination has been created for foreign-trained medical students seeking a graduate medical education or licensure in the United States and a few states have taken actions to assess the quality of training candidates received in some foreign medical schools and in their undergraduate clinical training in U.S. hospitals.
