Practice patterns of international and US medical graduate psychiatrists

Objective: The practice patterns of international medical graduate (IMG) an d U.S. medical graduate (USMG) psychiatrists were compared. Method: Using d ata from the 1996 National Survey of Psychiatric Practice, the authors comp ared IMGs and USMGs in terms of demographic characteristics, practice setti ngs, patients' clinical characteristics, and sources of reimbursement. Resu lts: The IMGs surveyed tended to be older than USMGs, included a higher pro portion of women, and were more racially heterogeneous. They worked longer hours, worked more frequently in the public sector, and treated a higher pr oportion of patients with psychotic disorders. The IMGs also received a hig her percentage of their income than USMGs from Medicaid and Medicare, where as the reverse was true of self-payment. Most of these differences remained significant after psychiatrist's age, gender, race, board certification, a nd work setting were controlled for. Conclusions: IMG and USMG psychiatrist s have different practice patterns. Policies that substantially decrease th e number of IMG, psychiatrists may adversely affect the availability of psy chiatrists to treat minorities and other underserved populations.