"I acknowledge that as a physician, I am overall financially secure. However, after jumping over multiple extra hurdles to prove myself throughout my medical career, I couldn't help but feel I have been handicapped financially compared to my non-immigrant colleagues. While others are being celebrated for bridging the healthcare gap in rural areas, I have been "punished" to a later start in life.

There is only one primary care physician for every 2,500 patients in rural America, compared to one for every 1,800 in urban regions. Foreign-born physicians are vital in many isolated, rural communities in the U.S. Offering loan repayment or forgiveness options to providers like me is not just a matter of fairness but a necessary step to mitigate provider shortage in underserved areas."

Zed Zha is a family physician.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "Stop financially handicapping non-citizen physicians."

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