DOCTORS’ JOB MARKET IN THE US DURING TRUMP

DOCTORS’ JOB MARKET IN THE US IN THE TRUMP ERA – How do President Trump’s new policies affect doctors’ jobs in the US?

Recently, the US economy has experienced many significant changes, from tariff policy, diplomatic relations, to the deportation of illegal immigrants, and even cases of green card holders being deported.

In addition, the Trump administration also reduced human resources at government organizations and cut funding for graduate students and universities. In that chaotic context, many people, especially young Vietnamese doctors, cannot help but wonder about the demand for jobs in the US, especially in the medical industry.

“Will I be able to get a stable job after spending so much time, effort and money to study as a doctor, pursue the USMLE, and then go to America? Or with the current constant fluctuations, will I have to do manual jobs to make ends meet?”

These concerns are completely understandable, when policies change rapidly – sometimes high taxes, sometimes temporary suspension, sometimes demanding layoffs and then “as if there had never been a separation”. This causes confusion not only for the American people but also for many people around the world. The evidence is that the stock markets of many countries have experienced historical collapses and gold prices have continuously peaked due to investor concerns.

Of course, I am not an economic expert, politician or outstanding investor.

I’m just an ordinary American citizen, a family doctor working in a private clinic. With that perspective, I see that life in America today is still very stable and has many positive signs. The CPI inflation rate in the first quarter of 2025 is gradually decreasing, from 3.0% in January to 2.4% in March. Social order and safety are also improving, when the crime rate has decreased significantly thanks to more strict handling by the government.

Regarding human resource needs in the medical industry, working in a clinic gives me the opportunity to interact with many people from different backgrounds and social classes. My work is currently extremely stable, the number of patients coming to see me every day is still very large with no signs of decline.

My clinic is even recruiting more medical staff, from nurses to clinicians. As the head of the clinic, I am also trying my best to find suitable candidates, but the reality is that the supply of doctors is very limited compared to the great demand, making recruitment difficult.

This shows that employment opportunities, career development, and accompanying income in the health sector in the US remain incredibly stable, despite global economic and political fluctuations. This is also what makes me grateful every day to work in such an environment.

Honestly, no matter what time period or context, people’s health care needs come first, especially as the country develops and the more people have enough to eat, the more that need is paid attention to. Because of that, once I chose a career as a doctor in a developed country like the US, I felt extremely secure about stability when looking for a job.

In addition, as mentioned in the previous article, according to a report by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), the US is and will face a shortage of 13,500 to 86,000 doctors in the next 11 years (by 2036), especially in the field of primary care.

The main causes of this condition include:

• Population growth and aging: The US population is growing rapidly and aging, leading to increasing demand for health care.
• Retirement wave: About 20% of current doctors belonging to the baby boomer generation (born before 1960) are entering retirement age. In addition, 22% of doctors are aged 55-64, meaning nearly half of the current physician workforce will retire within the next 10 years.
• Training is long and expensive: The process of training doctors in the US takes a lot of time and money, causing the supply of young doctors to not keep up with demand.

These factors make the need for medical human resources more urgent than ever. Doctors, including those who have not completed a residency program or have stable jobs, constantly receive recruitment emails and messages from large and small medical companies across the country.

I myself am no exception. Just today, right before writing this article, I received 3 emails and 5 messages inviting me to work with extremely attractive offers: family doctor salary from $350,000 or more, with a $100,000 sign-on bonus (a signing bonus is very common in job offers for doctors, a way that companies often use to attract talent and show commitment to new employees), more In addition, there is relocation assistance, and student loan repayment support policy.

Such invitations are not new. I and my colleagues in the industry have continuously received them from President Trump’s previous term, through President Biden’s term, and now into Mr. Trump’s second term. Therefore, according to my own observations, I find that President Trump’s policies up to now have not had a significant impact on the demand for human resources in the healthcare industry in the US.

However, it cannot be denied that some doctors working at state agencies, public hospitals, research centers, community health centers, and public health agencies such as the CDC have been affected by downsizing policies and funding cuts. For example, some of my colleagues at organizations such as Veterans Affairs (VA) hospital – specializing in caring for veterans – have received notice of resignation.

But because the US healthcare system is mainly private, with only 15-20% of the healthcare workforce working for the public sector, equivalent to about 2.4-3.2 million people, so the number of cuts is extremely limited compared to the total medical workforce (16 million workers). Besides, these doctors, with their skills and work experience, will easily find jobs at private medical facilities with attractive salaries and benefits in the context of the current human resource shortage.

In short, despite the Trump administration’s disruptive policies in many areas, the healthcare industry in the US still maintains stability and strong growth.

With the increasing demand for human resources and limited supply of doctors, young doctors, those from Vietnam who want to pursue USMLE, can be completely assured about job opportunities in the US. This is a time when the medical profession is not only a stable career choice with a decent salary but also offers many long-term career development prospects.

Hopefully my sharing today will be useful to you.

Please comment “yes” if you like the article!

Dr. Christina Nguyen

Phoenix Medical Academy