How the Vietnam War helped more Indian doctors migrate to the US in 1970s
Meenakshi Ahamed
28 December, 2024 12:00 pm IST
Representational image | A severe doctor shortage arose in the US as the army drained away medical graduates, necessitating doctors from overseas to fill the gap | Wikimedia Commons
When Deepak Chopra, who today is internationally recognized as one of the leaders of the integrative approach to medicine, arrived in New Jersey in 1970 fresh out of medical school in India, he got a firsthand introduction to the situation. “When I walked into the ER for my first shift,” he recalled, “the doctors who showed me my locker and gave me a tour of the acute facilities were not Americans.
There was one German, but the rest had Asian faces like mine, from India, Pakistan, the Philippines, and Korea… What had brought so many foreign doctors together was the Vietnam War. A severe doctor shortage had arisen as the army drained away medical graduates while other young men, who might have wanted to become doctors, were drafted to fight.”
War had added an additional layer of stress on the health care system. During the Vietnam War, the shortage of men in the labor force had become a cause for concern. More than 9 million Americans—mostly men—served on active duty between 1961 and 1975.
Medical personnel were needed in the war effort, adding to the shortage of available doctors for civilians. Thanks to advances in medical care on the frontlines, many more soldiers were surviving their injuries. Seventy-five thousand severely disabled veterans returned to the United States, many of whom would need years of continuing care, increasing the pressure on an already overwhelmed health care system.
American Defense
