About The Study: The number of surgeons sponsored for H-1B visas increased over the past decade, reaching more than 650 in a single year in FY2024. Although H-1B–sponsored surgeons represent a small fraction of the national surgical workforce, they are overrepresented in underserved communities. For example, the percentage of H-1B–sponsored surgeons was more than twice as high in rural compared with urban counties and more than 4 times as high in the most vs least impoverished counties.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Thomas C. Tsai, MD, MPH, email ttsai@bwh.harvard.edu .
(doi:10.1001/jamasurg.2026.0484)
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JAMA Surgery