While foreign-trained nurses have established a foothold in Rhode Island only recently, the state has a long history of welcoming foreign doctors. They include some of the area’s most prominent physicians, such as Dr. Arun K. Singh, the Indian-educated cardiac surgeon who operated on Sue Carcieri, the governor’s wife.

Many of the foreign doctors working in Rhode Island today are recipients of J-1 visas through a program that brings foreign doctors to areas with shortages. The state has handed out approximately 220 J-1 visas since the program began in 1994. A 2004 study of the physician work force in Rhode Island found that 10 percent of newly arriving doctors were coming through the J-1 visa program.

To get a J-1 visa, a doctor has to complete an accredited U.S. residency training program and then pledge to work in a “shortage area” for three years. After the three years, J-1 recipients can apply for a green card and seek permanent employment.

In Rhode Island, J-1 visas go to doctors specializing in primary care, including obstetrics and psychiatry, as well anesthesiologists and radiologists. Preference is given to doctors who speak Spanish, and who work for community health centers, community mental-health centers, state agencies and academic medical centers.

Last year, J-1 visas were awarded to doctors from Malaysia, the Philippines, Jordan, Ecuador and Chile. In 2006, there were three from Egypt, two each from Pakistan and India, with the rest divided among Poland, Turkey, Venezuela and several other countries.

Among the places where these doctors have gone to work are the Providence Community Health Center, Hasbro Children’s Hospital, Miriam Hospital, University Medicine Foundation and the Renaissance Medical Group.

— FELICE J. FREYER