Earlier this year, as President Donald Trump was beginning to reshape the American government, Michael, an emergency room doctor who was born, raised, and trained in the United States, packed up his family and got out.
Michael now works in a small-town hospital in Canada. KFF Health News and NPR granted him anonymity because of fears he might face reprisal from the Trump administration if he returns to the U.S. He said he feels some guilt that he did not stay to resist the Trump agenda but is assured in his decision to leave. Too much of America has simply grown too comfortable with violence and cruelty, he said.
The irony is when we get over this we’ll likely end up replacing our American-born doctors with immigrants to replace all the people lost.
That was true pre-Trump. Now? All bets are off. And frankly, I will look down on a new foreign medical doctor now, not because I think the quality of care sucks. But because in my mind I would be thinking “what kind of dumb fuck wants to move here right now?”