Legislator: WHO, other int’l groups to have bigger say on foreign MDs working in NC
It appears the, um, *honorables* in The General Assembly are increasing the amount of influence foreigners have over your and your loved ones’ health care:
Yesterday, we reported that the North Carolina General Assembly has quietly pried open a back door to our medical system — and they’re calling it “progress.”
In a video posted to X yesterday, Rep. Dr. Grant Campbell, co- sponsor of North Carolina’s new HB67 law, stated clearly what critics feared: the state will now rely on the World Health Organization (WHO) and its affiliated global agencies to vet foreign-trained doctors.
Not the U.S. government.
Not the gold standards that have governed American medicine for decades. […]
Recently, the U.S. withdrew from the WHO, citing its COVID-19 failures, involvement with the CCP, political bias, and unfair costs. The president redirected global health efforts to domestic control.
Foreign physicians seeking work in North Carolina will now be assessed under a global framework designed mainly for inclusion, not patient safety and excellence.
That’s not speculation. That’s the plan.
“These doctors have to graduate through a medical school recognized by the World Federation of Medical Education,” and pass an exam in their home country. Campbell said in his announcement. The program will have “international oversight,” he admits.
He added that training and tests approved by another WHO partner – International Association of Regulatory Authorities – will be accepted. Doctors from countries like Pakistan, Sudan, Gaza, Syria, Libya, and Lebanon—places with vastly different medical training, oversight, and regulatory environments will now have access to North Carolina’s clinics and hospitals.
And after just four years of employment, they’ll qualify for full, unrestricted licenses to practice anywhere in the state for less than American doctors.
The WHO Is Now in Charge
Under HB67, North Carolina has effectively outsourced control of its physician standards to international bodies. The WFME, which works under the WHO’s guidance, will determine whether a medical school qualifies. Foreign applicants will take exams approved by the International Association of Medical Regulatory Authorities (IAMRA), another WHO-aligned organization.
These are not American standards. They are international ones, built for inclusion and DEI, not safety.
Why is this happening?
Because, as Dr. Campbell and other lawmakers argue, there’s a doctor shortage in rural areas.
Rather than expand residency slots for U.S.-trained doctors, many of whom remain unmatched due to systemic underfunding, legislators brought in a cheaper alternative.
And let’s be clear: it is cheaper. Foreign-trained doctors will not only enter the workforce without U.S. residency training or having passed the USMLE, they’ll also do so at lower pay.
Hospitals and insurance companies will get richer.
That’s the entire business model.
Two Tiers of Doctors—And One Gets Special Treatment
HB67 introduces an entirely new tier of medical licensing. While American-trained doctors must complete grueling multi-step exams and years of U.S. or Canadian residency, foreign physicians entering under HB67 face no such requirements.
They get a provisional license almost immediately. If they avoid criminal charges or disciplinary actions for four years, they receive a full license—without ever having met U.S. standards.
In practice, this means they’ll soon be eligible to work in major hospitals, urban clinics, and private practices, competing directly with fully credentialed American doctors. They won’t just stay in rural areas. They will move—and they will replace U.S. doctors, because they are cheaper to hire.
This isn’t a theory. It’s what the bill allows, and what hospital systems will almost certainly do. […]
A Weak Watchdog: The North Carolina Medical Board
The body tasked with overseeing this program, the North Carolina Medical Board (NCMB), has proven itself utterly unfit for the task.
A damning 2023 state audit found that the Board withheld information on more than 95% of its investigations. That secrecy shrouded serious misconduct, including cases involving violent criminal behavior and sexual assault.
One physician continued practicing while under indictment for assaulting a patient. Another doctor convicted of battery kept his license with barely a slap on the wrist.
This is not a board that holds doctors accountable. […]
It doesn’t protect the public. It protects hospitals, insurance companies, and itself.
Now this same board is expected to evaluate the credentials and safety of foreign-trained doctors from countries where records may be spotty, oversight is nonexistent, and accountability can be politically manipulated?
This would be hilarious if patients’ lives weren’t at stake. But they are, and North Carolina is in trouble.
If the Board won’t discipline domestic doctors for criminal behavior, how can it possibly scrutinize international training programs and credentials?
The truth is, it won’t. It will rubber-stamp what the WHO or WFME tells it.
Doctors Speak Out
Many physicians across the country are sounding the alarm.
“This is a complete betrayal of the people of North Carolina,” tweeted Dr. Clayton Forrester. “They’re now at greater risk of dying from incompetent and under-trained foreign doctors.”
Orthopaedic surgeon and former NFL doctor Dr. Robert Berry wrote:
“HB67 allows foreign-trained docs to practice without completing a U.S. residency or passing the USMLE. Training is very different in other countries. I think this puts patients at risk.”
[…]
Dr. Sanat Dixit, a U.S.-trained neurosurgeon originally from India, added:
“Practicing medicine is a privilege. Actions like this denigrate the profession and devalue our licensure. This is bad for U.S. healthcare because it’s bad for U.S. doctors.”
[…]
North Carolinians Lose Control Over Their Own Care
What HB67 really represents is a loss of control, local control.
North Carolina patients will no longer know if their doctor was trained in the U.S. or simply approved by a global body with no obligation to American safety standards. There will be no label, no warning, no explanation.
Just two people in a room: a vulnerable patient, and a doctor whose qualifications may have never passed U.S. review.
And when something goes wrong, when a mistake is made, or lives are lost, who will be held accountable? A WHO committee in Geneva? The IAMRA board in London?
No.
It will be too late. And the North Carolina Medical Board, if history is any guide, will be silent.
A Warning to Other States
Make no mistake: this will not stop in North Carolina. Legislators and hospital lobbies in other states are watching. HB67 is the test case for a national shift. If the public doesn’t push back now, the same shortcuts and outsourcing will spread.
At the center of it all is Dr. Grant Campbell, a licensed physician and elected official, openly admitting that North Carolina is replacing American standards with international ones designed for access, not excellence.
This law is not about solving a doctor shortage. It’s about importing a cheaper workforce, cutting corners on oversight, and gambling with patient safety.
North Carolinians didn’t vote to hand medical licensing to the World Health Organization.
But that’s what they got.
And unless other states take notice, they may be next.
In North Carolina, being a citizen makes us second class citizens. Thanks for nothing NCGA.
ECU’s med school was approved on the basis of ‘rural doctors’ being trained and educated?
Has their charter, direction, mission and purpose changed?
ECU was not to compete with Duke, UNC; those schools were already traditioned and steeped in national and international development and training.
Perhaps ECU’s school needs to expand for rural needs?
We, in rural NC are supposed to be delighted and grateful for subpar care? Hell, we already have that in spades. No thank you. The REAL CAUSE OF OUR DISASTROUS HEALTHCARE IN RURAL NC IS NEVER ADDRESSED. CON LAWS.
Rural Healthcare is and has been in CRISIS for years. The current NCGA is offering us a solution that we create more problems.
The restrictive CON laws are solely responsible! When I ran a bill to restrict CON Laws, it was slapped down. Quickly. My own party stabbed me in the back. When I had a bill to destroy the CON Laws…that one never saw the light of day. It’s pay to play in the NCGA. The hospital lobbyists have money and are willing to share.
Thank you Larry Pittman and Michael Speciale for having my six! You 2 are the BEST.
Yes they are.
I recently was in ICU.Gall.bladder emergency. I could not pronounce any names?? Floor attendants no speak English. It is a tragedy that the pockets are so deep for lobbyists and all involved with this undeserving of our health. It’s no wonder the best are leaving .
The insurance company is another FALLACY.KEEP ON PUTTING THIS OUT.
The GOP legislature and its appointees have made a mess of our medical system. All our medical schools, especially the UNC medical schools, are rabidly woke. Now we’re importing foreign doctors with questionable credentials. Sad state of affairs.
Is lowering the standard of care, the answer to any problem?
I thought Medicaid expansion was bad.