When Healers Can’t Heal: The Tragedy of Afghan Medical Refugees

Before getting into today's topic, I'd like to let you know I've been invited to speak at the Center for Inquiry on Sunday, September 21st, at 11 AM about the topic: When Animals Hold the Key to Human Survival. Come hear why climate change is pushing disease-carrying animals into new territories, urbanization is bringing us closer to wildlife, and factory farming is breeding superbugs that laugh at our best antibiotics. CFI is a pro-science organization fighting fringe science, pseudoscience, and paranormal beliefs with founders who include Carl Sagan and Isaac Asimov.

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When Healers Can’t Heal: The Tragedy of Afghan Medical Refugees

Today, about 4,000 Afghan healthcare workers live as refugees in the United States. They are doctors, nurses, and medics who trained in Afghanistan and worked side-by-side with our own military for nearly two decades. When the war ended and the US pulled out, the Taliban branded them as traitors. They had to flee for their lives, often taking dangerous, roundabout routes to reach safety in America.

As the death toll in Afghanistan rises from the recent earthquake, all these providers can do is watch as their homeland suffers. The helplessness is crushing.

Dr. Marius Koga is a psychiatrist and public health professor at UC Davis who works closely with the Afghan community. He paints a stark picture of the healthcare crisis back in Afghanistan, which already had one of the lowest ratios of doctors to patients:

"Lots of women died because the cultural norms and religious norms imposed by the Taliban do not allow male doctor to female patient care."

Other factors also limit the training of doctors:

"With the return of the Taliban, there was a ban on the female education beyond the 6th grade. So no more medical education, no more producing doctors, 3000 doctors who had to take their exit exam were banned to take their exams. So there is a huge shortage not only of doctors but of female doctors."

For the refugee health providers, frustration comes on two fronts. These skilled healthcare professionals desperately want to help — but it’s too dangerous to go back. And we’re not letting them practice health care in America, either. Their Afghan medical training isn’t recognized here. Of course, their training standards are different from ours, but that doesn’t mean they’re worthless.

This “de-skilling” of highly skilled immigrants has a human cost. These men and women were respected leaders in their communities. Now many drive for Uber, carrying profound shame and depression.

So, all the skills are going down the drain when they are needed here, given our own shortage of healthcare providers.

I’m not suggesting we just hand out medical licenses. We need to ensure doctors, dentists, pharmacists, and nurses meet our scientific, clinical, and cultural standards. But completely ignoring these healthcare workers? That's a massive missed opportunity.

We could be retraining these clinicians with additional skills so they can serve patients right here. Sure, it’s not the same as having them help in Afghanistan during a natural disaster like this earthquake — but that’s not happening given the danger. However, it’s time we stop throwing away the expertise we desperately need and honor their skill set.

– Dr. Michael Wilkes with a Second Opinion