Jonathan Tyes once struggled to imagine a future in medicine for himself. A first-generation college student and the oldest of 10 siblings, Tyes was raised by his grandparents in Cleveland. While studying biology at Morehouse College, he was a few credits from graduation when his grandmother died.
Grief and financial hardship threatened to end both his education and his dream of becoming the first physician in his family. Instead, he spent years rebuilding his path. He worked throughout school, served those in need as a community health worker, completed medical mission trips to Ghana, became a registered pharmacy technician, and refused to abandon his goal of practicing medicine.
Eventually, as a non-traditional student in his mid-thirties, he got into medical school. Though his family faced homelessness, gun violence, and other tribulations throughout his education, he stayed the course. Financial support from our organization, National Medical Fellowships (NMF), helped him remain enrolled and continue his training.
Now, Tyes is an anesthesiology resident at the University of Buffalo, while at the same time pursuing a master of public health degree at Harvard. His story is a testament to perseverance—but it is also a warning. America cannot afford to lose future physicians like Tyes.
The health care workforce emergency that experts have warned about for years is no longer approaching—it is here. Over the next decade, the U.S. is projected to face a shortage of more than 700,000 health care professionals, including physicians, registered nurses, and licensed practical nurses. At the same time, countries such as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, and the United Arab Emirates are actively recruiting U.S.-trained clinicians through streamlined licensing pathways, placing additional pressure on an already strained workforce.
The consequences are being felt in every community. Whether you live in a rural town in Alabama or a high-rise in Manhattan, chances are you have experienced the shortage firsthand. You may have waited months for a pediatric appointment, spent hours in an emergency department hallway with an aging parent, or postponed care for your own chronic condition because the next available appointment was too far in the future.
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