Fewer foreign doctors are coming to study in the United States, report shows

Fearing he would die if he stayed, Mohamed fled the civil war in his home country of Syria, heading to Saudi Arabia where he spent six years working as a physician. While there, Mohamed worked toward his goal of coming to the United States to train.

He aced the U.S. exams required of all physicians and scored an interview with a New York hospital. Officials there were so impressed that they offered Mohamed a spot in their residency program that day.

But when President Donald Trump instituted an executive order barring Syrians from coming to the United States, Mohamed's chances of working in New York diminished.

"I did everything required to get the license in a formal way, and in a legal way, so I can start my training like any international physician who wants to complete his certification in the United States," said Mohamed, who asked not to use his last name for fear of affecting his visa