Kellie Schmitt

Kern's physicians come from many far-flung corners of the globe. Dr. Carlo Amazona originally from the Philippines shares how his experience growing up with no doctor made him becoming one.

Dr. Elyzabat Tadros shares her journey to become a doctor from her native Sudan to her current home in Bakersfield.

Kern's physicians come from many far-flung corners of the globe. This piece takes a look at several compelling personal journeys.

Jesse Cottrell is a fourth-year medical student who decided to attend the American University of the Caribbean for a simple reason: "I couldn't get into a U.S. school."

Concerns about the quality of Caribbean-educated students aren't completely unsubstantiated. A 2010 study published in Health Affairs examined mortality rates of nearly 250,000 hospitalizations. The patients of foreign-born international medical graduates had the lowest patient death rates while U.S. citizens who study abroad had the highest rates -- a difference authors called "striking."

Kellie Schmitt reports on a Caribbean medical school that recently agreed to pay Kern Medical Center $35 million to have its students train at the cash-strapped county hospital. Some see this as one way to help solve the U.S. shortage of primary care physicians. Others worry because Caribbean medical schools don't receive the same accreditation as their U.S counterparts.

This year, there were 26,772 residency positions in the United States and just 19,230 U.S. medical school graduates to fill them.