But now the doctor, on a fellowship at a Boston hospital, is facing a new anxiety: that new immigration restrictions could make it harder for him to stay in the country.
Satiya is one of thousands of foreign doctors who came to the United States on a visa that recently landed in the Trump administration's crosshairs.
A proposed rule could make it more difficult to renew J-1 exchange visitor visas, which allow scholars, doctors and others to live temporarily in the US while they study or receive training.
On the surface, it may sound like a small bureaucratic move. But Satiya and organizations representing doctors across the country warn it could affect medical care for Americans at a time when the country needs resources to fight the coronavirus pandemic.
For Satiya, 30, who grew up in India and came to the US in 2016, it also throws his immediate future in the US into jeopardy.
"You are anxious, you are nervous, you're stressful," Satiya said about waiting to see what happens with his visa. "But you know, you keep on doing what you're doing. You go to work every day ... you see your patients ... and you just hope for the best."
What the visa change would do
Satiya is one of about 12,000 doctors who are foreign nationals in the United States on a J-1 visa, according to the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG). Visitors on J-1 visas are admitted to the US for the length of their training program -- for doctors, it's typically a one-year contract at a hospital, renewed annually for the duration of their residency.
When physicians on J-1 visas complete their competency reviews and get their contracts extended for another year, they then apply for visa renewal through the ECFMG.
But under the proposed rule, the annual visa renewal would require an additional step -- applying through US Customs and Immigration Services. That processing time could take 5 to 19 months, according to the USCIS website, and interrupt doctors' ability to continue working at their hospitals.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees USCIS, says the change is needed for federal officials to more closely monitor these visitors while they are in the US to address "a potential for increased risk to national security."
"This regulatory change, which will establish a fixed period of admission for F, J and I nonimmigrants, aims to help DHS enforce our nation's immigration laws and promptly detect national security concerns, while protecting the integrity of these nonimmigrant programs," a DHS spokesperson said in a statement.
The ECFMG and other major medical organizations around the country have asked the DHS to make an exception for medical trainees.
The DHS is seeking public comments on the rule and has received more than 23,000 of them so far.
Some argue the rule would protect American jobs
Foreign med-school graduates like Satiya go through an extensive selection process to get their positions in the US, providing the talent and expertise President Trump has said he wants in the country's immigrants.
