Visalaw Healthcare Immigration Blog

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Administrator of North Carolina Conrad Waiver Program has Passed Away

Siskind Susser has learned that Wanda Green, the J-1 waiver administrator for the state's Conrad 30 program, passed away unexpectedly. We have not heard yet what the status of the North Carolina program is.

# posted by Greg Siskind @ 11:29 AM

DC Facing Primary Care Doctor Shortage

The Washington Post reports that of more than 8000 physicians in Washington, DC, only 453 are primary care doctors seeing patients for more than 20 hours per week. Health care officials are worried that the targeted 25,000 increase in those receiving health insurance in the capital city under the ACA will have difficulty finding primary care physicians.

# posted by Greg Siskind @ 6:59 AM

Monday, January 13, 2014

Eight Physician Shortage Statistics

Becker's Hospital Review has a nice article providing a quickie explanation for the country's physician shortage (which is behind why physician immigration reform is so needed). In short, we face a shrinking supply of doctors, a growing demand and a stagnant physician training infrastructure.

# posted by Greg Siskind @ 12:27 PM

Sunday, January 12, 2014

90% of New J-1 Doctors Arriving on Time

This is glass half-full or glass half-empty, depending on how you see things. A recent article on ECFMG's web site notes that the National Resident Matching Program has moved to an "all in" match which requires GME programs to make all slots part of the match. In the past, GME programs set aside some slots and could offer them to IMGs (American graduates were not allowed to apply for these set aside slots). IMGs often took these positions because they could get a head start on visa filing.

NRMP officials have not been happy about this for some time, but after 9/11 they were concerned about visa delays and decided to put off making a change. But apparently the visa issues are no longer a major problem which is why the new policy was finally implemented. According to ECFMG:

“ECFMG® data averaged over the last five appointment years (academic years beginning 2007-2011) show that 90 percent of IMGs approved for J-1 visas were able to begin training on time. With such a high percentage of ‘on-time’ arrivals, an exception to the All-In policy is not warranted.”

That 1 in 10 who aren't getting here on time is concerning. How late are they arriving? Why are they not getting their visas on time? Are some not getting the visa at all? How difficult is it on the program and the doctor when a physician arrives late for training?

# posted by Greg Siskind @ 3:57 PM

Friday, January 3, 2014

CGFNS Publishes Study on Foreign Nurse Career Satisfaction

The Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools has released a report in the American Journal of Nursing entitled "Perceptions of Employment-Based Discrimination Among Newly Arrived Foreign-Educated Nurses. According to CGFNS:

The findings of a study conducted to determine whether foreign-educated nurses (FENs) perceived they were treated equitably in the U.S. workplace during the last period of high international recruitments (2003-2007) will be published in the January 2014 issue of American Journal of Nursing, Vol. 114, No. 1. Co-authors included Franklin A. Shaffer, EdD, RN, FAAN and CEO of CGFNS International, Inc. and Catherine R. Davis, PhD, RN, Director of Global Learning, Research and Development for CGFNS International.

FEN respondents reported relatively high levels of job satisfaction. Yet FENs who perceived workplace discrimination were significantly less likely to report job satisfaction. FENs recruited by staffing agencies reported much higher levels of perceived discrimination with regard to salary and benefits compared with all other FENs. They were also more likely to report perceived discrimination in shift or unit assignments.

Overall, 40% of the FENS in this study perceived their wages, benefits, or shift or unit assignments to be inferior to those of their American colleagues. About a third of all respondents reported that they had not received sufficient orientation to life in the United States from their employers or recruiters or placement agencies. A similar proportion reported receiving insufficient orientation to the culture of their patient populations from health care employers. About a fifth of all respondents reported insufficient clinical orientation to their new workplaces. The majority of the respondents were educated in the Philippines, India and Canada.

“These findings raise both practical and ethical concerns that should be of interest to those striving to create positive workplace environments. Health care leaders should take steps to ensure that FENs are treated equitably and that the FEN's perception is one of being treated equitably,” said Franklin A. Shaffer, EdD, RN, FAAN, and CEO, CGFNS International.

# posted by Greg Siskind @ 8:27 PM