Foreign Doctors Fill Gap In U.S. Health Care

Doctor” by Hamza Butt licensed under CC BY 2.0

Source: Health News

The International Medical Graduate Program at UCLA is improving opportunities for foreign doctors while filling a gap in medical care within the U.S.

The program essentially placed Spanish-speaking doctors in primary care roles to help fill the gap in Spanish-speaking doctors that are serving more than 4 million patients. This programs is helping to improve employment rates for foreign-trained doctors, which face many obstacles in obtaining special licenses to practice in the U.S., despite having the same credentials as a U.S.-born doctor.

Since the program was established in 2006, more than 120 doctors have participated in the placement program which helps doctors prepare for the exams to obtain licenses to practice in the U.S. in exchange for agreeing to serve low-income or underserved communities.

This program helps meet the needs of the millions of Spanish-speaking Latino patients living in California and could improve the number of Latino doctors serving California, which is currently only 4 percent of all licensed doctors.

Read Full Story: Health News

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