Health Care News Bytes

The Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS) is opening three new exam centers in China, in addition to the current exam site in Beijing, beginning with the July 11, 2007 CGFNS Qualifying Exam.  The new exam centers will be in Shanghai , Guangzhou and Chengdu .

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Senators Harry Reid (D-NV) and Daniel Inouye (D-HI) have reintroduced a bill, which would require minimum nurse staffing ratios at certain Medicare providers.  The bill, S. 73, also known as the Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2007, requires that hospitals participating in the Medicare program create a staffing system to ensure that there is a certain number of registered nurses on each shift in order to provide appropriate levels of patient care.

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On February 21, 2007, Representatives Pat Haggerty (R-El Paso) and Garnet Coleman (D-Houston) introduced H. 1707, the Texas Hospital Patient Protection Act, which would require fewer hospital patients to be assigned to each registered nurse in hospitals in the Medicare program.

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On January 29, 2007, USCIS Associate Director Mike Aytes issued a memorandum to all USCIS Service Centers regarding the extension of the Conrad State 30 Program through the passage of Public Law 109-477.  The Service is directed to continue to process Conrad State 30 waivers through June 1, 2008.  

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On June 22, 2007, the Department of State published its proposed rule to change fees for the J-1 Exchange Visitor Program.  The new fees, which have not yet been determined, will affect applications for the designation and redesignation of exchange programs, the cost for applications and amendments to applications, change of program category, extension requests, and requests to update SEVIS status.  

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At a recent meeting, the USMLE Composite Committee reviewed its policy of requiring those who failed or did not complete a Step or Step Component and wish to retake it to do so no sooner than 60 days after the previous test date.  

Effective May 1, 2007, the 60-day waiting period between attempts at the same USMLE Step or Step Component will be eliminated.  However, an applicant’s result from a prior attempt must be available before he or she can reapply. 

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ECFMG has announced that it will change the way eligibility periods for USMLE Step 1 and Step 2 CK are assigned. These changes will take effect for applicants who submit an application on or after May 1, 2007. 

When an applicant applies for Step 1 or Step 2 CK, he or she must choose a three-month period, such as January-February-March, February-March-April, etc., during which to take the exam. This three-month period is referred to as the eligibility period. 

Previously, ECFMG had to receive a complete application at least one month in advance of the eligibility period selected.  Now, applications do not need to be received in advance of an eligibility period to obtain that eligibility period. To select and obtain an eligibility period: 

- ECFMG must receive the complete application by the 24th day of that eligibility period, AND the application must be processed by ECFMG by the 25th day of that eligibility period. 

This policy change does not affect the way eligibility periods for Step 2 CS are assigned. When an applicant is registered for Step 2 CS, he or she is assigned a 12-month eligibility period that begins on the date that the processing of the application is completed.  

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According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), President Bush’s 2008 budget proposal would eliminate almost $180 million from programs meant to train and educate healthcare professionals.  $44 million would be taken from the Nursing Workforce Development programs.  $135 million would be cut from other programs that train healthcare professionals, such as the Advanced Education Nursing Program.  

While this budget does hurt these training programs, the budget also proposes to increase funding by $13 million for loan repayment and scholarship programs for healthcare professionals.  

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A new website launched by the University of North Dakota Center for Rural Health displays the latest research findings by federal Rural Health Research Centers. Featured topics include access to care, health care quality, Medicare and Medicaid, critical access hospitals, health information technology and workforce. The site, which is funded by the Department of Health and Human Services, can be found at http://www.ruralhealthresearch.org/.  

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According to a survey conducted by the Health Resources and Services Administration, the number of licensed registered nurses in the U.S. grew by 7.9% between 2000 and 2004, to an estimated 2.9 million.  More than 83% of licensed registered nurses were employed in nursing in 2004, the highest rate since 1980.

The complete survey can be viewed at http://www.bhpr.hrsa.gov/healthworkforce/reports/rnpopulation/preliminaryfindings.htm.

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ECFMG is advising international medical graduates who need to pass Step 2 Clinical Skills (CS) of the USMLE in order to participate in the 2008 Match (in March 2008) to register as soon as possible for Step 2 CS. As of May 2007, the earliest test date available at a testing center was in September 2007.  

According to the 2007 Step 2 Clinical Skills Schedule for Reporting Results, those who do not take Step 2 CS by December 31, 2007, will not have their results available in time to participate in the 2008 Match.

ECFMG is offering this advice since demand for the Step 2 CS exam is expected to be especially high during the second half of 2007 and test sessions at all test centers may be subject to scheduling restrictions that limit the number of test dates available.  

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On July 23, 2007, Senator Jeff Sessions (R-AL) proposed amendment S.AMDT.2374 to Senate bill S.1642, whose purpose is to "amend the provisions of the Higher Education Act of 1965 regarding graduate medical schools located outside of the United States ".  Specifically, the amendment proposes to provide federal funding to foreign medical schools to help augment the U.S. supply of physicians in order to address the physician shortage in the U.S.  

One of the provisions of the amendment would require that for a school to receive financial aid, it must show that 75 percent of its graduates pass the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates' Examination.  Under current law, in order to qualify for aid, the school must show that 60 percent of its graduates pass the exam.  This requirement would go into effect in two years time.  

The amendment passed in the Senate on July 23.  

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In July, the US Senate passed a bipartisan resolution praising Muslim-American physicians who condemned the terrorist acts in the United Kingdom .  In early July, acts of terrorism were attempted at Glasgow Airport in Scotland and in London . The terrorists are alleged to have been Muslim physicians.  

The Senate resolution condemns the recent attempted attacks and encourages all Muslim voices in the United States and abroad to continue speaking out against terrorism.  The resolution also praises the Islamic Medical Association of North America for their public condemnation of the attacks.

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According to a survey of 44 states conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the new law requiring all Medicaid applicants to present proof of U.S. citizenship has led to a decline in Medicaid eligibility.  

However, according to the study, most of this decline is not due to illegal immigrants being unable to qualify for Medicaid.  Rather, the decline is attributed to U.S. citizens being unable to provide documentation of their citizenship.  

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The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has announced that it will partner with 12 nursing schools over the next three years in order to establish a nursing school to address the nursing shortage.  

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Effective June 14, 2007, Michigan has changed its nurse licensing procedures for international applicants.   

The CGFNS Certification Program Certificate (CP) is no longer the requirement for initial licensure for internationally-educated Registered Nurses (RNs) in Michigan . Michigan now requires the CGFNS Credentials Evaluation Service (CES) Full Education Course-by-Course Report for internationally educated RNs and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) applying for licensure, who have not been licensed in another US jurisdiction for at least 5 years. Although the CGFNS Certification Program (CP) Certificate is no longer the requirement for RNs, the Michigan Board of Nursing will continue to accept CP as an alternative to the CES.  

Michigan also has an English language proficiency requirement for applicants who graduated from a nursing program that was taught in a language other than English. The CGFNS CES Report prepared on behalf of internationally-educated RNs must be accompanied by the CGFNS English Language Proficiency Report, which reports the passing English scores of the applicant. LPNs have the option of either selecting the CGFNS English Proficiency Report or having their passing English scores forwarded directly to the Michigan Board of Nursing.  

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The Canadian Nursing Association recently issued a report outlining the importance of foreign nurses in Canada ’s healthcare workforce.  Like the U.S. , Canada also has a nursing shortage, and like the U.S. , Canada has taken steps to try to remedy this issue by increasing the number of admissions at Canadian nursing schools and improving working conditions in order to retain more nurses.  However, unlike the U.S. , Canada has also declared that immigration is a vital method of ensuring that there is an adequate number of nurses in the country.  

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As stated in the 2007 USMLE Bulletin of Information, the USMLE program has increased the limit on attempts for computer-based examinations.  Examinees are now permitted up to four attempts at the same computer-based examination (Step 1, Step 2 CK and Step 3) in any 12-month period.

For Step 2 CS only, the limit on attempts will remain at no more than three attempts in any 12-month period.

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The ECFMG 2008 Information Booklet and examination application materials are
now available online at www.ecfmg.org.

For Step 1/Step 2 CK, applicants can use the 2008 materials to apply for Step 1/Step 2 CK eligibility periods ending in 2007 and all Step 1/Step 2 CK eligibility periods ending in 2008.

For Step 2 CS, applicants can use the 2008 application to obtain a 12-month
eligibility period that begins on the date that the processing of the application is completed.  

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Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has proposed an amendment to H.R. 3043.  The amendment would create a scholarship issued by the National Science Foundation for eligible individuals to pursue degrees in math, engineering, computer science and health care[GHS1] .  Under the amendment, the H-1B Visa program would include an additional $3,500 fee, which would support an "American Competitiveness Scholarship" program.  These merit-based scholarships will provide $15,000 for undergraduate or graduate education per student per year for up to four years. Under the proposed legislation, the number of H-1B visas granted each year would climb from 65,000 to 115,000 or 180,000, which would provide between $400 and $630 million for the scholarship each year.

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