| Restrictions Eased
on Foreigners Trained in U.S. as Physicians Georgia healthcare facilities will benefit from two new initiatives allowing foreign nationals trained as doctors in the United States to remain for three years, post-residency, if they agree to work in medically under-served areas, according to Karen Weinstock, an Atlanta immigration attorney. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Ms. Weinstock told GlobalFax, announced last month the start of a program, which will provide J-1 visas to foreign primary care physicians who have completed residencies here and agree to work in under-served hospitals and clinics in the U.S. Congress also recently passed legislation increasing from 20 to 30 the number of foreign doctors trained in the U.S. each state can contract with, immediately following completion of residency, to work in medically under-served areas. Already, a Dalton clinic, a client of Ms. Weinstock's law firm, Siskind Susser Haas & Devine LLP, has contracted with a doctor from Syria to work at the facility, which has had great difficulty in attracting a physician in the last year, Ms. Weinstock said. She added however, that although the initiatives are an overall improvement, they fall short of addressing the tremendous healthcare shortages faced by many rural areas in the U.S., particularly in large states such as California, Texas and to a lesser degree, Georgia. The programs also apply only to primary care physicians, a category that includes general care practitioners, obstetrician-gynecologists and medical internists. As a result, medically under-served areas remain without access to medical specialists, including cardiologists and radiologists, Ms. Weinstock explained. For more information, contact Ms. Weinstock at (404) 239-9299. Source: Anoushka Leahy for GlobalAtlanta | ||
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