I am an international medical graduate, and I have been working in
an underserved region of the United States for the last 5 years
("More Residency Slots Required to Meet Needs," Sept. 15,
2007, p. 42).
I know several IMGs who were working in their countries as MDs but
after arriving in this country did not take the steps or did not pass
the test, but would be happy to work as physician assistants.
Many of these doctors are married and have already completed
residency programs in their countries; that means that most of them had
6 years of pregraduate studies and 3 years of postgraduate training. For
them, it became very hard to start all over again.
If they want to study to be a physician assistant, they have to
attend college for 3-4 years to hear about things they already know. If
they could take a test designed for physician assistants, most of them
would pass without the need and expense of going to physician assistant
training.
After passing the test, they could work with board-certified MDs
for 1-2 years to ensure quality of care.
We have to think "out of the box." If we do not want to
call them physician assistants, let's call them IMG assistants and
let them work under MD supervision for nonemergency office visits.
Of course, the supervising MDs would have to sign the
patients' charts and be legally responsible for medical decisions
taken by their IMG assistants.
My wife and several friends are IMGs, and they would benefit from
working as IMG assistants, so I would like to see this idea become a
reality, and our representatives work out a way to get it started.
It is not a full solution, but it would help everybody and might
decrease the cost of hiring assistants, especially in underserved areas
that are badly suffering this shortage of trained primary care
specialists.
Sergio Abriola, M.D.
Santa Rosa, N.M.
LETTERS
Letters in response to articles in INTERNAL MEDICINE NEWS and its
supplements should include your name and address, affiliation, and
conflicts of interest in regard to the topic discussed. Letters may be
edited for space and clarity.
Mail: Letters, INTERNAL MEDICINE NEWS, 5635 Fishers Lane, Suite
6000, Rockville, MD 20852
Fax: 240-221-2541
E-mail: imnews@elsevier.com
COPYRIGHT 2007 International Medical News
Group Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further reproduction or distribution is prohibited without permission.
Copyright 2007 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights
reserved. Gale Group is a Thomson Corporation Company.
NOTE: All illustrations and photos have been removed from this article.