Foreign Docs Face Challenging Transition To U.S. System
News outlets report on issues ranging from how foreign doctors are assimilated into the U.S. health care system to how nurse practitioners might help address the physician shortage and the job market nurses are facing.
The New York Times: Path To United States Practice Is Long Slog To Foreign Doctors
The involved testing process and often duplicative training these doctors must go through are intended to make sure they meet this country's high quality standards, which American medical industry groups say are unmatched elsewhere in the world. Some development experts are also loath to make it too easy for foreign doctors to practice here because of the risk of a "brain drain" abroad (Rampell, 8/11).
NBC: Bracing For Obamacare: Nurse Practitioners Fill Doc Shortage Gap
It's 8:15 a.m. on a warm July Wednesday and the parade of patients is already lining up for Mary Fey, a family nurse practitioner on the front lines of health reform in this rural community 100 miles south of Portland. … Like nurse practitioners across the U.S., Fey is girding for the onset of reforms put in place by the 2010 Affordable Care Act, which offers some 32 million Americans new access to health insurance -- but no guarantee of access to care (Aleccia, 8/9).
CT Mirror: Once Healthy Job Market For New Nurses Has Weakened
For years, the common wisdom has been that because of a nursing shortage, newly graduated nurses are practically guaranteed a job in their desired field. But the job outlook for nurses in Connecticut and nationally has changed dramatically in recent years because of the economic downturn and health care reforms. Some hospitals have been coping by moving nurses between different hospital units, while others have had layoffs or hiring freezes (Merritt, 8/9).
