The UCLA International Medical Graduate Program is working to help bilingual, biculutural physicians from Latin American countries complete exams and residencies in family medicine in the United States for free according to an article in the Press-Telegram.
Instead of practicing medicine in the U.S., many physicians trained in foreign countries who come to the U.S. take low-paying jobs hoping to save enough money to take exams, compete for residencies and eventually become certified physicians in the U.S. According to the American Association of Medical Colleges "Recent Studies/Reports on the Inadequacy of the Physician Supply, California's black and Latino physicians are already heavily underrepresented in the workforce.
With the ever-looming, ubiquitous shortage of primary care physicians, the UCLA International Medical Graduate Program offers help with the transition into the physician workforce in California for those trained in Latin American countries without the risk of financial ruin. The costs of the exams alone are upward of $500 and residency slots are scarce and have a tendency to select U.S.-born medical students first, according to a report by the National Resident Matching Program.
However, the seemingly much-needed program is also competitive. Those who apply must be graduates from a recognized medical school by the Medical Board of California, bilingual, and have preferably lived in a Latin American country, according to the program website.
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