Objective of PAL program

To investigate foreign student admissions and recruitment policies of medical and nursing degree programs in select US locations (DC and Philadelphia);
To research requirements for foreign health care workers (medical residents and nurses) to apply for residency/employment in the United States through the appropriate councils/commissions;

Program Schedule Summary

For my PAL project, I chose admission requirements for medical school, nursing, and career development for the health sciences. Over the course of my US trip, I also correlated the need to include pre-departure orientations for nurses and health professionals, as adjustment concerns hamper the ability of nurses to assimilate to the intense hospital culture and multi-cultural conflicts. I interviewed 7 institutions and commissions from Washington DC, Philadelphia and Virginia: nursing programs at the University of Virginia, Georgetown and Villanova University, medical school directors at Drexel/MCP Hahnemann and Thomas Jefferson University, plus CGFNS and ECFMG.

Meetings were held with the representatives of the ff institutions:

• Georgetown University (School of Nursing)
• University of Virginia (School of Nursing - phone conference)
• Drexel/MCP Hahnemann (Medical residency program)
• Thomas Jefferson University (medical school, school of nursing, public health department)
• Villanova University (school of nursing admissions)

I also met with the international foreign student adviser from Drexel University, and a speaker from the University of Pennsylvania's School of Nursing program, however no formal discussions took place pertaining to the area of my research. I was also directed to the Pennsylvania College of Osteopathic Medicine (PECOM), but my request for a meeting did not push through.

Highlights of the discussions:

Adult centered nursing degrees: all of the nursing programs interviewed now offer students with previous bachelor degrees a chance to complete a 2nd bachelor degree in nursing. These programs are academically intensive, compressing 2 years of nursing credits into 12 to 16 months, including the clinical requirements (this is based on the assumption that the adult applicants have completed the equivalent of a two year associates degree; most have previous bachelors degrees in non-health care fields). The nursing admission directors have been overwhelmed by the interest from domestic applicants for these programs. Nursing is going through a revival at universities in the US, due to the shortage of nurses at most urban and rural hospitals. International students who plan to apply to these 2nd degree programs should consider the competition for spots, and limited financial aid. Another consideration is to apply to states or cities with a high health inequity status; this implies that there a high need for basic health workers in certain areas of the US due to economic hardship. Many of these areas are in marginalized communities, urban or rural, and are unable to attract sufficient health care workers to their locales. The catch-22 is whether these areas will be able to support the needs of an international health care worker during the training process.

Community hospitals demand orientations for health professionals: at least two of the institutes interviewed expressed interest in promoting better orientations for international nurses and doctors. The influx of foreign graduate health professionals in the US is confronted with not just adjusting to a new culture, but also dealing with the multi-cultural communities in the workplace. Many of the hospitals now realize that plucking someone from Asia or Eastern Europe with the necessary clinical skills must follow up with training these new professionals on communication and cross-cultural management. They cited several cases of failed nursing importation, and look to the continuing education programs at universities to help them bridge the gap.

During talks with Dr. Lopez, one of the medical school admission directors, it was clear that international students who dream of taking their medical studies in the US will have to struggle just to get in. There is an unwritten admissions freeze at some of the more competitive medical schools, which haven't increased intake numbers for some years. Most of the international doctors end up coming to the US for residency training. However, it was also shared that the osteopathic medical schools have a higher intake on international applicants, and it is an untapped resource for potential doctors. I am continuing to research osteopathic medical programs in the US and in Asia to compare entrance requirements and career options for international students. My colleague in Moscow, Oksana, one of the other PAL fellows, is also looking at the medical and dental school programs and we plan to collaborate on a Powerpoint presentation for her Eurasia conference.

Post-PAL research

Due to a request by Phillip Ives of ECA/A/S/A, I am now preparing a lengthier paper and evaluation of nursing programs in the US, as well as a Powerpoint that will be uploaded to the EducationUSA website. This information will be available to advisers to use for reviewing clients on the nursing admission process and nursing employment trends. I am in contact with some of the schools I met with in May to deepen the learning.