Bill streamlines medical licenses for international graduates in Minnesota
Foreign medical school graduates who meet certain requirements would have shorter U.S. residencies in Minnesota under a proposal in the Legislature. Backers say it would help ease physician shortages in underserved areas. by Mohamed Ibrahim Since childhood, Abdilahi Ali Mohamoud has wanted to be a doctor, influenced by the dire state of health care in Somalia amid a decades-long civil war. After studying medicine in China for five years, doing a clerkship in India for a year and then practicing medicine in his native Somalia, Mohamoud had his sights set on coming to the United States. “My goal was always to be able to get the highest [level of] education possible,” he said. “I didn’t feel like there was any other better place than the U.S., and pursuing the dream of training here and hopefully practicing here and getting the best knowledge that I can.” Mohamoud, 31, passed the necessary exams and was matched into a residency program at Hennepin Healthcare in Minneapolis. But for many international medical school graduates, the bar of entry — the yearslong process to become licensed to practice in the United States — is too high. Now a bill in the Minnesota Legislature —…
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