PROFESSIONSchool offers nursing program for IMGsFlorida International University targets medical graduates to help address the state's nursing shortage.By Myrle Croasdale, amednews staff. April 28, 2003. Roland Cabrera wanted to be a doctor. Now he hopes to be a nurse. Cabrera took some of his first steps in this country when he arrived from Cuba at age 2. Since then, his journey has been characterized by persistence. He graduated from medical school in the Dominican Republic in 1995 and applied for family practice residencies in 2000 and 2001. But he was never hired.
"I was a little disappointed that I didn't match, but I focused on what I needed to do next," he said. Now he's a substitute teacher by day and a nursing student in the evenings and on weekends. Cabrera is one of 40 students in an accelerated nursing program for international medical graduates at Florida International University. The program is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States. Addressing a nursing shortageSchool officials said Cuban-American physicians requested the program, though it's open to any IMG. The state's nursing shortage prompted four local hospitals to help finance the idea. They are contributing a total of $600,000 for faculty salaries and a significant part of student tuition as well. Graduates also are likely to be offered jobs at these hospitals. Practicing physicians, including IMGs who have obtained U.S. medical licenses, say the program has the potential to ease the nursing shortage and increase the number of culturally competent health care professionals in South Florida.
Florida has 9,000 unfilled nursing jobs.
George Thomas, MD, a Sarasota cardiologist and past chair of the American Medical Association's International Medical Graduate Section, said that although he was unfamiliar with the program's specifics, it sounded like it would work well for patients and students alike. "The physicians here feel that if those who want to do medicine meet the requirements, that's fine," Dr. Thomas said. "If they go through the nursing program and this is meeting the needs of the people of southern Florida, then it's a good thing." Interest among IMGs has been heavy. There were 520 applicants for the first class, and 110 for the second class. While 40 students were in the first class, the second will be expanded to 60. Two hospitals have agreed to give $600,000 to fund the second class, and additional funding is being sought to sustain the program long term. Leaving the dream of doctoring behindDavina Grossman, PhD, RN, director of the FIU program, said many of the students had failed to pass the U.S. Medical Licensing Examinations or passed them but then couldn't find residencies. "We tried to exclude students who are attempting to continue with medical boards," Dr. Grossman said. "This is an experiment, and people are interested to see how long they'll stay in nursing."
4 hospitals are contributing $600,000 to the Florida program.
Cabrera said he was satisfied with his choice. "The way I learned medicine, you spend time getting to know the patient," he said. "Medicine [for physicians] is so fast-paced here. A nurse spends all day with the patient and gets to know the family." Cabrera doesn't feel nursing is a step down from doctoring, but not everyone agrees. He recently ran into a medical school classmate who was shocked to discover what Cabrera was doing. "He looked down his nose at me, but I was thinking 'You don't know what lies ahead of you.' Six years ago he graduated, and he's still trying to pass the first exam," Cabrera said. Florida has more than 170,000 registered nurses and 9,000 nursing jobs waiting to be filled, according to Florida Hospital Assn. data for 2001. By 2006, the FHA estimates 34,000 more nurses will be needed. The nursing shortage is now fairly widespread, and Dr. Grossman said programs in Michigan, Ohio, Nashville, Tenn., and Washington, D.C., had expressed an interest in the Florida International University program. Copyright 2003 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
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