Rx for Strengthening Massachusetts' Economy and Healthcare System: A Report by the Governor's Advisory Council for Refugees and Immigrants, Task force on Immigration Healthcare Professionals in Massachusetts

Rx for strengthening Massachusetts' economy and healthcare system examines labor market barriers facing foreign-trained healthcare professionals in Massachusetts and the U.S..  It also offers detailed policy and program recommendations to enable these individuals to contribute their talent and training to address current and future skill shortages in the health care field.

The report was produced with funding from the J.M. Kaplan Fund and The Boston Foundation. It utilizes new data from the 2013 National Survey of College Graduates (NSCG), which is conducted every 10 years by the National Science Foundation. The NSCG permits the disaggregation of college graduates by source of degree (foreign or U.S.), degree field, salary, and relationship of current occupation to degree field. One of the more striking statistics cited in this report is that foreign-educated nurses in Massachusetts are over seven times more likely to have a low-skilled job (21 percent) than their U.S.-trained counterpart (3 Percent). Noting that many studies project major shortages of nurses, physicians, pharmacists, physical therapists, and mental health professionals in the years to come, the author observes that programs and policies to accelerate the reentry of foreign-educated health care professionals will play an important role in addressing these shortages. The report details efforts that can be undertaken by state governments and other stakeholders in four key areas: improving informational resources and awareness about career pathways for foreign-trained healthcare professionals; strengthening and expanding workforce development and educational programs directly serving immigrant professionals; addressing financial and structural barriers to professional relicensing; and establishing a staff position within state government to coordinate immigrant integration policy, including policies and programs for foreign-educated professionals. (Abstract courtesy of Dr. Nicholas V. Montalto)

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Get more information from Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy (MIRA) Coalition.