Credentials for Health Care Professionals
In terms of quality, the United States has a health care system that's second to none. The available resources – the technology, the medicine, the equipment and the professionals – are some of the best in the world. Even non-citizen foreigners are allowed to work within the United States health care system, but only with the proper certification.
Anyone who wanted to work in the United States health care industry would have to get certification regardless of whether or not actually trying to immigration to the US is part of the agenda. This wasn't the case before July 2004 and, before then, only immigrants actually had to go through the entire process of certification. The Department of Homeland Security suddenly tightened implementation of laws regarding health care workers from outside the US.
As lucrative as a job in the health care industry might be, health care workers won't be able to get and enjoy those benefits until they've gotten themselves certified. And it's not just the doctors that need the certification. From the nurses to the technicians, everyone who works in the healthcare system needs to be certified in order to get legal employment.
Certification is issued by several organizations, most notably the Commission on Graduates of Foreign Nursing Schools (CGFNS). Although the organization's name would imply that they cater specifically to nurses, the CGFNS actually issues certifications for all 7 classifications of healthcare workers. At the moment, they're the only body in the United States that is allowed to do so. Some of the other classifications have their own respective certification bodies, such as the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy.
Although professionals and other health care workers that were educated in the United States are given employment preference, immigrant workers can also get work using credentials and degrees earned from institutions outside the US. As long as the degrees and credentials were given by known and accredited bodies like a national university, they're valid in the United States as well.
The recognition of a student's credentials emphasizes the need for students to inquire about a school's accreditation before the start of a course. Students that will be receiving their health care training outside the United States will have to make sure that their school has the necessary accreditation for their degrees and credentials to be recognized in the US.
Individuals seeking work in the United States health care system should make certification and proper licensing a first priority. Not only will the lack of proper certification make it difficult for them to get a job, getting into the United States for work will be next to impossible. Even if they do make it through the border, there is always the looming threat of deportation for health care workers that do not have the necessary papers and certification.
