Chapter 22 The Role of Physician Recruiters When Hiring an International Medical Graduate

• Jurisdiction: United States

Physician recruiters, whether working independently or in house for a health care organization, play a very important role in ensuring a physician candidate’s immigration processing goes smoothly. This chapter discusses responsibilities a recruiter has in the immigration process.

Acquire a basic familiarity with physician immigration law

Physician recruiters do not need to become immigration attorneys, but they should familiarize themselves with the basic concepts of immigration law as it pertains to doctors. Learning about the differences between the post-training immigration options for J-1 doctors versus H-1B doctors is important. Understanding what J-1 waivers are and the major ways doctors pursue them is critical. The same is true for understanding the basic requirements for H-1B visas—the need for an employment relationship, the need for an employer to pay the prevailing wage, etc. Knowing the general path from training to permanent residency for doctors is also essential.

Having a comfort level with these concepts is significant and you can gain this knowledge in a variety of ways. Reading a book like this helps, as well as joining a physician recruiting organization like the National Association of Physician Recruiters. The Association of Staff Physician Recruiters is another place to go for educational programming on physician immigration. And developing a relationship with an immigration attorney who is available to regularly answer questions is crucial.

Get the right questions answered

Employers may be interested in sponsoring an IMG but might not be eligible. Some are eligible to sponsor certain types of employees and not others. J-1 candidates are usually searching to work in underserved areas. Doctors training on H-1Bs are often seeking employers that are academic medical centers or nonprofits affiliated with universities. A mistake many recruiters make is assuming they can treat each IMG placement the same way.

For sample ques-tion-naires, see Ap-pen-dices D and E.

One good practice a recruiter can develop is to have your employer and physician clients complete a brief questionnaire asking the most relevant immigration-related questions. For employers, this will include requesting information on the worksite address where the physician is to be employed, the employer’s tax status, and whether the employer is a university or has any type of relationship with one.

For the IMG, determining what the physician’s immigration status is, when...