a1529: AP: Immigrant Workers to Lose Licenses (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: JD Lemieux <lxhaiti@yahoo.com>

Immigrant Workers To Lose Licenses


Sunday, March 31, 2002

By TAL ABBADY
The Associated Press

MIAMI -- The Florida Department of Health will strip 40
immigrant physician assistants of their licenses today
because they have been unable to pass the state's licensing
exam.

The assistants, all Cuban and Haitian immigrants, are
licensed doctors in their native countries but are not
qualified for medical licenses in the United States. They
have worked alongside doctors in Miami-Dade County's
poorest neighborhoods for as long as 11 years.

After several attempts, all have failed to pass the state's
licensing exam for physician assistants. Some will travel
to Tallahassee on Tuesday, where they hope to appeal their
licenses' repeal.

They say the licensing exam is unfair and the state has
treated them poorly.

Jose Lagos, executive director of the Medical Graduates
Physician Assistants Association, has been battling the
Florida Department of Health and state Legislature to help
the medical workers stay on the job.

Lagos claims the state test is skewed against nonwhite
immigrants because it ignores language and cultural
barriers.

"Rather than selling hot dogs, these immigrants sought the
American Dream, which is now a nightmare for them," Lagos
said Friday.

"These professionals work in hospitals, clinics, community
centers. They help AIDS patients and the elderly in our
community. They're able to treat them in their own
language."

According to Lagos, all 40 assistants took the exam twice
and received failing grades before being notified their
temporary licenses would be revoked.

A state statute stipulates that candidates for the
physician assistant license be given three chances to pass
the state test before losing their temporary license.

Lagos also claims that Florida requires a grade of at least
60 percent for candidates to receive a license, while the
national certification test approved by most other states
has a passing score of 50 percent.

Bill Parizek, spokesman for the Florida Department of
Health, disputes Lagos' claims.


"We're following the state statute, which compels us to
revoke the license of anyone who failed the test three
times, and that is the case with every one of these
candidates," he said.


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