Refugee Doctors Advocate for Legislative Change

In 2016 when I began volunteering to support refugees restarting their lives in the United States, I never imagined that I could help change a law making it easier for refugee doctors to practice medicine. Up until 2023, most of my experiences had been in small groups teaching English, or in one-on-one mentoring and storytelling situations, but earlier this year, I had the unexpected privilege of testifying twice before the Virginia State Legislature alongside two skilled Refugee surgeons in support of House Bill 995 that creates a pathway to re-licensure.

In 2022, Their Story is Our Story (TSOS) began interviewing Refugee International Medical Graduates (IMGs) in partnership with Georgetown University School of Medicine (GUSOM) students and we discovered three common obstacles to their successful re-entry into U.S. medical careers:

1. The need to requalify and be matched for highly competitive residency spots;

2. Insufficient financial resources to pay for the 3-step U.S. Medical Licensure Exams (USMLE) and program fees;

3. Lack of discretionary time to study for USMLEs while working low wage, often non-medical jobs

With an eye toward removing those barriers, we formed the Refugee Physicians Advocacy (RPA) Coalition, now with over a dozen contributing partners. Two of those partners, Debra Linick of Lutheran Social Services National Capital Area (LSSNCA) and Mike Zimmer of World Education Services (WES) co-led our legislative advocacy initiatives, working with chief-patron Delegate Kathy Tran and co-patron Delegate Kannan Srinivasan to propose HB995 that would provide a temporary licensure pathway for IMGs in lieu of residency.

At the end of February 2024, a few of us traveled down to Richmond to testify in support of this proposed legislation. At that point, I had interviewed over 50 refugee physicians with expertise in fields like surgery, gynecology, emergency medicine, mental health, addiction recovery, and general medicine and could testify that the vast majority of these refugee doctors from Afghanistan, Africa, Ukraine and other parts of the world are working low-wage jobs as medical assistants, pharmacy techs, or uber drivers. Some have left medicine entirely because becoming a doctor feels unattainable and the financial demands of the residency pathway are too high.

Two surgeons with decades of experience, Dr. Aziz Jami and Dr. Kochai Jawed, expressed their dreams and passion for practicing medicine once again, offering compelling testimonies on behalf of all other IMGs. “If someone with my background can’t practice again in the U.S., I can only imagine how many other doctors stand ready with skills to offer, but no pathway back to practice,” said Dr. Jawed.

It was meaningful to meet individually with several Virginia lawmakers (including my own representatives Delegate Srinivasan and Senator Suhas Subrahamyan), tour the Virginia Capitol, and be formally recognized on the House floor where we watched democracy in action from the gallery as various bills were presented for vote. Backed by the endorsement of 30 national and local partner agencies and many individual letters of support to elected representatives, gratefully HB995 passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate and was signed by Governor Glenn Youngkin on April 4, 2024.

Seeing refugee doctors reclaim a pathway to practice medicine is not just a personal victory for them—it’s a win for the entire community. Boosted by our legislative win, I and my RPA colleagues will carry on with our initiatives to ease IMG’s financial challenges and support these physicians to qualify for the Provisional License training and into medical careers. It has been a remarkable experience to take part in affecting legislative change, but it will be an even greater day when these doctors will be able to put on their white coats and practice life-saving medicine once again.