Pakistani-American physicians secured pledges of support from some leading US lawmakers as they advocated resolution to the hardships young Pakistani doctors face in coming to the United States for work. Leaders of Association of Physicians of Pakistani Descent of North America (APPNA), earlier, also met with US officials at the State Department and the Department of Homeland Security and sought their help in easing visa processing difficulties for new Pakistani doctors.
President of APPNA, Dr Manzoor Tariq and Chairman, APPNA Advocacy Committee Zafar Iqbal informed that as a result of delays in issuance of visas and long security clearance processes, the number of new Pakistani doctors coming to the United States has been declining constantly, since strict measures were put in place following the 9/11 events.
The long delays in issuance of visas and rejection of several applicants are among the major problems, according to APPNA, which has 17000-strong membership from across the United States.
The Pakistani doctors are unable to join residencies due to delays in visa issuance. Meanwhile, the number of physicians coming from other regional countries including India has been rising in recent years. Once the new physicians are selected by the hospital in the United States and have signed the contract, they are asked to go back home and go through the security clearance again to obtain visas. This delays the process and puts pressure on the hospitals, the patients and the young physicians, the APPNA officials maintained.
This year, APPNA has received information on more than 15 young residents whose visas have either been denied, cancelled or are waiting for security clearance, said the representatives of Pakistani-American doctors who are spread throughout the United States.
"We feel it is in the paramount interest of American people that we facilitate this process. APPNA and all physicians in US of Pakistani decent fully support the issue. "We are at a point in American history when more physicians would be required to take care of our ageing population. Denying visas to these young brilliant minds would be akin to denying healthcare to our elderly," the APPNA highlighted in a statement.
Minority Leader and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Democratic Senators Bab Casey, from Pennsylvania and Claire McCaskill from Missouri, Democratic members of House of Representatives Dennis Kucinich (Ohio), Sheila Jackson Lee (Texas), Shelly Berkley (Nevada) and Keith Ellison (Minnesota) were among dozens of lawmakers, who expressed their support for efforts towards resolution of the issues facing Pakistani doctors in making it to the US for work. The lawmakers profusely acknowledged the contributions of Pakistani-American doctors to the American healthcare services and said the US must welcome those who want to come and work here in the medical profession, especially those from Pakistan.