Upwardly Global alumna Vanessa Rosales was recently featured in the New York Amsterdam News article “Threats to immigrant healthcare workers could affect everyone’s care.” The article highlights the growing threats to immigrant healthcare and caregiving workers in New York, who make up a significant portion of the workforce.
According to the Center of Migration Studies of New York, 57% of healthcare workers in New York City are foreign-born, including 73% of home health and personal care aides, 65% of nursing assistants, and 50% of registered nurses. Despite their critical role, these workers face low median earnings — about half the citywide median income.
In the article, Vanessa, an anesthesiologist from Venezuela, spoke about her challenges in transferring her credentials to reenter the medical field in the U.S. It was only until she connected with Venezuelans and Immigrants AID and Upwardly Global that she was able to find skill-aligned employment.
She now works as an anesthesia technician — a role that, in New York City, earns an average of $56.44 per hour compared to the roughly $204.51 per hour that anesthesiologists earn. While she wishes to work as an anesthesiologist once more, relicensing barriers prevent her from pursuing the role.
Although Latin American countries have high-quality medical institutions, the U.S. requires doctors educated abroad to undergo a specific evaluation and examination process. Because she completed her residency in Venezuela, Vanessa wasn’t expecting to have to repeat it in this country. Yet if she wanted to work as an anesthesiologist again, she was told she would need to finish another three or four years of residency. She had come to the U.S. with her husband and child, and couldn’t afford to spend so many years on re-licensing.
“And also, anesthesiologists are very competitive residencies,” [Vanessa] said, “so I have to compete with all the people who are residents to get their medical license in the U.S., plus all the immigrants who want to apply for an anesthesiologist residency.”
