Open house Oct. 24: Center helps health pros from abroad update skills
10/23/2012
Free resources for health professionals who have trained abroad, but who are now seeking to continue their work in the United States, are available at the Northwest Washington Welcome Back Center at Edmonds College.
An open house will be 5:30-7:30 p.m., Wed., Oct. 24, in the Beresford Building, 6600 196th St. SW, Lynnwood. Community health care employers and professionals are invited to attend.
The center welcomes foreign-trained doctors, nurses, dentists, and other health workers back to their professions in the United States. It provides resources to help them get licensed to practice in Washington state and to explore opportunities with local employers.
“I work one-on-one with people and help them navigate our state’s licensing requirements, identify areas where they may need more training, and discover career options in the local health care industry,” said Lisa Hager, Welcome Back Center Coordinator. “We don’t want to waste the medical talent in our community, so we help them get up to speed so they can be of service.”
The Northwest Washington Center is one of 10 Welcome Back Centers in the nation and the second center to open in Washington (the Puget Sound Center is located at Highline Community College in Des Moines). It is part of the national nonprofit Welcome Back Initiative, which helps build a bridge between the pool of internationally trained health workers living in the United States and the need for diverse health services in underserved communities.