June 2000 • Volume 6 • Number 6
IMGs make the most of new forum status
We want it all, and we want it now," someone hollered as physicians participating in the new international medical graduates forum gathered to talk strategy at the National Conference of Special Constituencies April 27-29 in Kansas City, Mo.
The tongue-in-cheek remark wasn't a battle cry, but it did reflect the frustration of a group that represents almost 15 percent of AAFP's membership and yet was meeting as a forum for the first time. In the past, IMGs submitted their resolutions to the conference via other constituency groups. This time, they could submit resolutions as a group.
Ben Oteyza, M.D., right, of Bel Air, Md., drives home a point during the IMG forum while Bharat Patel, M.D., of Williston, N.D., listens.Ben Oteyza, M.D., of Bel Air, Md., said he attended his first conference in 1993 -- and the same issues were being discussed in 2000. "I'm tired of baby steps," Oteyza said. The Congress of Delegates in Orlando last year decided that IMGs should have a forum at NCSC, when what they really wanted was a caucus, he said. "Well, we're here, and we're going to fight."
What are members of the IMG forum fighting for? They want that caucus status and slotted seats in the Congress.
Lee Hawkins, manager of AAFP's special constituency department, understands the IMGs' restlessness. "They want the same parity as the other groups (women, minorities and new physicians) -- that's their big push and always has been. They believe everything else will come when they get the seats," he said.
The IMGs worked diligently at NCSC, eventually submitting 10 resolutions, seven of which were accepted and forwarded to the Board of Directors for consideration by the Board or Congress of Delegates.
Virgilio Licona, M.D., of Denver is happy that IMGs are taking advantage of what he sees as a window of opportunity. Licona, who serves on the Commission on Legislation and Governmental Affairs, said, "I'm absolutely thrilled with the level of participation and the positive fashion in which physicians contributed to the forum."
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2000 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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