Doctor (Macedonia) coming to US to work as nurse

[Daneandkathy 53]

HI everyone

 

I am hoping someone might have experience with this. Here is the run down

Our cousin from Macedonia is a doctor (for past 10 years) currently a cardiology resident.

He and his wife and hoping to come to the states on a work visa 

Currently doctor credentials don't transfer and so he is looking at coming as a nurse. 

We live in South Carolina and to take the NCLEX (nursing exam) the person must have a green card / work visa and or Social Security card

He has a limited SS# from when he came as a student 10 years  ago but it states on the card it is only active with a work visa. 

So he has to go through North Carolina to apply to take the NCLEX

First he has to get his credentials reviewed by a company called CGFNS

 

It took a 3 month visit to try and sort all this out, it was like trying to figure out what came first, the chicken or the egg. 

We think: 

CGFNS approves credentials

This info is sent to North Carolina nurse board who approves the NCLEX exam

He can take it in Turkey or France I believe

Once the NCLEX is passed

He can get a job offer and start work visa proceedings ( he already has an offer pending NCLEX results)

 

Has anyone been through something like this before? 

 

Thanks 

Kathy

[SalishSea 17,818]

1 hour ago, Daneandkathy said:

HI everyone

 

I am hoping someone might have experience with this. Here is the run down

Our cousin from Macedonia is a doctor (for past 10 years) currently a cardiology resident.

He and his wife and hoping to come to the states on a work visa 

Currently doctor credentials don't transfer and so he is looking at coming as a nurse. 

We live in South Carolina and to take the NCLEX (nursing exam) the person must have a green card / work visa and or Social Security card

He has a limited SS# from when he came as a student 10 years  ago but it states on the card it is only active with a work visa. 

So he has to go through North Carolina to apply to take the NCLEX

First he has to get his credentials reviewed by a company called CGFNS

 

It took a 3 month visit to try and sort all this out, it was like trying to figure out what came first, the chicken or the egg. 

We think: 

CGFNS approves credentials

This info is sent to North Carolina nurse board who approves the NCLEX exam

He can take it in Turkey or France I believe

Once the NCLEX is passed

He can get a job offer and start work visa proceedings ( he already has an offer pending NCLEX results)

 

Has anyone been through something like this before? 

 

Thanks 

Kathy

How is he eligible to sit for the NCLEX without a degree in nursing from an accredited college or university?   That is one of the testing requirements.

[Daneandkathy 53]

14 minutes ago, SalishSea said:

How is he eligible to sit for the NCLEX without a degree in nursing from an accredited college or university?   That is one of the testing requirements.

Thank you for your comment, as I said he has to have his credentials approved BEFORE he can take the NCLEX. He went to nursing school in Macedonia and then directly to medical school to become a doctor. The company CGFNS has to approve his credentials before he can move forward with the NCLEX. I am hoping someone from that region had gone through a similar process to get first hand knowledge of how it went. 

[SalishSea 17,818]

On 5/2/2023 at 12:18 PM, Daneandkathy said:

Thank you for your comment, as I said he has to have his credentials approved BEFORE he can take the NCLEX. He went to nursing school in Macedonia and then directly to medical school to become a doctor. The company CGFNS has to approve his credentials before he can move forward with the NCLEX. I am hoping someone from that region had gone through a similar process to get first hand knowledge of how it went. 

I have been an RN for 23 years in all types of settings, and I've never encountered an RN who had been a doctor previously in another country.

 

Why would he just not pursue a medical degree in the US?  The English proficiency requirement is the same.

[Daneandkathy 53]

2 hours ago, SalishSea said:

I have been an RN for 23 years in all types of settings, and I've never encountered an RN who had been a doctor previously in another country.

 

Why would he just not pursue a medical degree in the US?  The English proficiency requirement is the same.

Well I recognize this is an unorthodox method, if he pursued a medical degree he would have to essentially redo medical school and the cost and time to do that would be huge. In Macedonia doctors are not paid well, he maybe earns $1000 a month if he is working close to 60 hrs a week. But if he gets his nursing school accredited ( he did that before medical school) he can be in the states with a job in less than a year earning about 3-5 times more. Eventually he would like to specialize into anesthesia nurse or cardiac nurse or something like that. I know it seems backward but it is what he wants to do. 

[SalishSea 17,818]

3 hours ago, Daneandkathy said:

Well I recognize this is an unorthodox method, if he pursued a medical degree he would have to essentially redo medical school and the cost and time to do that would be huge. In Macedonia doctors are not paid well, he maybe earns $1000 a month if he is working close to 60 hrs a week. But if he gets his nursing school accredited ( he did that before medical school) he can be in the states with a job in less than a year earning about 3-5 times more. Eventually he would like to specialize into anesthesia nurse or cardiac nurse or something like that. I know it seems backward but it is what he wants to do. 

I see.   Anesthesia nurse would require a master’s of nursing science and an additional license.   Specialties such as cardiac come with work experience and potentially extra certification via exams.