Expert: John Fuller - 5/31/2009

Question
According to the AMA, about 20% of the work force is an international medical graduate. I am a board certified anesthesiologist, over 7 years in practice, who graduated from a medical school in Brazil and residency training at a prestigious university in the State of Washington. I have several letters of recommendation that are extremely positive about my capabilities. I have sent my CV to a very large practice in the state of AZ for two years in a row.  The first time (only the CV was sent in an unsolicited manner) I received a letter saying my credentials were outstanding, but there was no available job.  After sending my second inquiry to an advertised job on the company's web site (CV and letters of recommendation#, I have not received a formal invitation for an interview.  The company in question is very large in the specialty, with over 150 physicians.  By clicking on the profile of each of the employed physicians, the striking coincidence is that there are virtually no physicians who went to medical school abroad (with very few exceptions of older physician members).  Is it legal for the company not to offer me a job interview based on the fact that I am an international medical graduate?  Is it legal for the company to offer the job to a less experienced American medical school graduate?  I have experienced a similar situation in the state of WA.

Answer
Hi Glaucia,

To your question if it is legal to not offer you a position solely due to your medical qualifications being from out of country, the answer might be two fold.  First it is not legal to discriminate based upon protected categories of race, sex, religion, national origin, color or disability during the entire interview through employment process.  In your case, if your medical training and education from Brazil equates to an exact qualification that would otherwise be afforded to graduates of American universities, you may want to inquire directly to the institution in question what their reasoning is for your not being afforded an interview since particularly you did have residency in the State of Washington.

Each institution for sure has the right to establish interview criteria and just because an applicant applies does not as you would know require an interview.  Even if you are qualified, an institution may choose to select 3,5 or even 10 out of a qualified pool of applicants to move on to the next stage.  Since you feel you met the qualifications of the position, you should have received a notification of why you were not selected for an interview.  At this point, I would directly inquire to the institution in question either through their human resources or, if you do not receive a satisfactory answer, to their equal employment opportunity department.  They would have the obligation to take on your inquiry seriously, investigate and provide you with their findings.  If you have a follow up question or questions please feel free to ask.  
John