International Institute: Three graduated medical careers programs

Purpose: To provide well-qualified bilingual medical staff for the Twin Cities area, by providing basic medical, language, and soft skills training for new Americans to enter health careers; and providing advanced English language and medical training for them to advance to higher positions

The three programs covered by this grant prepare immigrants and refugees for work in medical careers. Grant funding allows more people to participate in existing programs, which offer a mix of English as a second language (ESL), soft skills, and hard skills training, combined with cross-cultural personal support and employment services. The Nursing Assistant Program is the largest of the three programs and includes the highest proportion of hard skills training, with a focus on entry-level jobs. The Academic ESL Program, while maintaining an emphasis on medical services, is more heavily focused on language instruction to prepare for post-secondary coursework and more advanced language training. The Medical Careers Advancement Program is the most individualized, designing individualized advancement strategies for participants, including externally-provided ESL and job skills instruction, and employment counseling to help advance to higher-level employment.

	Partners: (As of April 2003)
		Educational: None (but relationships with several health care facilities for clinical training sites)
		Employers and business organization: None formally (but established relationships with many hospitals and nursing homes in the Twin Cities areas for job placement)
		Non-Profit Organizations: International Institute
		Public philanthropic, and other organizations: None
	Participants: Low-income refugee and immigrant families with legal resident status. Most are African immigrants and do not speak English as their primary language. Most are working part-time or full-time while in training
	Recruitment: Recruitment is mainly through word of mouth in immigrant communities, International Institute’s own programs, and contacts with a large number of health care employers in the Twin Cities area
	Training: (1) Nursing Assistant: combines ESL with nursing training in classroom, lab, and clinical settings; includes U.S. workplace expectations (soft skills). (2) Academic ESL: language and cultural (soft) skills to succeed in college-level medical training programs. (3) Medical Career Advancement (for those already in entry level positions): includes assessment and job retention and advancement support, and may include help accessing externally provided ESL, academic preparation, and college credit classes
	Support Services: Cross-cultural client support and employment services, including solving problems with child care, transportation, public assistance, housing, and domestic abuse; referrals if instructor or client advocate cannot directly help. Help with financial resources and planning, including for Muslim clients who do not use interest-bearing loans. Academic, employment, and emotional support
	Job placement, retention and advancement: Relationships with dozens of acute and long-term care facilities across the Twin Cities area to promote placement, retention, and advancement. Services include support for addressing employment issues