Welcome Back Center of Suburban Maryland

Contact Saba Desta • 240-777-3168

[email protected]

Helping internationally trained health professionals enter the local health workforce

Building on the personal and professional assets of individuals who obtain a degree outside of the United States with backgrounds in health, the Welcome Back Center helps these professionals re-enter the health workforce to:

Address health professional shortages
Diversify the health workforce
Improve economic opportunities for underutilized individuals
Enhance health outcomes for minorities and the entire community

The Welcome Back Center is Recruiting Internationally Educated Nurses:

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The Welcome Back Center overview:

Amharic Chinese English French Korean Russian Spanish Vietnamese

The Welcome Back Center accomplishes its goals by providing participants:

Individualized guidance and support
Academic training including English as a Second Languages (ESL) and health profession board exam preparation
On-the-job practical exposure to the US healthcare system and mentoring at Maryland hospitals and other healthcare facilities
Pre-employment services for health-related jobs including career development support, and job readiness training
Support to access financial aid to those eligible to cover ESL courses, credentials evaluation services, Board exam preparation courses and fees, licensure/certification fees, and other related expenses.

The Welcome Back Center helps internationally trained doctors, nurses and other health professionals to navigate the licensure and certification process for practicing health locally.

Many highly educated individuals residing in Maryland with degrees and certifications in health professions attained abroad are currently under-employed and not utilizing their valuable skills and experience in the health field.

At the same time, many individuals suffer worse health outcomes than others because they are not able to receive health services in their own language. The Welcome Back Center supports the notion that greater workforce diversity may lead to improved health outcomes through better access to care by underserved populations and more effective patient/healthcare provider interactions.

Welcome Back Center partners include local and State government, the academic sector, and healthcare employers. The Center is one of several centers comprising the national “Welcome Back Initiative” network.

Resources for Internationally-Trained Health Professionals:

Nurses Behavioral Health Physicians Cultural and Linguistic Competence

Welcome Back Center in the News

In August 2020, The Washington Post featured the article:

As the pandemic rages, foreign-trained nurses hope to get back to work

The article highlights the Welcome Back Center’s contribution in assisting internationally educated

health professionals to reenter the health workforce in Maryland.

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