Consular Panel Physician

Hiring Agency: Embassy Nouakchott

Position Title: Consular Panel Physician

Background: Certain visa applicants must undergo a physical and mental examination as part of the application process. The purpose of the visa medical examination is to identify the presence or absence of certain disorders that could result in exclusion from the United States under the provisions of the Immigration and Nationality Act.  Panel physicians must follow specific technical instructions from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and identification procedures prescribed by the U.S. Department of State to ensure that the person appearing for the medical examination is the person who is actually applying. The panel physician is responsible for the entire examination, including the required chest radiograph and any necessary laboratory procedures. The panel physician is also responsible for reporting the results of all required tests and consultations on the prescribed forms and for ensuring that the completed medical report forms are sent directly to the consular officer. The panel physician is not responsible for determining whether an applicant is actually eligible to apply to enter the United States; that determination is made by the consular officer after reviewing all records, including the report of the medical examination.

Requirements:

Standard Criteria for Panel Physicians:

• The panel physician must speak and write in English.
• The panel physician should submit a résumé or CV, showing satisfactory completion of medical education and a medical degree from a national government accredited medical school.
• The panel physician should have a full medical license with no restrictions that they have used for the past 4 years.
• The panel physician should have an official governmental certificate of good standing, or the equivalent, in the medical profession.
• The panel physician should provide a minimum of two independent professional references.
• If another physician acts of behalf of the panel physician, the final responsibility of exam results lies with the panel physician.
• The panel physician must be available for a minimum of 46 weeks out of 52 weeks a year. Any absence of greater than 2 weeks requires notification to the consular section with the recommendation of a physician to take over emergency duties during the absence of the panel physician.

Medical Requirements:

• The panel physician should be adept in primary care (pediatrics, internal medicine, or family medicine) and have specialty training or experience after graduating from medical school. The panel physician must have specific competence in the diagnosis and treatment of individuals with tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases and should be able to recognize mental disorders.
• The panel physician should identify a psychiatrist or mental health specialist, if possible, for the referral of any individual who appears to have a mental disorder.
• The panel physician should have reliable radiology (X-ray) and serology (syphilis laboratory) facilities identified.  These can either be on the premises or contracted out.
• The panel physician should have accumulated 4 years in practice after their internship training is completed.
• The panel physician must agree to participate in quality control surveillance.

Facility requirements:

• The facility must be acceptable; it should be at a minimum a well-lit facility with an examination table, a blood pressure cuff, instruments to examine the eyes and ears (ophthalmoscope and otoscopy), and an eye chart (at 20 feet).
• Email or fax communication capabilities identified by the panel physician is highly desirable.
• Examinations must be given within 10 working days of the date that is asked for by the applicant.
• The panel physician must be able to verify the identity of each applicant and use fraud prevention measures at every step in the process (at time of blood draw [phlebotomy], X-ray, vaccine administration, and sputum collection).
• Where possible and the number of visa applicants warrant two or more, panel physicians should be of both sexes at every location.

Work schedule: varied, 10-30 patients per month, payment is made by patients

For more information: https://www.cdc.gov/immigrantrefugeehealth/panel-physicians.html

If you want to apply, send your resume to  NouakchottHRStaff@groups.state.gov and ConsularNKC@state.gov