Trained To Be A Doctor, But Held Back By Red Tape

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November 7th, 2018

Iranian native Iraj Ghaini completed the years of training to become an orthopedic surgeon. But after leaving Iran and moving to Atlanta, his journey into the U.S. medical field has faced many roadblocks. Foreign-born physicians often experience obstacles when seeking to practice in the U.S.

Courtesy of Georgia Health News

This is the second in a series of articles on foreign-born physicians practicing in Georgia. Other articles in this special report will focus on other barriers that immigrant doctors face in order to work in the state, a clinic that serves mainly immigrant and refugee patients and on Muslim physicians here. Here’s a link to our first article, on Indian-born doctors.

One day in 2009, Iraj Ghaini won the lottery. He was one of 50,000 applicants randomly chosen by the U.S. that year to receive a green card. The 37-year-old Iranian native believed the promise of America – a better education for his son, more opportunity for his wife – was simply too good to pass up.

But the reward, he knew, came with great risk.

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