Dear Dr. Harp,

We provide primary healthcare services to the large refugee population in Charlottesville and Albemarle County in our International Family Medicine Clinic at the University of Virginia, which is located in our Family Medicine Teaching Clinic on the main campus of UVA Health.  We have served more than 4,000 refugee patients since the clinic’s inception. Many of our patients were practicing physicians in Afghanistan, Syria and other countries. Our Virginia physician workforce would benefit greatly by adding qualified individuals through the Licensure Pathway. Moreover, our refugee patients and community members would benefit enormously by receiving care from these physicians, who speak their languages and come from the same cultures.

We strongly endorse and appreciate your efforts in creating this Provisional Licensure Pathway. Please don’t hesitate to call upon us if we can provide insights or assistance.

Our endorsement is offered as individuals and does not represent the views of the University of Virginia or UVA Health.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Fern R. Hauck, MD, MS and John Gazewood, MD, MPH