Selection Criteria

J-1 Visa

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services, J-1 visa waiver program, operates by the following intent of the J-1 visa waiver legislation below:

1. All applications will be reviewed on a case by case basis
2. A reasonable effort to recruit U.S. physicians is pursued by the applicant.
3. A physician who is a citizen of the U.S. could not be found to fill the job.
4. There is justifiable need for the State of Missouri to intercede on behalf of its residents.
5. Applicants will serve federal medically underserved locations/populations.

Applicants are first divided according to specialty. Two groups are formed; primary care physicians (Family Practice, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, OB/GYN and Psychiatry) and specialists.

The primary care selections were made in the following manner.
The physicians with Family Practice, Pediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynecology or Psychiatry specialties are placed on the priority list. These are the primary care specialties in greatest need in the state. The Internal Medicine physicians are selected on the basis of the geographical area served, the extent of need and if there were equitable applications, based on the characteristics of the employers. Every effort is made to distribute the participants around the state.

The specialty selections are made in the following manner.
Documentation of need for each represented specialty was reviewed, as were the personal histories of the applicants. Need is determined by state health status data, licensure of those specialists and the utilization and staffing data provided by the sponsoring institution/employer. The incidence of disease/disability/injury requiring the services of that specialist and the number of those specialists in the state determines relative need.

Personal histories include such information as where the individual physician has worked or trained, and whether or not there are cultural issues, language, etc., that make that applicant a superior choice for practitioner for a specific underserved population. Those applicants whose spouses were Missouri residents or were previous J-1 Visa Waiver participants, are given higher priority.

Applications are accepted for the Misssouri State 30 program from October 1 through September 30 to coincide with the Department of State.