State budget cuts out help for immigrant doctors to regain
profession  Science Lorna Benson · ·   1. Listen Story audio
Aug 5, 2011  Dr. Liban Farah, Dr. Jibril Elabe     Unless the
program's funding is restored, its legacy will be the three
doctors from Somalia who, after years of professional limbo,
were finally able to begin residency training, a difficult
proposition for immigrant doctors who received their training
years ago.  "I knew that there was some obstacles," said Dr.
Jibril Elabe, a Somali doctor who came to the United States 11
years ago. "But I never thought they would be so hard and it
will take so long to overcome."  Elabe was in his early 30s when
he fled Somalia's civil war. With a medical degree and eight
years of intense field experience to his credit, he hoped he
would be able to continue his career in his new home in
Minnesota. Now, 44, Elabe is finally getting his chance.  It's
not a simple thing for doctors served by the program to work as
a doctor in the United States, even if t