Vanessa only had $100 in her pocket when she touched down in New York City, her husband and eight-year-old daughter in tow. It was 2017; political unrest had driven them away from their home in Venezuela, where Vanessa had created a vibrant life and career as an anesthesiologist — her childhood dream come true.
“When I was in kindergarten, my mom gave me toys like stethoscopes, and I liked to play like I was a doctor,” Vanessa remembers fondly.
After seven years of rigorous medical training, Vanessa earned her degree as a medical doctor in 2007, later establishing herself as a specialist in anesthesiology. After over a decade of building her medical career from the ground up in the mountain town of Merida, Venezuela, she never intended to leave.
However, after being forced to flee and seek asylum in the U.S., she and her family took on new challenges she never would have anticipated. On arrival, they lived in one small bedroom in a shared apartment, making ends meet through various construction jobs — from demolition to painting — across the city. She remembers making arepas, a traditional Venezuelan food, to sell to the other workers for lunch.
It would be five years before Vanessa found Upwardly Global’s Career Coaching Program, which held an introductory session for Venezuelans in the summer of 2022. She began to work with her career coach, Kyrie, who specializes in supporting international medical graduates.
By 2026, the U.S. is projected to face a shortage of over 3.2 million healthcare workers, while approximately 165,000 immigrants with international healthcare credentials remain unemployed or underemployed due to high barriers in the healthcare field. Vanessa, like so many other international medical graduates, had never imagined that a thriving medical career could be possible in her new country.
“I wanted to apply for something that [allowed me to] work in the surgery room,” says Vanessa, who realized that she’d be a perfect fit for anesthesia technician positions — a full-blown medical career without her having to repeat her education and residency.
Kyrie then found her a slew of open positions, supporting her through applications and interview prep. Come spring, she heard back from NewYork-Presbyterian, which offered her a role as a Senior Anesthesia Technician.
“The NewYork-Presbyterian HR department recognized my almost eight years of experience in the anesthesia field,” she says. “And that’s the reason why I now work as a Senior Anesthesia Technician.”
Just a few months into the job, Vanessa’s family has now moved into their own apartment, and her 13-year-old daughter has received a scholarship to attend a private school in the city. Vanessa aims to be an inspiration for her daughter, putting her all into her newfound career.
“Now, I feel like all my skills that I developed in Venezuela are waking up again,” she says. “In my interview, they asked me why I am applying for this job. I said it’s because I feel like being in the surgery room is like being at home. It’s the place that I know everything.”
Upwardly Global has worked closely with NewYork-Presbyterian to create on-ramps for international medical graduates into healthcare careers, and because the hospital welcomed her with such open arms, Vanessa aims to advance her career within their ranks alone. She knows that organizations that recognize her skills and experience are worth investing in twofold.
“Any person who has an international degree here in the U.S., somebody new in the country, they need help,” says Vanessa. “They don’t have a network here; they don’t have anything, only experience. Somebody needs to give them a hand and say, ‘Okay, I’m gonna help you jump into your career here.’ I think this is an example of what Upwardly Global did with me.”
