KEEP™ is a non-profit self-sustaining educational exchange program conceived as an ethical response and balanced approach to meet the needs for medical professional support in medical-staffing shortage communities while providing a true educational and experience exchange for medical professionals from economies in transition from which medical professional emigrate to find improved working conditions. Medical Staff recruiting firms have for decades recruited tens of thousands of foreign medical professionals, especially nurses, for permanent or temporary placement and work in the United States.

 

How KEEP™works

 

Rather than charging recruitment fees as recruiting agencies do, Kentrik asks medical-institution partners to make a contribution to the program for each candidate enrolled.  That contribution covers the cost of tuition and travel for each KEEP Scholar and the operational costs of the program. Kentrik covers the costs of candidate preparation such as language training and certification requirements, acclimation and further incidentals associated with transition into the educational environment in the US. Operational profits are shared with educational partners in the source country, for the purpose of assisting the institution with infrastructure improvements, equipment purchases and enhancing teaching facilities, salaries and establishing new teaching positions and scholarships for deserving students.

 

In return for their involvement in the program, KEEP Participants receive a full scholarship to a renowned US educational institution for a certificate- or degree-granting program. They will, as an essential part of their curriculum and integral part of value of the exchange program, receive hands-on training and experience on campus at participating hospitals and clinics. This hands-on training experience in a US clinical environment is an essential part of the benefits the KEEP™ program is designed to furnish and a key element of the benefit which participating countries receive in terms of their participation in the program. It is the goal of the program to foster substantial improvements in professional qualifications and medical services which will translate into improved outcomes for patients and more efficient system-wide practices in medical facilities.

 

Contributing partners in the United States will receive well-qualified medical personnel for temporary assignments to receive training a clinical setting that will assist contributing partners with understaffing in clinical environments. Participants will receive remuneration for academic training as is authorized under the auspices of their visa.

 

At the completion of the educational program, each participant will be required either by law or by the terms of the award of their scholarship to return where they will be given a leadership role either in a clinical or educational setting or both.

 

Retention of medical professionals long-term will depend upon a number of factors, one of the most important of which will be the possibility of presenting all professional and especially returning Kentrik Scholars with attractive career paths. Elements which will be key to presenting attractive career paths are better infrastructure and wages, improved levels of professionalism and service to patients. Considering the current rate of wages and infrastructure transition and improvements being achieved, it is by no means certain that returning scholars can be retained beyond the two-year cooling-off period.

KEEP™