Family medicine residents matched in international program

Denver Health is proud to announce that three members of the 2024 cohort of international physician learners in the Colorado Works for International Physicians (CO-WIP) Clinical 
Readiness Program have matched in residency programs in Colorado.

• Hind Omer, MD, matched in the Family Medicine Residency Program at Common Spirit Health St. Anthony North in Westminster, CO 
• Sulafa Elhassan, MD, matched in the Family Medicine Residency Program at Intermountain Health St. Mary’s in Grand Junction, CO
• Islam Mohamad, MD, matched in the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Parkview Health in Pueblo, CO.

Program participants work closely with inpatient and outpatient faculty physicians at Denver Health who provide the clinical assessment and have been instrumental in helping teach, evaluate, and prepare the participants for residency training. 

"As a physician and educator, I have worked with many international physicians unable to practice their calling because of bureaucratic barriers. We built Colorado Works for International Physicians (CO-WIP) to increase the primary care physician workforce and provide a pathway to work for immigrant physicians who have made Colorado home,” said Abraham M. Nussbaum, MD, MTS, Chief Education Officer at Denver Health. “We are so grateful to welcome this year's graduates to the state's physician workforce. We thank the federal and state government, along with our partners at the Spring Institute for helping these remarkable physicians answer the call to care for Coloradans."

The Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning is the program’s primary partner and provides pre-clinical support for international medical graduates such as navigating testing and obtaining necessary 
certifications. “Spring Institute congratulates CO-WIP participants Dr. Omer, Dr. Mohamed, Dr. Elhassan on matching to medical residency programs in Colorado! This is a major next step in becoming licensed physicians and providing culturally responsive care across the state,” says Allie Needham, Senior Program Manager of Adult Education & Career Pathways for Spring Institute for Intercultural Learning. Spring Institute partners with Denver Health to provide recredentialing support to international physicians engaged in the CO-WIP program. “Their tremendous accomplishments are a testament to the perseverance, skills, and talents professional newcomers bring to our healthcare workforce, demonstrating exactly what the CO-WIP program is intended to do – realize the potential of Colorado’s immigrant physicians, close primary care workforce gaps straining our healthcare system, and add needed diversity to Colorado’s physician workforce reflecting the linguistic and cultural vibrancy of our population.”

The CO-WIP Clinical Readiness Program is a part of a larger effort to integrate internationally trained physicians into the medical workforce in Colorado. With the support of key partners including the 
Colorado Department of Public Health, the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Office of New Americans, the Colorado Medical Board, and the Colorado Association of Family Medicine 
Residencies, the program has been able to navigate the unique challenges of translating the existing skills and talents of internationally trained physicians into residency readiness. 

The success of the inaugural cohort of the CO-WIP Clinical Readiness Program shows that internationally trained physicians who live in Colorado can gain skills necessary to be competitive applicants to primary care residency programs in the state, which will result in more skilled primary care physicians in the medical workforce. 

The 2025 cohort of international physician learners includes physicians from Eritrea, Bangladesh, Myanmar, and Iraq. Applications for the 2026 cohort will open in the summer of 2025.