UA fires med school resident
by La Monica Everett-haynes on Apr. 22, 2006, under Education, Local
Yao
The University of Arizona medical school resident dismissed five months into her program has been fired.
An appeals subcommittee upheld the College of Medicine’s request that Dr. Zan Yao, 38, be removed because of poor language skills, documents Yao provided the Tucson Citizen show.
Her discrimination allegation filed with the Arizona Attorney General’s Office in February against UA employees and University Medical Center is pending.
Released March 27, UA’s final review said Yao lacked adequate medical knowledge, struggled to communicate and “posed a danger to patients.”
Yao disagrees.
“I passed all the exams and I passed the interview. I had some adjustments, but they didn’t give me enough time,” Yao said this week. “They were just trying to find excuses to get rid of me.”
The final report said Yao had adequate time to improve.
Numerous calls to UA officials went unanswered.
Administrators have declined to talk about Yao’s case because of privacy laws.
Yao’s review process was unfair, she said.
“Their committee members should include a foreign-born doctor,” said Yao, who is Chinese. “They don’t understand how tough it is for the foreign-born doctors to train here.”
Despite the outcome, Yao said she’s trying to get back into the four-year program.
“I think I’m the victim of discrimination and I will continue to fight to get justice,” said Yao, a citizen of China and Canada.
Because of the termination, visa restrictions require Yao to leave the United States. She plans to travel to Canada on May 2, where she will try to get a tourist visa to return here and continue defending her case.
