Asylum Program

Health Professionals: Volunteering to Assist

Asylum Seekers: Abused, Tortured, Often Forgotten

Each year, thousands of survivors of torture and persecution seek safety through the complex and restrictive US asylum process. They often have nothing more than their own words to substantiate their suffering. Some of the most compelling evidence they have—physical and psychological sequelae of torture—will go unnoticed and unheeded by government decision-makers. Documentation of torture and abuse by a health professional can make the difference between safety in the US and return to countries of persecution or torture.

Health Professionals Make Justice Possible

The health professional's role in the asylum seeking process is crucial. Through conducting pro bono physical and psychological examinations, health professionals can determine whether the injuries or trauma sustained by an asylum applicant are consistent with the person's account of his or her experiences. If the health professional evaluator determines that the physical or psychological sequelae are consistent with the asylum seeker's account of torture or persecution, the health professional will also prepare an affidavit to submit to the court. Health professionals are often key to helping judges and attorneys understand the effects of trauma on the applicant's behavior, memory, understanding, and demeanor.

Volunteering Is Invaluable and Rewarding

PHR's Asylum Network is a community of hundreds of health professionals who offer pro bono psychological and physical evaluations to document evidence of torture and persecution for men and women fleeing danger in their home countries. Asylum Network volunteers employ the very skills they use in their everyday careers as health professionals to provide unbiased evaluations of asylum seekers.

Volunteering to evaluate asylum seekers is a concrete, immediate, and rewarding way for you to use your medical training in the service of human rights.

Volunteering is Remarkably Effective

The testimony that Asylum Network volunteers provide is often the difference between success and failure of an asylum application. Nearly 90% of the applicants evaluated by PHR Asylum Network volunteers in recent years have been granted asylum—compared with about 35% system-wide. Your generosity of time and talent makes a huge difference in promoting the human rights of asylum seekers.

It's Easy to Get Started

If you've never conducted a forensic examination before, that's okay—we provide information and support. PHR gives qualified health professionals a written guide that describes political asylum law and procedure, health professionals' roles in asylum cases, and components of effective testimony. PHR also gives new volunteers the name of an experienced Asylum Network volunteer to serve as a mentor, background information on the human rights situation in the client's country of origin, and sample evaluations.

Is Formal Training Available?

Many health professionals find that their past clinical practice—coupled with PHR materials and mentoring—provides sufficient background to begin volunteering with the Asylum Network. Formal trainings are also available. Each year, PHR holds a minimum of two trainings to help health professionals hone the skills they will use to provide medical and psychological evaluations of asylum seekers. Please inquire directly with PHR about current in-person training opportunities.

English is the Only Language You Need

While the Network welcomes and values prospective volunteers who speak languages in addition to English, foreign language fluency is not essential. The asylum seeker's attorney will provide a translator to assist in the health professional's evaluation if necessary.

Be As Involved as Your Schedule Permits

Health professional volunteers are free to take on as many or as few cases as their schedules permit. Whether it's one case per year, or one case per month, your contribution is essential and valued.

Want to Learn More?

If you are a state-licensed and board-certified health professional and you want to know more about how you can volunteer your skills, please request more information about the PHR Asylum Network. We will send you some additional information about Physicians for Human Rights, PHR's asylum work, and how to begin volunteering for the Asylum Network.

Health Professional Students Are Welcome, Too

If you are an intern or resident who has not yet received your license or board certification, you can also join the Network and evaluate clients, but you will need a state-licensed and board-certified physician to supervise the evaluation and final report. We recommend that you investigate working with a qualified health professional at your medical school or hospital. If you are unable to find a mentor, we will make every effort to find an experienced Asylum Network volunteer in your area with whom you can participate in this work.

Not Yet Licensed, or Your Schedule Can't Accommodate Evaluations?

PHR's Asylum Program needs your help, too. Please see our other opportunities to advocate for policies that safeguard the health and human rights of asylum seekers.

> See some Asylum Network Member Profiles

> Return to the Asylum Program Home Page