Out-Migration/Brain Drain

The purpose of this study was to investigate the experiences of the family members of migrant nurses from the Maseru district of Lesotho about the costs and benefits of nurse migration. [from abstract]

Health worker migration from resource-poor countries to developed countries, also known as brain drain, represents a serious global health crisis and a significant barrier to achieving global health equity. Using acceptable methods of policy analysis, the authors assess current strategies aimed at alleviating brain drain and then propose a global health policy based solution to address current policy limitations. [adapted from abstract]

This article outlines the issue of health worker migration and its impact on health systems of developing countries. It recommends a strategic approach by governments and other agencies for regulating the flow of health workers between countries using a range of policies and interventions to deal with the broader health system issues. [adapted from abstract]

This study examines how the development of brain drain-responsive
policies is driven by the effects of nurse migration and how such efforts aim to achieve mind-shifts among nurses, governing and regulatory bodies, and public and private institutions in the Philippines and worldwide. [from abstract]

The main objectives of this study were to determine the prevalence of migration intentions in medical undergraduates, to elucidate the factors responsible and to analyze the attitudes and practices related to these intentions. [from abstract]

This study found that limited data collection systems and lack of exit interviews has meant that up-to-date, reliable and accurate data regarding all exiting health workers (HW) (not only those who intend to emigrate) are not readily available. Without such datasets, the dynamics of mobility and migration within the Pacific health workforce remain poorly understood and the development of strategies to retain HW severely hampered. [from author]

This five minute video outlines the issues and problems of health worker migration from the perspective of the health worker, the population and the countries involved in the global health workforce. It also outlines the progress being made and the way forward.

This paper aims to provide information on the migration of Filipino health workers and the impact it has on the individual migrant, his family, professions and specifically the health care system. Further it discusses policy initiatives that have been established to both ensure the country’s competitiveness in the global labor market as well as strengthen its capability to strengthen its health care system. [from introduction]

This literature review attempts to put the phenomenon of HRH migration into context in terms of the underlying factors that prompt workers to relocate, as well as the facilitating effects of globalization and worldwide HRH shortages. [adapted from abstract]

The aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of experiential factors across Ghanaian medical students’ lifespans on intent to practice in a rural area and intent to emigrate. [from abstract]

This study compared the trends in new professional registrations in the UK from doctors qualifying overseas before and after the national ethical guidance on international recruitment to determine what, if any, effect these policies have had on ethical recruitment. [adapted from author]

Highlighting the contribution of non-binding instruments to global health governance, this article describes the World Health Organization Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel negotiation process from its early stages to the formal adoption of the final text. [from author]

Qualified doctors in Malawi continue to leave the public sector in order to work or train abroad. This study explored the postgraduate plans of current medical students, and the extent to which this is influenced by their background. [adapted from abstract]

This study was carried out to assess the attitudes of Ethiopian medical students towards their training and future practice of medicine, and to identify factors associated with the intent to practice in rural or urban settings, or to migrate abroad. [from abstract]

This study evaluates the effectiveness of the introduction of the Occupation Specific Dispensation, which sought to improve the public services’ ability to attract and retain health workers in South Africa, thereby reducing incentives to emigrate. [adapted from abstract]

The authors undertook a survey of both resident and non-resident graduates of Pacific ethnicity from health professional undergraduate courses at the University of Otago in New Zealand to examine the retention of these graduates in Pacific communities and factors influencing their choices of destination. [from author]

This observational study was conducted to estimate the degree of internal and external brain drain among Mozambican nationals qualifying from domestic and foreign medical schools between 1980–2006. [from abstract]

Given concerns regarding the effects of this loss to their countries of origin, the authors undertook a study of international medical graduates from lower income countries currently practicing in the United States. [from abstract]

The objectives of this study were to assess the willingness of Lebanese medical graduates practicing in the United States of America to relocate to Lebanon and the Arab Gulf region and to explore the factors associated with this willingness. [from abstract]

Lebanon is witnessing an increased emigration of physicians. The objective of this study was to understand the perceptions of Lebanese policymakers of this emigration, and elicit their proposals for future policies and strategies to deal with this emigration. [from abstract]

As there is considerable uncertainty whether the scale of emigration of health workers in Poland will continue at the current rate, increase or decrease in coming years, this cross-sectional survey assess the most likely scale of emigration of Polish doctors and identifies the characteristics of potential migrants. [from author]

This study investigated the career intentions of graduating students attending medical schools in sub-Saharan Africa to identify interventions which may improve retention of African physicians in their country of training or origin. [from abstract]

This paper assesses what health workforce sustainability might mean for Australia and New Zealand, given the policy direction set out in the World Health Organization draft code on international recruitment of health workers. [from abstract]

The goal of this research was to estimate the lost investment of domestically educated doctors migrating from sub-Saharan African countries to Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. [from abstract]

This paper is the outcome of a series of in-depth interviews and group discussions with over 100 African health workers and others at the grassroots to understand their experiences of migration and their ideas for solutions to it. [from summary]

This video tells the story of a Sri Lankan paediatric doctor who is participating in a government scheme that places doctors in oversees placements for training with a bond that requires the doctor to return home and work at least four years for every year spent abroad in the placement. [adapted from publisher]

This presentation discusses the United States’ implementation of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel, the challenges and next steps. [adapted from author]

This guide provides information for health sector workers and trade unionists interested in finding ways to ensure that international migration has positive, rather than negative outcomes for workers and health care systems. Information about the recruitment and migration process is designed to assist health workers who are considering migrating.

This report on South Africa is part of a global research project on the origin and destination countries for migration of health workers around the world. It contends that the health and social worker migration must be considered in the broader context of the human right to health and decent work, ethical migration and recruitment processes, global human resources for health and the health related Millennium Development Goals.

This presentation was part of the University of New South Wales’ short course on managing human resources for health. It introduces the issues and challenges in HRH in 13 Pacific Island Nations leading to a proposed scheme to manage HRH migration and mobility. [adapted from author]