Out-Migration/Brain Drain

This article discusses the evidence for claiming out-migration of health workers impacts health and how to address the issue ethically.

The purpose of this report is to provide background information to support the development of guidelines for the integration of internationally educated health professionals into the Ontario workplace. [from summary]

This paper presents the findings of qualitative research documenting the participant experiences in the Observer Program, a hospital-based pre-employment program for international medical graduates entering the Australian healthcare system. [adapted from author]

This report examines demographic, social, and political factors driving the increased international migration of workers to provide long-term care services in developed countries. [from introduction]

This background study to the World Health Report 2006 is an attempt to provide a preliminary analysis of inflow and outflow patterns of health service providers in sub-Saharan Africa. The analysis is limited only to three types of health workers—doctors, nurses and midwives—and to countries in the region with critical shortages of health workers. [from publisher]

This commentary paper highlights changing patterns of outward migration of Zambian nurses. The aim is to discuss these pattern changes in the light of policy developments in Zambia and in receiving countries. [from abstract]

This paper focuses on some of the challenges and the opportunities created by migration of nurses, specifically focusing on the issue of return. Divided into five main sections, the paper looks at migration and population mobility in general to set the context, then focuses on the migration of health professionals. [from summary]

Brain drain impedes maternal, neonatal, and child health and the fight against HIV/AIDS, and translates into loss of potential employers, teachers, and role models. Improving the health workforce database, wages, health resources and working conditions, task shifting, pay-back from recipient countries and migrant health professionals, securing additional investment in the health workforce, and the development of locally relevant medical training and research are useful measures to combat this problem. [from abstract]

The aim of the study was to investigate the profile of South African qualified physicians who had emigrated from South Africa. [from abstract]

This paper brings into focus the magnitude of the problem in terms of the number of nurses migrating to and from various countries and its impact on developing countries. The paper also examines some of the ongoing efforts in developing countries to mitigate the problem and sheds light on the prospects for improvement in the foreseeable future. [from abstract]

The proportion of international medical graduates (IMGs) serving as primary care physicians in rural underserved areas (RUAs) has important policy implications. We analyzed the 2000 American Medical Association Masterfile and Area Resource File to calculate the percentage of primary care IMGs, relative to U.S. medical graduates, working in RUAs. [from abstract]

Foreign nurses are increasingly being sought, creating a lucrative business for new recruiting agencies both at home and abroad. This paper examines past and current foreign nurse use as a response to nurse shortages and its implications for domestic and global nurse workforce policies. [from abstract]

Although international nurse recruitment campaigns have succeeded in attracting large numbers of migrant nurses to countries such as Ireland, where domestic supply has not kept pace with demand, the long-term success of such initiatives from a workforce planning perspective will depend on the extent to which these nurses can be retained in destination countries. [from introduction]

This article describes the imbalance between the influx of foreign nurses and the out-migration of indigenous personnel in South Africa. [adapted from introduction]

This presentation from the 2004 Seminar on Health and Migration details the effects of the international migration of Ghanian healthcare workers and the impact the Diaspora could have on the problem.

This presentation from the 2004 Seminar on Health and Migration details factors contributing to international migration of healthcare workers and strategies to counter this trend.

This paper details the conclusions of a June 2004 Seminar on Health and Migration on the topic of migration of health care workers.

This paper advocates multiple strategies for the United States to further assist with solving the global health workforce crisis.

Internationally trained health professionals are an important part of the domestic workforce, but little is known about pharmacists who come to work in Great Britain. This paper explores the extent to which Great Britain is relying on the contribution of internationally trained pharmacists and to explore their routes of entry and demographic characteristics and compare them to those of pharmacists trained in Great Britain. [adapted from abstract]

This presentation provides the results of studies designed to ascertain which Ghanaian trainee health professionals are more likely to emigrate, as well as the rationale for these choices. It also attempts to identify potential areas for policy intervention in order to moderate the benefits and costs of both the long-term and short-term impact of this situation.

This presentation chronicles the emigration patterns of Ghanaian health professionals and the effects on that country's own health services. There is a specific focus on the emigration expectations of Ghanaian trainee health personnel, as well as offering suggestions for potential methods for addressing the situation.

This presentation offers the findings of a study assessing how policies in richer countries impact least-developed countries, specifically regarding skilled labour migration.

This presentation details issues surrounding the recruitment and utilization of foreign health professionals in the UK.

This presentation covers trends in the out-migration of health professionals as well as the impact on HRH.

This presentation describes perspectives on the out-migration of health professionals in Africa.

This presentation offers the results of a study examining organizational and institutional perspectives on international labor migration, as well as a case study on nurse migration and recruitment from the Philippines to the U.S.

This presentation addresses issues pertaining to nurse migration in the UK including trends, patterns and the impact of soft regulation.

This presentation explores the primary characteristics of the migrant labor force in the UK healthcare sector, including the implications for policies regulating migration and the care sector.

This presentation describes the findings of the Health Workforce and Migration project and their implications. It includes information on recent trends and policies, as well as new evidence on the stock of foreign-born health professionals and nurses in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

This presentation was part of the Mobility, Training and Supply of Health Workers Worshop. It discusses the state of nurse training and mobility and the policy considerations in Bangladesh.