There are “push” factors such as poor working conditions, substandard facilities, unsafe conditions, and low income that discourage health professionals trained in Indian medical schools from staying in country.
The clinician/healer must both address the disease and seek to know how the medical condition is being experienced by the patient—what impact it has on his or her life and spirit.
Abraar Karan, MD, Daniel DeUgarte, MD, and Michele Barry, MD
Responsibility for physician “brain drain” can be attributed to the resource-poor countries that lose talent, the wealthy recruiting countries, and individuals.
AMA J Ethics. 2016; 18(7):665-675. doi:
10.1001/journalofethics.2016.18.7.ecas1-1607.
Dr Rajesh R. Tampi joins Ethics Talk to discuss his article, coauthored with Drs Aarti Gupta and Iqbal Ahmed: “Why Does the US Overly Rely on International Medical Graduates in Its Geriatric Psychiatric Workforce?”
The NRMP’s new “all-in” policy requires every residency program to fill every first-year position either exclusively through the match or outside of it. Programs that continue to offer prematches will operate outside the match.
High-performing doctors willing to work to alleviate the shortage of medical care in the United States should be encouraged to do so, not prevented because of their countries of origin.
One of the major driving forces for migration by women is the availability of caregiving work in wealthier nations, so improving working conditions for migrant women and ensuring that elderly and other persons in need of care receive good care are intertwined goals.
The U.S. federal and state governments are taking steps to ameliorate the physician shortage by offering scholarship and loan-repayment options to medical students interested in primary care practice in designated underserved areas.