High-Quality Migration, Physicians Intention to Work Abroad and Related Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.19297340%20Keywords:
Brain drain, Healthcare, High-skilled migration, Migration intention, Physician migrationAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to evaluate physicians intentions to work abroad and the push and pull factors influencing this intention.
Materials and Methods: In this study, data were collected prospectively using a questionnaire from physicians at a tertiary hospital. Physicians were asked questions regarding demographic factors such as age, gender, and marital status, as well as questions related to working abroad. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, the Chi-square test, and the Student's t-test. A p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: The mean age of the 151 physicians participating in the study was 31.96±6.50 years. The gender distribution was 52.3% male (n=79) and 47.7% female (n=72). Of the physicians, 89.4% (n=135) reported having experienced verbal and/or physical violence in their professional lives. The primary push factor cited for wanting to work abroad was "problems/incompatibility in physician-patient relationships," while the main pull factor was identified as "a more organized and orderly work environment." Among the physicians, 76.8% (n=118) were considering working abroad in the future, with Germany (25%, n=29) being the most frequently preferred country. No significant association was found between considering working abroad and age, gender or exposure to verbal and/or physical violence (p=0.552, 0.096, 0.855, respectively).
Conclusion: The intention to work abroad is widespread among physicians, and incompatibilities in physician-patient relationships, primarily violence, are increasingly accelerating physician migration. Given that an increase in physician migration will lead to significant problems in the healthcare system, it is crucial to implement measures to address this issue.
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