Medical workforce
The migration of physicians from sub-Saharan Africa to the United States of America: measures of the African brain drain
Better data needed to track medical brain drain
Authors:
A. Hagopian; M. Thompson; M. Fordyce
Publisher:
Human Resources for Health, 2004
This Human Resources for Health paper details the characteristics and trends in migration to the United States (US) of physicians trained in sub-Saharan Africa. Findings reveal that more than 23 per cent of US physicians were trained outside of the US, with a majority trained in low-income or lower middle-income countries. Over 5000 (over 6 per cent) physicians were trained in sub-Saharan Africa. Of these, nearly 86 per cent came from three countries: Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana. Furthermore, 79 per cent of these physicians were trained at only 10 medical schools.
The paper highlights how the medical "brain drain," from poor countries to rich ones, contributes to worldwide health workforce imbalances. The migration of over 5000 doctors from sub-Saharan Africa has had a significantly negative effect on the doctor-to-population ratio. The authors suggest that, since the bulk of migration occurs from only a few countries and medical schools, policy interventions in only a few locations could be effective in stemming the brain drain. The paper also highlights the lack of reliable data from African countries on the production and movement of health workers and stresses the importance of developing information systems to track this data and provide the basis for workforce policy and investments decisions. [adapted from author]
