Abstract
BackgroundMigration of healthcare workers is receiving increased attention worldwide. In Europe, the creation of a border-free labor market and its expansion with the EU enlargements of 2004, 2007, and 2013 endowed health professionals with the right to provide services and to relocate to another EU Member State. For the Romanian doctors, the EU-wide recognition of the medical degree obtained in Romania has created new opportunities, while inadequate working conditions and relatively low salaries pushed many of them to search for employment abroad. As there is considerable uncertainty about the magnitude of the Romanian physicians’ exodus, we performed a survey to assess the emigration intention of future Romanian doctors.MethodsThe study was conducted over three consecutive years: 2013, 2014, and 2015 at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy “Iuliu Hatieganu” Cluj-Napoca, Romania. The self-administrated questionnaire included 19 questions regarding students’ emigration intentions.ResultsAll the 957 license-degree students participated in the study. In this study, 84.7% of subjects planned on seeking employment abroad after graduation. A large number of the students who have participated in the study have already started preparing for emigration, 21.7% of those who wished to migrate had already performed at least one Erasmus mobility in their country of choice, 44.5% have been enrolled in a language course, and 42.7% have searched for jobs on the Internet.ConclusionsThe majority of Romanian medical students considering migration see it as a serious alternative to the continuation of their professional training started in Romania. The findings of this study are upsetting and can impact both policy crafting and future research. Structural reforms in the healthcare provisions are needed in order to facilitate the retention of medical personnel. Romanian policy makers need to devise a comprehensive national health workforce plan to deal with physician migration.
Highlights
Migration of healthcare workers is receiving increased attention worldwide
The majority of Romanian medical students considering migration see it as a serious alternative to the continuation of their professional training started in Romania
The findings of this study are disturbing in terms of the future migration of Romanian physicians and have implications for both policymaking and future research
Summary
In Europe, the creation of a border-free labor market and its expansion with the EU enlargements of 2004, 2007, and 2013 endowed health professionals with the right to provide services and to relocate to another EU Member State. In Europe, the creation of a border-free labor market and its expansion with the EU enlargements of 2004, 2007, and 2013 endowed health professionals with the. Jinks et al [13] investigated the movement of doctors from EU countries to the UK and concluded that the main driving forces for migration to the UK were reduced employment chances in the home country or motivation to get a better training in the UK. In all the new EU member states (for example Poland, Hungary, Lituania, Estonia), the main motivation for emigrating is a better pay in the host country [12]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
