title: Experiences of Iraqi doctors in Jordan during conflict and factors associated with migration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To document the experiences of Iraqi doctors residing in Jordan before departure from Iraq and to assess factors associated with migration.
  
  
  METHODS
  Respondent-driven sampling was used to obtain information from 401 Iraqi doctors arriving in Jordan after the invasion of 2003. Three seeds were used and chains were carried out to 10-11 waves of respondents; interviews were carried out either in person or by mobile phone.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Migration of Iraqi doctors to Jordan peaked in 2006; 94 percent of doctors were from Baghdad and 25 percent had been internally displaced before migration to Jordan. Departure from Iraq was associated with a violent event in 61 percent (confidence interval [CI]: 56-65) of cases and 75 percent (CI: 70-79) of doctor households experienced a violent event before migration. Kidnappings or assassination attempts were reported by 17 percent (CI: 25-34) of doctors; male sex and older age were significantly associated with increased risk in multivariate models. Only 30 percent (CI: 25-34) of doctors reported they have plan to return to Iraq when the conflict is over and 6 percent (CI: 4-9) reported planning to return to Iraq within a year; the majority (52 percent, CI: 47-57) planned to settle in a third country.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Iraq has lost many of its doctors as a result of the conflict, and the majority of those displaced in Jordan have no plans to return. The human capital losses associated with the large-scale displacement of Iraqi doctors are substantial and have left a critical void in human capital that will likely impact the health system for decades.
authors.affiliation: Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
authors.forename: Shannon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doocy
authors.forename: Sana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Malik
authors.forename: Gilbert
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Burnham
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004641:Emigration and Immigration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007493:Iraq; D054542:Iraq War, 2003-2011; D007597:Jordan; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010820:Physicians / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012036:Refugees / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014754:Violence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D055815:Young Adult