title: Egyptian future physicians are packing to leave but may be willing to return.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The migration of physicians from the developing to the developed world remains a controversial topic with many proposed negative effects. Although Egypt remains a major supplier of international medical graduates, no exploration of the root causes of the issue or the required policy changes was attempted before.
  
  
  METHODS
  An online questionnaire was used to survey 940 Egyptian undergraduates enrolled at the Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University exploring their intentions of mobility following graduation and the factors impacting such intentions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the responding students, 85.7% (n=806) intended to leave the country for training following graduation, mostly seeking better research opportunities (mean 4.74) and working conditions (mean 4.64). Of those, 81.8% (659) reported their plan to eventually return after training, although at different intervals, principally driven by the feeling of belonging and desire to serve their country (mean 4.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Due attention should be given to such an unnoticed country's issue with the adoption of evidence-based policy changes to minimize its negative effects. The affinity of the students to eventually return (driven by the desire to serve the country) could prove a valuable point to consider in policy-making.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt yousef.a.fouad@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Yousef A
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Fouad
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Yara M
authors.initials: YM
authors.lastname: Fahmy
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Sarah M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Abdel Hady
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt.
authors.forename: Abdelrahman E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Elsabagh
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D004534:Egypt; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D006801:Humans; D033182:Intention; D009042:Motivation; D010820:Physicians; D013337:Students, Medical; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Brain drain; Egypt; Health policy; Medical students; Physician migration