title: Medical "Brain Drain" and Health Care Worker Shortages: How Should International Training Programs Respond?
abstract: The movement of health care workers from countries with resource scarcity and immense need ("source" countries) to areas of resource abundance and greater personal opportunity ("destination" countries) presents a complex set of decisions and relationships that affect the development of international health care systems. We explore the extent to which ethical quandaries arising from this movement are the responsibility of the said actors and the implications of these ethical quandaries for patients, governments, and physicians through the case of Dr. R, a surgeon from Nigeria who is considering working in the United States, where he is being trained to help develop surgical capacity in his country. We suggest how Dr. R, the United States, and Nigeria all contribute to "brain drain" in different but complementary ways.
authors.forename: Abraar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Karan
authors.affiliation: Associate clinical professor of surgery and co-director of the Global Health Education Programs at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Center for World Health.
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: DeUgarte
authors.affiliation: Senior associate dean for global health and director of the Center for Innovation in Global Health at Stanford University in Stanford, California.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Barry
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate / Q000941:ethics*; D004641:Emigration and Immigration; D005550:Foreign Medical Graduates; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D007391:International Cooperation; D008507:Medically Underserved Area; D009549:Nigeria; D010820:Physicians / Q000941:ethics / Q000600:supply & distribution*; D011365:Professional Practice Location; D012941:Social Responsibility; D014481:United States