Essay Sample on Brain Drain of Doctors in Pakistan

Introduction

Brain drain is the movement of skilled human resources across regions for in pursues of education, trade and so forth. Trained health professionals are in demand globally, and tend to be attracted by the better quality of life and living standards, access to advanced technology, higher salaries, and stable political environments. Most migrations are to the developed countries and present a growing concern because of the impact of such movements on health systems in the affected nations. These nations have directed significant investment in the training and education of health professionals, and the migration translated to a considerable loss in resources and direct benefit to recipient states who avoid meeting the cost of education these professionals. Intellectuals are considered the most treasured resources in any country because of their education with respect to time and material cost, as well as the opportunity, lost. The article addresses the causes and impacts of brain drain in the developing nations, with a particular focus on Pakistan. Two articles were selected to contribute to the scholarly research conversation concerning the causes and consequences of brain drain in Pakistan. The articles, Syed et al. "Reasons for Migration among Medical Students from Karachi" (2008) and Tahir, Kauser, and Tahir "Brain Drain of Doctors; Causes and Consequences in Pakistan" (2011) were considered as important resources to informing the present conversation.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

The issue of economic migration among professional in the health sector continues to receive significant attention. Notwithstanding, the etiology of the problem is yet to be rigorously assessed in Pakistan. Knowledge of such kind can potentially impact academic and health care policies. Syed et al. seek to quantify the contributions of a range of professional, personal and economic variables in Karachi-based final-years students. A ten-point scale, self-administered questionnaire was designed and piloted among medical students in Karachi, with open-ended questions incorporated to capture data not addressed in the questionnaire. The analysis, as well as data interpretation, was based in SPSS software. The result reveals that most of the final-year students from Aga Khan University and Baqai University in the medical profession plan to move abroad in pursuit of post-graduate education. The most critical variables behind the intention are the poor salary structure and poor quality of education and training depicted in the home country. Other important variables captured in the study were lack of rigor in training of residents within local university hospitals, as well as poor working environments. Over half of final-year medical students interviewed cited the above issues as the primary reason behind the decision to relocate. The shift of skilled paramedics and doctors to the developed nations has become a critical issue and a subject for study in Africa, North American and Europe. Poor work conditions have never been flagged, but the current study proposes that it is among the variables attributed to brain drain. The discovery seems an eye-opener and questions for the systems of medical education with regards to professional ethics. Perceptions of the poor working conditions and quality of medical education at the postgraduate level need to be reexamined.

According to Tahir, Kauser, and Tahir Pakistani doctors are moving towards the developed world for professional adjustments. Tahir, Kauser, and Tahir aim to highlight the primary causes and impacts of the brain drain of doctors from Pakistan. They collected data from Mayo Hospital based in Lahore through interviews with doctors based on a systematic random sampling approach. The scholars established that a range of socioeconomic conditions are the push and pull factors for the doctors' brain drain in the country. Most doctors cited poor professional infrastructure and remunerations on the health departments as some of the main push and pull factors behind the brain drain. Continuous political instability as a result of the political situation and the dangers presented by terrorism were noted as responsible factors to the increased rate of emigration. Most respondents consider meager opportunities for postgraduate studies and career advancement as the driving factors. The brain drain of doctors is impacting the programs and policies of the health sector, as well as the quality of services and doctor-patient ratios significantly.

The above articles would be useful in the final paper on understanding the causes and consequences of brain drain in the health care system. The will contribute to the understanding of how Government can structure its policies to ensure the needs sought abroad by medical professionals can be addressed locally. The proposed study will argue that existing remuneration packages, lack of financial incentives and poor working conditions are an obstacle to maintaining a qualified and experienced workforce within the health care sector. Extra financial incentives should be presented to professionals operating past their duty schedules and a sense of job security should be endowed. Additional allowances should be provided to personnel deployed in the rural areas and three to four-day leave accorded on monthly basis to address personal concerns and family endeavors. Meritorious promotion and recruitment policies should be followed strictly and equal opportunities to advance professional education abroad and within the country should be made accessible to the entire workforce. They both agree that the ethical dimension of the relocation mirrors a sensitive concern. Importation of health care professionals to the developed world is inconsistent with a logical workforce policy, which is based on social justice. It not only weakens the capacity of health care but also obscures the development of research and education in developing countries. Conversely, a major change in a paradigm it required when the need to reduce the rate of migration is critical as opposed to curbing the flow.

Tahir, Kauser, and Tahir use "Reasons for Migration among Medical Students from Karachi" (2008) by Syed et al. to highlight and justify its findings on the causes of brain drain the in the health care sector. Small salary packages, lack of extra financial benefits, security threats, political interventions in promotion and recruitment, inadequate learning and further education opportunities, lack of research culture and poor working conditions are cited as the salient causes of the brain drain observed in the health care sector in Pakistan. As Tahir, Kauser, and Tahir posit, poor quality of services, space for now- and semiprofessional health care providers, and lack of implementations of programs and policies on health are contributors to the substantial emigration depicted in the developing world. The findings of these scholars are in alignment with those of Sayed et al., who concluded that the reliance on donors by Government to structuring relief programs in the health sector rather than carrying out appropriate feasibility and assessment of needs is the cause of the problem. Therefore, the design strategy is less effective in addressing the underlying problem and achieving optimum targets for the provision of health care.

The assignment helped mirror the importance of scholarly communication and the value of citing scholarly articles in academic writing. These articles provide an opportunity to compare finding of other similar studies and establish gaps in knowledge. Incorporation of other sources provides an understanding of what is already known in the literature and what other studies have recommended as areas of future studies. The exercise encouraged the synthesis of knowledge for a better understanding of the problem at hand and ways it has been addressed in previous but similar studies.

Works Cited

Syed, Nadir A, Farhad Khimani, Marie Andrades, Syeda K. Ali, and Rose Paul. "Reasons for

Migration Among Medical Students from Karachi." Medical Education. 42.1 (2008): 61-68.

Tahir, M.W, R Kauser, and M.A Tahir. "Brain Drain of Doctors; Causes and Consequences in

Pakistan." World Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology. 51 (2011): 406-412.